long story but its funny, not funny, funny, angering then ....
last month about the 2nd my wifes debit/credit card was used fraudulently at AT&T and Hello Mobile
we did the normal thing, cancelled card, got a new one issued and bank gave us our 500 or so dollars back
we set harder restrictions on our cards , texts notice of use,
no RECURRING or AUTO pay. no new accounts with a code from our phones etc. we never had auto pay on any accounts we pay online. NEVER
so when her card was violated the jack wagon set up an account with AT&T with AUTO PAY (which we found out later)
so 12 days later we get another AT&T charge on her NEW debit card, it has a completely new number and had just been activated the day before, she had not even used it yet.
so again i cancel her card and called the bank and subsequently cancelled mine to be safe, request new cards with new numbers etc.
while waiting for them to arrive, i called AT&T and played dumb and got the persons first name and last 4 of his phone number, before the ATT&T figured out i didnt know the test questions to this account. Mind you at the time i did not have an ATT account other than the modem in the truck and it was still on the free part and no credit cards were on file. they had my cell as a secondary number..??? AT&T fraud department is a freaking joke from the get go.
MY bank investigator called me and asked what controls we had on our cards and mentioned a program VIA visa that VISA automatically transmits NEW CARD numbers to merchants you have auto pay with so you the end user does not have interruptions from cards expiring etc.. and we need to OPT out of this service.
OF COURSE I SAID WTH??? who is the smart one that even had that turned on? he said he has found that no one knows of this as its a program between visa and approved merchants.
he removed the permission that i had no idea were there and i still have not found them on my user agreement.
but here is the link to the program offered to approved merchants by VISA, and i suspect all major credit card companies
of course AT&T is an approved merchant...sooooooo you get floocked without even knowing it or a kiss.
so when the ricjardhead opened an AT&T account using my wifes credit card info, he selected auto pay and since AT&T is an approved merchant, VISA did me/us a solid and transmitted new card info to the fraudulent account . WT WHOLLY SANDCASTELS OF HADES is going on? VISA touts security and protect your info, meanwhile they give it out and you may never know.
so you might want to call your visa or other credit / debit card company and make sure you are OPTED out of the service.
https://developer.visa.com/capabilities/vau
"
Secure Exchange of Account Updates
Visa Account Updater (VAU) enables a secure electronic exchange of account information updates between participating Visa card issuers and acquirers for credential-on-file merchants, which enables a more seamless payment process.
When participating issuers re-issue cards, they submit the new account number and expiration date to VAU. Participating merchants send inquiries on their credentials-on-file to VAU and are provided with updated card information, if available. This helps participating issuers retain cardholders by maintaining continuity of their payment relationships with participating merchants."