Check your Credit Card Statements Since May 2008

[eunhye]

Heartland Payment Systems

Princeton, NJ — January 20, 2009 — Payments processor Heartland Payment Systems has learned it was the victim of a security breach within its processing system in 2008. Heartland believes the intrusion is contained.

About Heartland Payment Systems
Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., a NYSE company trading under the symbol HPY, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payments solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide.

I just got off the phone with a senior manager from Heartland. This happened since May of 2008. Check your statements since then for anything. They are not sure how many credit cards were breached but Brian Krebs from Security Fix on WP(great site btw for any security briefings) posted this article Payment Processor Breach May Be Largest Ever - Security Fix and said numbers in the 10million.

They released the information on Obama's Inauguration. Bastards.

[Katlan]

If people don't check their CC statements regularly they are just idiots and deserved to be hacked. That's like "financing 101" right there

[Pikarya]

No credit cards, no worries.

[Kiro]

What about debit cards? >_>

[Olo401]

What about debit cards? >_>

^ This. who uses credit cards anymore...

[Osede]

What about debit cards? >_>

Still apply the same thought. Between Mar 2008 to Aug 2008, I found that there are totally of 3-4 fraud payment that try to charge on my card last time >.>

But since I just moved and want to close down that account, so this just doesn't bother much to me.

[Kiro]

I've never had any issues with my debit card so far. When I go to restaurants I pay in cash because I don't trust random ass waiter/waitress #999 to take my card in the back and not make a quick copy of it to use later. Which a lot of people in the restaurant business do. :> (THE MORE YOU KNOW </SHOOTAN STAR>)

I'm closing down my bank account and going to a credit union after my last paycheck of this month. Hi thar https://www.becu.org/ - ilu~

[Weltall]

lol....Credit cards.....right...

[Yuri-G]

^ This. who uses credit cards anymore...

Not having a credit card can lead to huge issues down the road when you want to buy a car or finance a mortgage. Using a credit card correctly is one of the easiest and best ways to build credit. Why use a debit card, which doesn't do anything for you really (unless you have rewards points), when a credit card can help you out in the end?

This is a lesson I wish I'd learned a long time ago, I just got my first credit card recently, and I have barely any credit as a result. Thank god I figured it out in time to still build credit before I'm ready for any major purchases.

[Seraph]

Not having a credit card can lead to huge issues down the road when you want to buy a car or finance a mortgage. Using a credit card correctly is one of the easiest and best ways to build credit. Why use a debit card, which doesn't do anything for you really (unless you have rewards points), when a credit card can help you out in the end?

This is a lesson I wish I'd learned a long time ago, I just got my first credit card recently, and I have barely any credit as a result. Thank god I figured it out in time to still build credit before I'm ready for any major purchases.

This ^

It's sort of sad though that people who can manage their finances without credit assistance still end up with poor or underdeveloped credit scores.

making ends meet doesn't get you that first home, charging a bunch of useless shit on your credit card and paying it off does. /shrug

[Correction]

making ends meet doesn't get you that first home, charging a bunch of useless shit on your credit card and paying it off does. /shrug

Charging a bunch of useless shit on your credit card and paying it off without incurring finance charges works best.

When creditors see you have at least that much figured out then they'll help you buy that car/house/what have you.

[Yuri-G]

And in turn,

It's sort of sad though that people who can manage their finances without credit assistance still end up with poor or underdeveloped credit scores.

making ends meet doesn't get you that first home, charging a bunch of useless shit on your credit card and paying it off does. /shrug

^ This

Believe me, I still get pissed when I think about the fact that my never having a single cent of credit card debt is somehow a negative thing. I understand the logic behind it; if you're going into debt they want to see how you handle debt, but I'd counter that with: I handle my finances so well I've never even had to be in debt before, bitches!

And for the record, I've lived on my own for five years now - always pay my bills, always pay my rent, never had any problems at all, so it's not like I'm freeloading or living at home or something.

Anyway, that's not the point of this thread, so /rantoff

[Norelco]

I've never had any issues with my debit card so far. When I go to restaurants I pay in cash because I don't trust random ass waiter/waitress #999 to take my card in the back and not make a quick copy of it to use later. Which a lot of people in the restaurant business do. :> (THE MORE YOU KNOW </SHOOTAN STAR>)

I'm closing down my bank account and going to a credit union after my last paycheck of this month. Hi thar https://www.becu.org/ - ilu~

I believe I was double-swiped at some mexican resaturant that starts with a T at the Charlotte, NC airport. Tequilera or something like that.

Anyway a week later I started getting automated calls from my CC company asking if I had made charges in Puerto Rico and the Phillipines. I didn't have to pay anything as the charges were dropped, but the notion that someone got my CC info was a scary notion.

I no longer use a credit card in airports.

[Melanie]

Pre-paid CC ftw.

[Snprphnx]

another good way to build your credit is this. if you work for a decent sized company, that has its own credit union, join it. take out a personal loan and a car loan, and have the payments taken directly from your paycheck. yea, you take home less money, but you dont have to worry about paying that bill (so long as you keep your employment), and it will increase your rating fairly quickly.

[Pikarya]

Pre-paid CC ftw.

I never could find a good one that didn't have sketchy contract/usage rules. Like you have to keep a minimum balance, you get charged if you go under the minimum, lots of fine print. Otherwise I would use one.

[Devia]

My debit card was recently frozen by my bank due to suspicious charges at a convenience store and a racetrack (!) in Tampa, Florida. I live in Los Angeles and have never been east of the Mississippi. Now that these charges totalling around $400 have cleared, I have to file a fraud report. The money is still gone.

[Sqwunk]

On about jan 13th I got a letter in the mail saying a Vendor I have used before had been compromised, and they were going to cancel my debit card and issue me a new one. When I went to the bank to get my pin number reset, a lot more people from my town were there also.

But we were never told which vendor was compromised, which kind of sucks because I don't know who to watch out for now. I'm just assuming it's walmart though, that would be where everybody shops in my town.