monoprice.com - credit card theft

[MA_PE]

Saw this post on a car forum that I belong to. I have used monoprice a couple of times and recall I found out about them from Supe, so I thought I post it up here. FWIW, monoprice's prices and service were excellent but it looks like their databse was somehow stolen/compromised.

"Monoprice (Home Theatre cables/computer cable) website has announced they are dealing with credit card fraud.

How do I know.......bought some cables from them in Nov09 and my credit card last week Thursday was over the limit when I tried to use it. Card cancelled...ect.

Come to find out that same thing happened to my parents who bought stuff from them in late Feb 2010.

If you have used Monoprice........someone has your cc number. My last purchase was over 4months ago.

Just letting you know. Real pain with the paperwork and reestablishing my accounts. The cc company has covered everything. Not a cent from me. Just my time."

 

[Supe]

Man, that stinks. Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep close watch on all my cards.

Just about anything you put out there is vulnerable. Hell, there was a class action suit against my local bank back in CT for stolen records, and as such, they were required to do credit monitoring for a given period of time. Turns out they were just taking files and throwing them in a dumpster without even shredding them first.

 

[roadwreck]

well this may explain why there was fraudulent activity on one of my credit cards earlier this month. The cc company contacted me about suspicious transactions, the account was canceled and I'm not responsible for the charges made, but I have ordered stuff from monoprice before and using that card, so it makes sense.

Of course, the same card sent me a notice a few months ago that one of their business partners "inadvertently" posted information about my account on a publicly accessible website.

It's a shame if this is true, I liked monoprice, they had good prices, good products, good customer service. I've had nothing bad to say about them, until now.

 

[roadwreck]

if you go to the monoprice website right now you see this message across the top of their website. Hmmmmm...

We are unable to accept credit card payments at this time. We plan to accept credit card payment orders beginning next Tuesday, March 23, 2010, after we implement additional security measures. Truly sorry for any inconvenience it may cause you.Thank you for your understanding and shopping at MonoPrice.com.

 

[Master slacker]

That really sucks. I've ordered my fair share of goods from them, but luckily I haven't had a hit in the CC account yet. Keeping my eyes peeled, though. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[TranspoVA]

I had this happen last summer...I took 20 bucks out of the atm at a 7-11 that had some sort of card reader put into it...long story short they cloned my atm card, had the pin, and cleaned me out at an ATM in Vegas. Was a big process with police reports had to do a bunch of crap before the bank would refund it.

 

[MA_PE]

^ wow that really sucks. I really try avoid those little stand alone "independent" machines.

 

[NEED2009]

PAYPAL next time?

 

[wilheldp_PE]

I like Google Checkout a lot more than Paypal.

 

[Parks and Rec]

I ordered stuff from Monoprice in February, three different orders. I used paypal twice and a credit card once, for teh points. I saw they had trouble, and was keeping an eye on the credit card I used. Sure enough last night I saw a charge that I didn't make.

Ironic that someone else used my credit card to check their credit. Card was misused at creditreport.com.

 

[MA_PE]

I ordered stuff from Monoprice in February, three different orders. I used paypal twice and a credit card once, for teh points. I saw they had trouble, and was keeping an eye on the credit card I used. Sure enough last night I saw a charge that I didn't make.
Ironic that someone else used my credit card to check their credit. Card was misused at creditreport.com.

probably just checking 1) that the card was still active and 2) how much room was left under the limit so they could go on a "shopping spree"

 

[Parks and Rec]

Just got off the phone with Creditreport.com. Seems that whoever did this mistyped the credit card number, since they used their personal info(address, DOB, SSN, email) not mine. I guess my info from monoprice has not been used....yet. either way I already canceled the credit card and had a new one issued.

 

[Supe]

Still in the clear, thankfully.

 

[Parks and Rec]

The first charge ($15) that showed up was from credit report.com.

Today two other charges ($23 each) posted from experian.com. The guy one the phone said that 5 accounts were opened with my credit card, but only two had charges. I don't understand why someone would use a stolen credit card to open up an account to monitor their credit.

Maybe it was monoprice...who knows.

 

[roadwreck]

The first charge ($15) that showed up was from credit report.com.Today two other charges ($23 each) posted from experian.com. The guy one the phone said that 5 accounts were opened with my credit card, but only two had charges. I don't understand why someone would use a stolen credit card to open up an account to monitor their credit.

Maybe it was monoprice...who knows.

well, whoever stole my info was good enough to send me a coffee maker. I shit you not, someone ordered coffee, a coffee maker and various cups and coffee storage containers from Gevalia.com but the stuff got shipped to me. I don't know if it was a thank you from the theif or what. I contacted Gevalia about the shippment, they appoligized for sending it to me and told me to keep the stuff. I didn't really need another coffee maker.

 

[roadwreck]

It's official, Monoprice was hacked. Here's their statement

http://www.monoprice.com/home/view_notice.asp

 

[Supe]

Glad to hear they're offering the credit protection services and mailing letters to all those affected. Seems like they're handling things about as well as they could.