British Expatriate Network

The unfolding debit card scam that rocked Citibank this week is far from over, an analyst said Thursday as she called this first-time-ever mass theft of PINs "the worst consumer scam to date."
Wednesday, Citibank confirmed that an ongoing fraud had forced it to reissue debit cards and block PIN-based transactions for users in Canada, Russia, and the U.K.

But Citibank is only the tip of the iceberg, said Avivah Litan, a Gartner research vice president. The scam -- and scandal -- has hit national banks like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Washington Mutual, as well as smaller banks, including ones in Oregon, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, all of which have re-issued debit cards in recent weeks.

"This is the worst hack ever," Litan maintained. "It's significant because not only is it a really wide-spread breach, but it affects debit cards, which everyone thought were immune to these kinds of things."

Continued here

http//www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=181502672

Yup, I mentioned this a few weeks back briefly in another thread as my credit union in Oregon was hugely affected. That said, my debit card apparently was not compromised.

Sounded like someone on the inside of a 3rd party processing service was in on the fraud.

Of similar interest too, and e-mail phishing scam - I got two of these e-mails earlier today. One from Citibank, the other from Paypal. They tell you your account needs verification and ask for all your details, including your ATM PIN number! Both e-mails point the receiver to sites that look completely authentic.

I noticed a lot of folks at my work getting the Citibank one Thursday and Friday.

I got a Pay Pal one that suggest you've just bought a new cell phone for over $200 and looks a lot like a real Pay Pal receipt when you buy something. Just two problems that made me laugh at it - I only had about $100 in the account and if you hovered over the 'Dispute transaction' weblink, it was clearly trying to head off to some obscure URL.

My advice to users at work is never to click any links in e-mails and if you genuinely want to check it out, log in to the organisation's account through their home page and check your account there.

Yea, i jus got a letter from a locum I had to see when my doc was on holiday. They didn't just steal the info they cleared the office, computers, copiers the lot. Am now on full alert as they have my SS number.