A few hours ago, received a phone call from a Mr. Peisner notifying me that my name, VISA card number, and address was being displayed on a hacker's chatroom website for hackers to use.
At first, I thought I was talking to a telemarketer or maybe a person trying to steal my private information for criminal purposes. Mr. Peisner tells me he works for <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT STYLE="color: black">SellitSAFE</font></font> and gives the location to the company website (
http://sellitsafe.com/ ). I ask for his name and a phone number so I can call him back after I verify with the
Better Business Bureau. He says his company is not listed with the Better Business Bureau. However, he suggested I could call the police and make a complaint if I felt I needed to.
Mr. Peisner begins reading out my credit card number to me. I'm shocked to hear he already had my personal information. He reads out my address and my full name. He didn't need anything from me. I begin have a panic attack and push the SPEAKER button on my cell phone for my husband to hear the conversation.
{note: Mr. Peisner was extremely courteous and patient with me. I was very rude. I might have typed the
conversation details a little inaccurate, because of my paranoia and fear and difficulty to recall.}
My husband grabs the phone. Mr. Peisner then repeats things to my husband. And my husband begins questioning him, since my husband is a computer geek and knows how to investigate stuff like hacking. I tell my husband that he sounds "legit."
I begin to realize that the number Mr. Peisner read out loud to me was my DEBIT CARD . . . my cash!!!!! I grab the computer and logon to my bank online and see all the fraudulent charges (so far totaling $150) on my checking account . . . *panic*
I overhear my husband thanking Mr. Peisner and asking him how we can thank him more, donate, or contribute to his organization. Mr. Peisner said, "Just send an email 'Thank You.'"
I'm thinking . . . WOW . . . He just saved us so much money and all he wants is an email "Thank You?"
I just cancelled my debit card and will report fraudulent charges tomorrow. There were charges from June 1st to today. Lovely.
According to this
article, </font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
"<FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT STYLE="color: black">SellitSAFE </font></font> logs all the numbers and creates a database that ecommerce merchants and other at-risk parties can use as a fraud prevention tool (what ecommerce merchant wouldn't like to know if an order was placed with a compromised account?). In fact, the company is adding 3,000 to 5,000 numbers PER DAY to the database."
</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">
Mr. Peisner told my husband that he tries to personally call about 30 to 50 victims of identity theft per day. (Luckily, I was one of the few called
)
THANK YOU <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT STYLE="color: black"> SellitSAFE</font></font>
As warned on <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT STYLE="color: black">SellitSAFE's </font></font>
Consumer Tips , I should have never used my DEBIT card for an online purchase. Lesson learned well . . . .
Who is the man that called me? According to the <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT STYLE="color: black">SellitSAFE's </font></font> website: </font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Steven D. Peisner, president, has more than 19 years of experience in the credit card acquiring industry, in both sales and operational management for various Independent Sales Organizations, including Peachtree Bancard Corporation, Cardservice International, and E-Commerce Exchange. He is also the founder of Shared Information Systems, which developed, and later sold, NoChargeBacks.com, an Internet-based service which provided merchants access to credit card holders' chargeback histories as a way to prevent "electronic shoplifting" by card holders who take advantage of the system. Peisner currently sits on the ETA's Fraud and Risk Committee and is a member of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators. He actively participates in and supports the Merchant Acquirers Committee (MAC) as well as both MasterCard and Visa sponsored conferences on fraud and risk management.
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How this relates to "Mental Health" . . .
I think receiving Mr. Peisner's phone call was essential to my mental health this week. If I didn't realize I was a victim today, I would of realized it another day when my husband was not here to support me during the panic attack.
Please read the consumer tips (linked above) if you purchase online. Also, if you get a phone call from <FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow"><FONT STYLE="color: black">SellitSAFE</font></font>, be nice . . . I wasn't
