Our credit card numbers were stolen on our holiday in Orlando

[smores]

Arrived back home late Monday. Got a call Tuesday morning from my credit card company saying they suspected someone had my number. The only time I used my card in the last several weeks was to pay for my hotel room at the yacht club when I checked out.....my friends card number was also stolen. The only time he used his credit card was to fill up the rental car with gas before we returned it (Hess gas station near sanford airport)....someone tried to use his credit card number at a parking garage in Sanford...be careful when you travel!

 

[bigjrfan88]

I would report this to the resort manager. Something seriously wrong here. This is not the first time I have heard of this happening after someone stayed at a WDW resort.

 

[fla4fun]

I never use a cc at a gas station these days. Way too many skimming devices being used to get your cc number. Restaurants are another place I never use one. I've gone back to using cash a lot of the time, and I do monitor my cards regularly. That's one thing I like about online check in. I get to enter my cc number, and no one swipes it at the resort. That way, if there's a skimmer hooked up to the computer system, I reduce my risk.

I'm glad you were notified so quickly so you could take action.

 

[doconeill]

I would report this to the resort manager. Something seriously wrong here. This is not the first time I have heard of this happening after someone stayed at a WDW resort.

No, but it's also not the first time I've heard of it elsewhere, and the friend as posted didn't use their card at the resort and it was stolen.

DON'T use a card in any device that looks fishy and may have been altered. And if you have to hand it to someone else, you are risking that that person isn't taking the information down. Can't do much about that other than to not use it, and lose the convenience.

 

[mom2rtk]

Isn't it possible it might have been stolen as part of a database and not as a result of your use at Disney? I think our inclination is to blame the last place we used it, but in this information age, it could have easily have been something else.

 

[deegack]

The gas station is more likely than Disney. Also if you used it at the airport. Our credit card was compromised three times after we used it at the airport.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

This can happen anywhere, anytime... just because thats the only place you used it on vacation doesnt mean that is where the information was stolen...

Regardless, just be carefull and check your accounts vigourously... Ive worked at a bank for 5yrs and we see this stuff everyday, heck it even happened to me a few times.

You are covered as long as you are diligint in reporting the unauthorized charges. Banks & credit card companys are used to these things happening and will be able to assist you in resetting all your information.

 

[goofyredraider]

The gas station is more likely than Disney. Also if you used it at the airport. Our credit card was compromised three times after we used it at the airport.

This. And there is another post like this in the Resort section today. That is how my card was skimmed here in TX...a gas station.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My credit card number was stolen, at WDW last year. It was lifted electronically.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) I have stopped worrying about a stolen card number.
. . . charges can be disputed and I'm not responsible
. . . we do not use a debit card, so we lose NO money
. . . at all
2) If they are going to get me, they will get me.
3) The card company will just issue new card.
4) No big deal.
5) If this happened with a debit card
. . . our whole account be be emptied
. . . some banks will repay loss, but in 7-10 days
. . . in mean time, no cash, no debit card usage
. . . we be totally stranded

NOTE: For around-town, we carry ONE credit card. If wallet or
purse is stolen, we have the other cards. On vacation, we put
our cards in the hotel safe (at Front Desk) and carry one card.
If lost, we just go to the alternate card(s).

 

[mkymouse4ever]

1) I have stopped worrying about a stolen card number.
. . . charges can be disputed and I'm not responsible
. . . we do not use a debit card, so we lose NO money
. . . at all
2) If they are going to get me, they will get me.
3) The card company will just issue new card.
4) No big deal.
5) If this happened with a debit card
. . . our whole account be be emptied
. . . some banks will repay loss, but in 7-10 days
. . . in mean time, no cash, no debit card usage
. . . we be totally stranded

NOTE: For around-town, we carry ONE credit card. If wallet or
purse is stolen, we have the other cards. On vacation, we put
our cards in the hotel safe (at Front Desk) and carry one card.
If lost, we just go to the alternate card(s).

This is all true, however; having had a family member "lose" her idenity it is a bigger hassel than you think. And it all started with a credit card.
So we are extremly diligent as possible.

 

[matt and beth]

I feel for both of you. As an added suggestion make sure you cover the numbers with your fingers. Anyone around you can use a camera phone to snap photos of your card. Many cashiers I noticed at Disney were very aware of this and they covered the card with the receipt. very thankful for the attention to details.

 

[wbeem]

I understand it can be a real pain if this happens to you. However, there's little you can do - other than look for a skimmer if you insert your card somewhere.

