The Great Credit Card Slice-Up

[churchmouse]

One reason why we have an online-only card and a general use card, and don't use our debit for anything. Helps contain the risk, and we have a backup in a pinch.

And yeah, keep enough cash on hand for a week worth of normal living.

I hate thieves.

^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[zer0day]

All in total, this stuff happens all day, every day. From creating masks(or covers) for gas pumps and atm machines to individuals moving through crowds with RFID scanning gear. There is also "hackers" that use network intrusion to perform packet capturing to decrypt and use. There's also the web element. Emails, phishing scams, hijack links, etc. Type in paypa; dot come instead of paypal dot com without realizing it and you may end up at a site that looks just like paypal and is only there to steal your credentials. There are a few hundred more ways to gain access to someones info.
Based on the original post it sounds to me like someone got into their network somehow like an RDP (remote desktop) and planted a keylogger (which logs ALL your key strokes and sends them elsewhere). They could have full access to your computer and you would never know it. Antivirus would be useless since they could easily add exceptions.

Worst case scenario, I would replace your router/modem first. Remove the hard drive from your computer and replace it. Ram too. If you can afford to get a used Lenovo off ebay then just do it. Reverify all the apps you downloaded to your phones/tablets in the last month to 2 months. Any that were from 3rd party or uncertified sources, delete.
After you get back up and running, connect your modem/router to your new computer and designate a new password for it. For admin access and user access. You can also create different locked networks as well. Make the password 15 character alpha numeric mix with special symbols like $#%. No words or anything consistent as brute force programs can breach those.
On your new OS, if youre on mac go through finder and locate remote desktop and make sure its off. Windows, go through settings and do a search for it. make sure its off.
Amazon sells RFID blocking wallets. Get one. For 10-12 bux its good to have. Stop paying at the pump and only use ATMs at bank branches. They all have 24hr cameras running. Change your passwords. all of them. social media passwords. IG, twitter, netflix, pornhub, etc. Even ps4 and/or xbox. email accounts especially.

I could go on and on about steps to take to be as preventative as possible. I spent a lot of time studying the subject. It's a pain in the a$$ once you get hit. It's happened to me before too. They tried to buy 50 pre paid visa cards at once. I have my bank accounts alert settings fixed to email me any time a charge occurs.
Hope all this helps!

 

[Cameramonkey]

All in total, this stuff happens all day, every day. From creating masks(or covers) for gas pumps and atm machines to individuals moving through crowds with RFID scanning gear. There is also "hackers" that use network intrusion to perform packet capturing to decrypt and use. There's also the web element. Emails, phishing scams, hijack links, etc. Type in paypa; dot come instead of paypal dot com without realizing it and you may end up at a site that looks just like paypal and is only there to steal your credentials. There are a few hundred more ways to gain access to someones info.
Based on the original post it sounds to me like someone got into their network somehow like an RDP (remote desktop) and planted a keylogger (which logs ALL your key strokes and sends them elsewhere). They could have full access to your computer and you would never know it. Antivirus would be useless since they could easily add exceptions.

Worst case scenario, I would replace your router/modem first. Remove the hard drive from your computer and replace it. Ram too. If you can afford to get a used Lenovo off ebay then just do it. Reverify all the apps you downloaded to your phones/tablets in the last month to 2 months. Any that were from 3rd party or uncertified sources, delete.
After you get back up and running, connect your modem/router to your new computer and designate a new password for it. For admin access and user access. You can also create different locked networks as well. Make the password 15 character alpha numeric mix with special symbols like $#%. No words or anything consistent as brute force programs can breach those.
On your new OS, if youre on mac go through finder and locate remote desktop and make sure its off. Windows, go through settings and do a search for it. make sure its off.
Amazon sells RFID blocking wallets. Get one. For 10-12 bux its good to have. Stop paying at the pump and only use ATMs at bank branches. They all have 24hr cameras running. Change your passwords. all of them. social media passwords. IG, twitter, netflix, pornhub, etc. Even ps4 and/or xbox. email accounts especially.

I could go on and on about steps to take to be as preventative as possible. I spent a lot of time studying the subject. It's a pain in the a$$ once you get hit. It's happened to me before too. They tried to buy 50 pre paid visa cards at once. I have my bank accounts alert settings fixed to email me any time a charge occurs.
Hope all this helps!

OP, don't do this. Just don't. My head hurts reading this. (no offense intended to Credo) Lots and lots of going on there.

 

[woowoo2]

In my earlier post, I was just thinking for the OP to run Malwarebytes on his PC.
Not to replace everything.

That's just nuts....

 

[Expat]

The advice does seem odd given that everyone knows that when the ChiComs took over Lenovo they started installing strange chips on the motherboards that prevent antivirus from removing their spyware.