Final Straw With Disney Trip!

[Heth6207]

Warning for Disney go-ers! I posted last week about our car being broken into and over $4000 worth of stuff stolen, many of you lashed out that this was our fault and Disney was not at fault and this had nothing to do with them, their employees, etc.

Well let me share the latest development with you. On our last day there just before we left, we went to the gift shop in SSR to purchase stamps and a Mickey for my sister. My mom gave me her credit card to use while she was speaking with the manager over being robbed, etc. and while she was checking out. The employee at the gift shop threw a fit for my mom’s ID and my sister went to retrieve that and the employee kept the card the entire time until my sister came back with sufficient ID, that’s fine, I understand. I explained to the girl we were very frustrated because we had been robbed, etc. and she mouthed off that she didn’t make the rules, etc.

To make this frustrating story short- My mom’s card company called her last night, saying her account had been broken into. This card was used ONCE in Florida, that morning. My mom, to make sure it was actually her credit company calling, called them back on the number on the back of her card, and verified.

Her card number was stolen and a new card made with a new name on it, and they charged gas, a meal, and $2400 at Best Buy---- one right down from Disney.

THIS I do consider Disney’s responsibility. This was an employee there, and I am officially disgusted and disappointed in Disney. This is the final straw. When you hire someone, you are putting your trust in them which tells your customers they can trust these people as well.

 

[Evil Genius]

Do you have proof that it was the Disney employee? ANYONE can steal your identity.

 

[Heth6207]

This card was paid off and had no other charges on it recently, and was taken out of her wallet ONCE during the trip, inside Disney World. She kept her purse with her cards in it, with her the entire time.

The credit card company said it was used in the surrounding area, IN PERSON, and not online or over the phone for a purchase, after it was used in SSR, and the company told us this was where the breech of idenity came into play.

To add to this, when spoken wth today to file an additional report OCSD said there has been an identity theft ring in this area, and Disney employees have been the suspect for some-time now due to these types of things occuring after a trip to Disney where the cards were used within the park or resorts.

 

[Tissa]

If you have proof then file a police report, if not then sorry but things do happen. It could have happened anywhere and I'm not going to jump on your I hate Disney bandwagon.

Now back to reading trip reports.

 

[Heth6207]

We are in the process of filing that as we speak.

If you love Disney, great. As far as the park itself, I have no problem with the rides, etc. The attractions and rides are great fun, and let you be a kid again yourself.

But as adults, I believe it is our responsibility to warn others of these kinds of problems so that they too can try and protect themselves. It seems like there is just a big scam going on surrounding the whole thing, whether there is or not.

I think sometimes we focus on being such a child about places like Disney, we think everyone else is ignorant when they have a complaint. I heard numerous people say "you should have brought your stuff that was stolen to your room" on this board.

Did anyone happen to read the post from a lady back last month or so, about her laptops and phones being stolen while staying at SSR, FROM THE ROOM?!

I don't buy the whole mess that Disney is completely innocent. And when you have law enforcement telling you "Disney could do much more than they are to prevent idenity theft, etc. They hire people from all over the world that they know nothing about and their background checks they do are nothing compared to what could be done about these issues."


I firmly agree, and all I am doing is sharing my trip report and trying to give others staying at this resort or within the park, a heads up so it doesn't happen to them.

 

[Montana Disney Fan]

THIS I do consider Disney’s responsibility. This was an employee there, and I am officially disgusted and disappointed in Disney. This is the final straw. When you hire someone, you are putting your trust in them which tells your customers they can trust these people as well.

At least it's official!!

I'm here right now and just charged lunch at Typhoon Lagoon and noticed that they XXXXX out all the numbers of the credit card on both receipts. They only show the last four.

If it was stolen by a corrupt Disney employee, they're genius in their ability to memorize a 12 digit credit card number, PLUS the 3 digit security code on the back, in only a couple of seconds that it was in their possession.

My final thought is how did the thief know the maiden name of your grandmother?

It's all very suspicious.

 

[rentayenta]

With all I have read about your trip, I wouldn't go back to Disney either!

 

[Heth6207]

Let me bring you all into the real world.

