This has got to be one of the wildest stories I have ever heard, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard this story before.
Let me make this clear. No financial company is being mentioned, we’ll just have to wait what happens in this particular situation.
I got a phone call on November 29, 2024 with a very interesting question. The caller indicated that they recently got a new card from their financial institution which only recently got activated.
To use any type of card whether it is a credit or debit card, you must activate the card by either entering the CVV using the app, or calling the number and telling the automated system that you have the credit or debit card in hand. Doing it that way doesn’t ask for info, but it logs it as active.
The caller happens to tell me that there was an unauthorized charge on this card, when the card was only activated days prior and that it has never been used.
The first thing that went through my mind was whether it had been the older card, as most cards don’t expire till the end of the month. So, if a card in question expires 11/24, it expires 11/30/2024, not any other time sooner.
Most financial institutions send you a new card a month before your card expires, and that gives it time to travel in the mail and make it to you safely and also to activate it.
So … what happened?
This is where I am not going to say one way or another. This is because the financial institution in question has no idea. But if my hunch is correct, this smells like there’s a breach somewhere, and we’ll find out some time within the next 6 months or a year.
We do know that Visa and Mastercard have been part of a big significant breach, and neither has publicly commented.But we also know that in 2012, they were also pilfered.
And lets not forget that a bank named Evolve had to deal with questions after they had issues.
Why the hell should it take financial institutions a long time if ever to report a breach? I think if companies like yours and mine need to report things in a timely manner, they need to do the same.
We know that Visa and Mastercard have not come out with notifications that they have been breached after snowflake, although the tech press has said they were two of the companies potentially hit.
That, to me, is not fair.
Please sound off and let me know what you think. This will be discussed on future programs of Throwback and TSB. What a shame!