Mods: I apologize if I'm placing this thread in the wrong section, if so, please relocate if possible. Since it possibly involves HTS, that was my reasoning for putting it here. Let me preface this by saying that I am not saying this could be an issue with HTS, more of an FYI. I have nothing to confirm that the issues started with HTS other than my transaction records. I use a Bluebird prepaid account to make my Transformers purchases, so that I can keep my money separate. Bluebird is American Express' prepaid system that is sold through Walmart. It's a reloadable card with no fees if you reload it at a Walmart, so I like using that method. The only purchase I've made in the last three weeks has been through HasbroToyShop. When I went to Walmart this morning to put money back on my card though, I noticed the balance was zero. I checked my transactions, and saw that there had been several fraudulent ones made in the last two weeks. The good part about AMEX is that even with the Bluebird prepaid, they offer fraud protection. I called them immediately, and the account representative was able to verify that the fraud transactions were from Florida. There's even one still pending from yesterday, so apparently the crook was still trying to get more out of it. Again, good thing it's a reloadable card that only has what I put in it. AMEX refunded me the money immediately, and have sent me a new card. Again, I don't want anyone to panic, only to provide the information to check your cards that you use for purchases often, but you may also want to check if you've purchased from HTS in the last few weeks. It's not a bad idea anyway to keep an eye on your accounts, fraud sucks. I'm just fortunate that I had a quick turnaround.
that's why you should use paypal to make online purchases...then websites don't get to access your bank account and credit card #'s.
It's good to have these kind of reports so that if they start to stack up, we'll know there's an issue. That being said, a single incident doesn't imply it's a HTS issue. When numbers are stolen, they're often aggregated and sold in bunches, which can take a bit of time, especially if it's done by more of an amateur. Could easily have resulted from an earlier online purchase you made.
Thanks for the heads up. No fraudulent charges so far, but I'll be keeping a close eye on my BoA account.
Agreed. And something I'll be doing going forward. True. That's why I'm not pulling a fire alarm. I would rather let everyone know my story as a precaution rather than play the blame game. I've done other purchases in the past through HTS with no issues, and I have no verifiable proof that it started there either. I also don't want to start pointing fingers either, that goes nowhere. Just more of a tale of being safe than sorry about how to pay for stuff.
I don't know I'd this will be relevant or not, but my mom also uses the Walmart reloadable card when shopping online and she's been hit multiple times with fraudulent charges on just those cards alone. I think she's on at leat her third one in a year. She never shops at HTS either, just uses it for the occasional online shopping and online bill paying. I won't dispute whether there's been any connection to HTS or not, but I have wondered if Walmart's cards have been compromised, given her issues (she doesn't use it anywhere shady, she's actually a bit paranoid about online shopping and uses these cards expressly to avoid using her actual credit cards). I wonder if any others on here that have used those Walmart cards have experienced similar issues.
If this ends up being the case, will all the people condemning FunPub now refuse to give their credit card to HTS and publicly ridicule them in every thread about them?
You might be on to something there. If Target was hacked and CC info etc was nabbed, who's to say something similar hasn't happened on a smaller scale. Either way thanks for the heads up. I'll be keeping an eye on my credit card charges more so than usual.
Those pre-paid reloadable cards are VERY susceptible to fraud. All someone has to do is open the package up enough to see (and write down) the # and re-seal it, then wait 6 months for someone else to start using it. Then they start sucking out your balance. NEVER use those cards for anything. If you (royal you, not OP specifically) are worried about someone getting your CC # then just call your CC company when you want to make a purchase and they'll give you a temp card # to use.