Direct from OCSD: These crooks/pros have scanners they can use to scan the barcode itself on the card and make a copy of the data on there. I am WELL aware of what the receipt says, and I DO NOT at all appreciate what you are implying.

I am not spreading anger on any of you directly, it is Disney I am frustrated with, and I don't appreciate your implying.

By the way, when in the world was the last time you had to give someone your mothers maiden name when USING the card???? I have never had to do this!!!!

Only when I call my company to discuss my acct. do they ask for that. These people didn't call the company, THEY USED THE FRIGGING CARD TO BUY STUFF!

 

[Heth6207]

At least it's official!!


If it was stolen by a corrupt Disney employee, they're genius in their ability to memorize a 12 digit credit card number, PLUS the 3 digit security code on the back, in only a couple of seconds that it was in their possession.

Try keeping it in her posession for about 5-10 minutes. She kept the card in her posession AFTER she even saw proper ID.

 

[FozzieFan]

I'm sorry but I don't think that was Disney's fault that your mother's info was stolen. Your mother was irresponsible leaving her credit card in anyone else's hands while she wasn't around. She should also not give out her mother's maiden name because as you said it's a question that only a financial institution really asks for. At any point during she felt uncomfortable with the transaction she could have immediately stopped it and asked for her card back from the employee.

Secondly I would have found a manager PRONTO as soon as the mother's maiden name question was asked, yes the ID with a credit card purchase may be policy, but nowhere would they have access to her mother's maiden name by looking at the card.

 

[Heth6207]

I'm sorry but I don't think that was Disney's fault that your mother's info was stolen. Your mother was irresponsible leaving her credit card in anyone else's hands while she wasn't around. She should also not give out her mother's maiden name because as you said it's a question that only a financial institution really asks for. At any point during she felt uncomfortable with the transaction she could have immediately stopped it and asked for her card back from the employee.

Secondly I would have found a manager PRONTO as soon as the mother's maiden name question was asked, yes the ID with a credit card purchase may be policy, but nowhere would they have access to her mother's maiden name by looking at the card.

I think there has been some confusion here. No one ever asked for my mom's maiden name. Some other poster asked how anyone would know it. No one ever asked for it. I was only stating only the credit card companies ask for that when your discussing billing info.

The stolen identity was not discovered until her card company called last night, so 16 Hours away, how are we to find a manager pronto?

 

[Heth6207]

My final thought is how did the thief know the maiden name of your grandmother?

THIS was the maiden name post I was responding to. I have NO idea where this person got the idea they asked for my mothers maiden name. My response was to this, stating that NO ONE ever asks for it at a store. And NO ONE DID.

 

[SHOBRO856]

I'm truly sorry to hear about your experience and thank you for making us aware as to some dangers that are there for the consumer no matter where you are (even the Happiest Place on Earth). I know many times I have been caught off guard by someone asking for my ID for a CC purchase. Unfortunately everyone isn't consistent with this practice so its something that you could be unprepared for.

I also agree that Disney is not always thorough with their background checks as some other place i.e. (the groping tigger incident), allowing for a potential criminal to slip through the cracks.

Once your suspicions are made known to the police maybe they could check the video surveillance of the cashier area for what the possible suspect was doing when you left to get your mothers ID from the car, especially since this is a problem that has been happening in the area. I hope you get some type of resolvement to the matter.

 

[Heth6207]

Sho,

Thanks for your comments! Actually her ID was not in the car.

I'm not sure how many of you have been to SSR so let me more clearly explain what happened:

The 3 of us (my sister, mom, and myself) went into SSR to talk to the manager (we were checking out also) about the robbery of our car (See the "We were robbed" thread) and my mom's purse or ID was NOT stolen from the car. She had her purse she was currently using with her at all times, because it had her credit cards, cash, etc. in it. The gift shop is inside SSR, and my mom needed some stamps and my sister wanted a mickey. So my mom took out her card and asked me tot ake her to get the mickey, because she is 13 and my mom didn't want her to go alone and my mom didn't have time right then to go.

So, fast forward to where the clerk asked for ID, I stayed in the gift shop, and my sister walked to the front desk, where my mom was, and got my mom's ID from her to go show the clerk in the gift shop. I stayed there the entire time, but the clerk kept posession of the card, she continued to after she saw proper ID, "continuing" with the transaction.

