[RickM]

So, I'm at a gas station last week, after lunch. I whip out my Discover gas card (5% discount on gas) and after a short wait the guy comes back and announces "sorry sir your card was declined". In disbelief I ask him to run it again. "sorry sir it wont go through"...so I pay him cash.

I figure my wife didn't pay the bill (but I know this is likely not the case). I call and she says we're up to date..totally paid off.

I get back to the office and call Discover. "Sir, did you receive a call from us last week?"...Me - "Uhm, No...why?"

"There's a Fraud investigation on your account".

I'm thinking..WTF!

To make a short story long...two or three months earlier....

While on the website that reports on the best gas prices according to zipcode I see recommendations for the best CC companys for gas discounts (Discover is #1). Being the Net savvy dude I opt to go directly to the Discover site as opposed to linking through the best gas prices website. After divulging my heart and soul the application process freezes and I give up. I then call Discover directly and apply via phone. I mention that the Web app froze and the operator reports that they're having website problems.

No biggie.


Fast forward to last week.....Gas purchase declined, fraud investigation on my account.

Seems some scumbag hacked into my Discover account via the web, changed my address (to a military address in Minnesota) and racked up $20K worth of $hit at Officemax.

I set up a Fraud alert with Experion (and as a result w/ the other 2 credit brokers as well...good thing).

So, what happened? Well I'm thinking the failed web application was an "Evil Twin"...a mirror site set up to collect my PII. This sucks!

I'll report back on the investigation results, if I get them, but be carefull! I'm a relatively savvy Net guy and I was likely taken by this scam.

I'm sure this isn't the last of the $hit I'll have to deal with.