Barclaycard compromised only ever used for Amazon and Paypal

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littlerock
littlerock Posts: 1,774 Forumite
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Had a phone call this afternoon from Barclaycard saying police had advisedthem my card has been compromised and they needed to cancel it at once. (And yes it was a genuine call, I was not asked for any personal or cc information.)

The fraud team person said my card did not appear to have been used for anything unusual and confirmed the most recent transactions with me. However it was on a list of "compromised" Barclaycard numbers provided to them by the police. So it has been blocked and the card cancelled. A new one is being sent to me.

What is puzzling me is I never use my card in person or over the phone, nor to withdraw cash or pay for petrol, only for online purchases with amazon or paypal. It is still in my bag, I just checked. I have checked that nothing unusual has gone through my account. So how would anyone have got hold of the number?

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  • angelpye
    angelpye Posts: 995 Forumite
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    Maybe a virus on your computer? Or I believe sometimes financial institutions themselves have a security breach? I am assuming they didn't offer any information?
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  • littlerock
    littlerock Posts: 1,774 Forumite
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    No she said the police had not yet told them the source, merely given them a list of numbers believed to be compromised and my card number was one of them.
  • jonesMUFCforever
    jonesMUFCforever Posts: 28,898 Forumite
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    There is software available on the internet which will generate card numbers until they come across one that will work.
  • meer53
    meer53 Posts: 10,217 Forumite
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    Or an employee at Amazon or Paypal passing on information to fraudsters.
  • Shakin_Steve
    Shakin_Steve Posts: 2,701 Forumite
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    meer53 wrote: »
    Or an employee at Amazon or Paypal passing on information to fraudsters.
    This seems the most likely explanation, there was a programme on BBC1 a good while back where call centre handlers were providing card numbers, names, addresses and even the three digits from the back for as little as £2 a go.
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  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 0 Newbie
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    Amazon don't ask for or need the CVV code on the back of the card. As was mentioned, it was most likely a card generator someone used. Might also be an inside job at the bank - it has been known.
  • bubieyehyeh
    bubieyehyeh Posts: 587 Forumite
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    About a month ago I got a robot call from barclaycard saying my card details had been compromised, and they were replacing my cards (Amex/Visa cashback combination). No mention of the police in my call.

    Not sure if it was the visa or the Amex card or both.

    However the Amex was stored at Amex and Paypal.

    However my other credit cards stored at Amazon haven't been replaced, so maybe that points at paypal or barclaycard, or perhaps it is just someone guessing numbers.

    It annoying they when they won't or can't tell you how it got compromised.
  • boo_star
    boo_star Posts: 3,202 Forumite
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    jonesMUFCforever wrote: »
    There is software available on the internet which will generate card numbers until they come across one that will work.


    That's not particularly difficult, it's a simple algorithm.

    Checking those numbers for validity would be fairly difficult without the expiry date, CVV number and/or address.
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