As mentioned above, I don't use my debit card. If they suck the money out of my bank account, it's gone. The only charge card I use is American Express. They do a very good job of protecting their customers from fraudulent activities like these incidents, so I feel as comfortable as possible.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I've had this happen twice (before we ever went to Disney, so no connection there) and it really isn't that big of a deal. The first time I think that we had to fill out an affidavit, probably because they charged a pretty substantial amount ($7500) before the CC company suspected fraud and cut off the card. The second time the theives had only charged up a couple hundred dollars before the CC company caught it, and we didn't have to fill out any paperwork in that case...they just reversed the charges. That situation was so interesting to me...they "knew" the charges were fraudulent because I was using my card at a store I frequent and my husband was using his at a local restaurant at the same time the theives were using some sort of forged card half a continent away. When they called they were like, "Were you shopping at Target today?" BUSTED. LOL.

Anyway, in both cases, it was so easy. The CC company overnighted us new cards and we weren't responsible for any of the fraudulent charges. We asked them if we were doing something wrong, or if there was something we could do to stop it from happening again, and they told us no. There are just too many ways that people steal credit card numbers these days there's really no way to prevent it.

 

[DOOM1001]

Happened to us as well,we were 99% sure that it happened at a specific restaurant and weren't surprised to see that this restaurant about 6 months later acquired CC machines that the servers bring to your table for you to swipe so you never have to give the server the card to do who knows what with them,I know 99% of servers are not going to do anything with it but that still leaves possible scammers out there that you don't know if you're going to end up at their table.I try to always have cash when going to a sit down restaurant and have been trying to pay for gas with cash as well.I even felt uneasy the other day at Wendy's when the cashier had to take my card to swipe over by the drive thru area,McDonalds has the machines right there for you to swipe yourself,so I guess now Wendy's is off my list unless I have cash.As far as hotels,I have a secondary checking account which I use the debit card for this account with little money in it to check into hotels.

 

[snesguy]

Arrived back home late Monday. Got a call Tuesday morning from my credit card company saying they suspected someone had my number. The only time I used my card in the last several weeks was to pay for my hotel room at the yacht club when I checked out.....my friends card number was also stolen. The only time he used his credit card was to fill up the rental car with gas before we returned it (Hess gas station near sanford airport)....someone tried to use his credit card number at a parking garage in Sanford...be careful when you travel!

If you use your card to pay for anything online or over the phone this could be another possibility. Many times your card number is stored when you pay online and hackers have been known to break into the systems where card numbers are stored. Some sites have an option to store your card information or not. I almost always decline to have mine stored, but you have to be vigilant, in many cases the default is to store your info and you get a little click happy you may accidentally store your CC info.

Some posters have mentioned card skimming and that you have to be careful to look for something out of the ordinary in the slot where you slide your card for payment. This sounds good at first but there are many different types of equipment so you could miss it. There was a case recently where devices were connected inside self-serv checkout machines at the Lucky's grocery store chain and the tampering was very subtle. No one, not even store employees noticed anything wrong with the outside of the machines. Only when a sharp technician opened one up for regular maintenance did he notice something that didn't look right inside and then they called the manufacturer to check it out. You or I aren't going to spot something that sophisticated. The Secret Service is involved now so hopefully they can track down the bad guys because criminals with this level of expertise are very dangerous.

Lucky Supermarket credit card skimming

Basically I do what a lot of other people do. I try to be careful, but I use my credit card and don't worry too much about it. The credit card company claims to protect me against fraudulent charges which gives me some sense of security. Hopefully they'll come through if I need them. Luckily I haven't needed them yet.

 

[BrittanyBB]

We also had our stolen during our last vacation in Orlando.
I won't say just WDW cause we both use our visa's for everything. We were contacted shortly after our vacation by Visa to verify our purchases as they said somewhere that our visa was used had reported the potential of stolen numbers. When everything seemed fine we went on our merry way.... It wasn't until a month later that purchases started showing up that we hadn't made.....It certainly caused an inconvience for me as the credit card company noticed, held and then ultimately cancelled our cards while I was on another vacation

 

[eliza61]

I would report this to the resort manager. Something seriously wrong here. This is not the first time I have heard of this happening after someone stayed at a WDW resort.

Nothings seriously wrong. crooks exists. they exists in Disneyworld. Remember the bank robber Willie Sutton:
Why do you rob banks Willie?
"Because that's where the money is at"

thieves often target travel destinations. NYC, DC, Disneyworld, hotels because that's where people with money are and they are often people who are not paying attention.

Credit card skiming is HUGE now, here in the tristate area of PA, NJ & De they are popping up in supermarkets. Many are now advising people not to use their debits in the supermarkets because thieves are going in and wiping out their bank accounts.

Hey If I was a thief in the Orlando area, Disney and Universal would be my "office" location of choice.

 

[maxiesmom]

This is one of the reasons I have started using a pre-paid debit card for purchases when I travel. Even if a criminal were to get the number from it, they wouldn't have access to all my money.

 

[MaleficentRN]

This is one of the reasons I have started using a pre-paid debit card for purchases when I travel. Even if a criminal were to get the number from it, they wouldn't have access to all my money.

But wouldn't they have access to all the money you put on that card? And they bank won't cover that.