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SameOldStory · 05-06-2012, 08:03 PM

One day my wife was pounding on her keyboard yelling that her computer was way too slow.

I did several scans without booting her computer and found OVER 360 instances of viruses and malware on her hard drive. UNTIL THEN she thought that the ONLY way that you could get viruses on you computer was by going to web sites that you shouldn't be going to (such as porn sites).

Now, she knows better.

So let me reiterate - You MAY have had something on your computer, AT SOME TIME, that recorded your credit card number. Your computer MAY be clean now.

People who write virses write them to get past anti-virus programs.

Companies that write anti-virus programs write new programs to block the latest viruses.

This is the most probable cause of your card info getting out.

You can bet your life that NO ONE hacked Amazon's transaction servers just to steal a few card numbers. And no one walked over to one of those servers and had free access to the credit card info. As someone mentioned you are far more likely to have credit card info theft while buying something with your card.

One of the things that I work on is security systems, including card access systems. I have the equipment to copy all 3 tracks on any mag stripe card in one quick swipe. AND to duplicate it on a blank card, or store it for later use. This is part of my job. Think of a collage setting where the staff at a counter encode an ID card for students. What the criminals have is MUCH smaller that those.

Back in the '70 I was invited to a co-workers house for dinner. A few days latter they noticed that something they had shown me was missing and accused me of stealing it. A month later they found it between the couch cushions and tried to apologize. HELL NO.

You are doing the same thing. You DON"T know.

05-06-2012, 08:03 PM	#64
SameOldStory My True Self Posts: 3,126 Karma: 66242098 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Trantor, Galactic Center Device: Galaxy Tab 2 7.0	One day my wife was pounding on her keyboard yelling that her computer was way too slow. I did several scans without booting her computer and found OVER 360 instances of viruses and malware on her hard drive. UNTIL THEN she thought that the ONLY way that you could get viruses on you computer was by going to web sites that you shouldn't be going to (such as porn sites). Now, she knows better. So let me reiterate - You MAY have had something on your computer, AT SOME TIME, that recorded your credit card number. Your computer MAY be clean now. People who write virses write them to get past anti-virus programs. Companies that write anti-virus programs write new programs to block the latest viruses. This is the most probable cause of your card info getting out. You can bet your life that NO ONE hacked Amazon's transaction servers just to steal a few card numbers. And no one walked over to one of those servers and had free access to the credit card info. As someone mentioned you are far more likely to have credit card info theft while buying something with your card. One of the things that I work on is security systems, including card access systems. I have the equipment to copy all 3 tracks on any mag stripe card in one quick swipe. AND to duplicate it on a blank card, or store it for later use. This is part of my job. Think of a collage setting where the staff at a counter encode an ID card for students. What the criminals have is MUCH smaller that those. Back in the '70 I was invited to a co-workers house for dinner. A few days latter they noticed that something they had shown me was missing and accused me of stealing it. A month later they found it between the couch cushions and tried to apologize. HELL NO. You are doing the same thing. You DON"T know.