About the video, I hope your right. But, with Disney not having video in the parking lots, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out they didn't have them at the counters either. That would mean their employees could be caught stealing from customers. As the security guard said about why they had no cameras on the parking lot "We could get sued."

My hope is this, the store where they purchased $2400 worth of stuff had heavy security video, and we are hoping the OCSD can get good video of the thief using the card there.

 

[Mayl]

why is this on the trip reports board anyway??

Also if you stayed the whole time like you said with the clerk, at what point did she grab this "capture device" and take the cc info??

Must be a magic wand she used to take the info with you, her manager and other staff all standing around....

please

 

[Heth6207]

No, no magic wands.

Let me once again explain. The police said they have scanners that can fit behind counters or even in a palm that in a matter of seconds they can scan the data magnetic strip and retrieve all information on. At these counters (for those of you "magic wanders" who apparently don't pay attention to things like this, they have a 12-14 inch rise where you can't see most of the register, even, where the receipts come out at, so this could easily have been done.

Why is this on the trip reports board? BECAUSE IT HAPPENED HERE!!!!

Do you just want to be ignorant to things and not know they're happening? I sure as heck don't! If I had known there was this kind of criminal activity going on at SSR, I would have NEVER stayed there.

 

[luvmyboys]

I know that this type of thing can happen ANYWHERE, even at Disney World. All it takes is one unscrupulous employee with the right technology, which is cheaply and conveniently sold on the internet.

My husband is a computer engineer, and has friends in tech security industry. This kind of thing is becoming very, very common, and is easy to pull off in a short amount of time.

The crooks can install these scanners on ATM machines, cash registers, or even just hide them at work very easily. People can even use special devices to "hear" the tones made when you punch in your PIN numbers at ATMs so that they can decipher your pin number. It's crazy, but happening more and more.

There was a Dateline special on this not too long ago as well. And, let's face it, most of us are entirely too trusting (myself included) of the people we hand our credit cards over to.

Unfortunately, because it is so easy to do, and hard to detect, I really don't think you can hold Disney World responsible, but I do understand your anger at everything that happened. You guys had a series of unfortunate experiences, and although you may not be completely without blame, you were taken advantage of.

I really hope the police can help find whoever it was that robbed you and your mother in both instances.

 

[LYNSUE]

It really burns my butt that some people on these boards are so insensitive. The OP had a ligitimate and horrible thing happen to her. In her grief, she is only trying to warn others that bad things can happen even at WDW. I, for one appreciate that she is trying to help others. Some posters only half read the original post and then make nasty comments and even make fun of the victim. Implying that they did something to bring this on themselves. Why would anyone do this? In this situation, a little sympathy goes a long way. And most of the time, the OP is only looking for just that.... some sympathy and understanding.

I wish I could understand why some people have to put others down even when they can see how distressed the other party is. If that's the only way you can make yourself feel superior, you need a new hobby.

I apologize for getting on my soap box. I really felt I needed to come to this person's defense. I recently did a post on the dining plan that stated what I thought was an innocent observation. There were some nasty/negetive responses which hurt my feelings. I wished the moderator would have just closed the thread. Now I know better.

OP.... I hope you do not take any of the negative responses personally. Please know, I care.

 

[Dreamer24]

OP, did you ask your credit card company WHY and when they issued a card with a different name on it and the address that card was mailed to? This person somehow got that from your credit card company so they must have had some personal information to convice the company that he/she was your mother. Ask the CC company what info they provided. It seems to me that your credit card company is also at fault for giving out that card and they should be able to trace how it happened.

 

[MEK]

Wow - you must have a dark cloud following you, because you did not have very good luck during this trip. At least your mom is not resonsponsible for the charges made during the credit card theft.

Unfortunately, I have to agree that there are some self righteous, nasty people on this board from time to time. Perhaps they are nice and kind in person, but the anonymity of a website site brings out their dark, unkind side. It feels bad when they attack!

I did not know about the credit card scanners and will be more alert to this practice since I use a credit card almost exclusively for purchases. Thank you for the warning.