WARNING - Harbor Freight Tools Security Breach

[Keith Outten]

According to a letter I recently received the Harbor Freight Tools computer records were recently compromised by a security breach. This compromise involved a variety of credit card records for account holders at many financial institutions.

If you have used your credit card at Harbor Freight Tools you should probably check with your credit card company to verify the status of your account and possibly request a new account number based on their advise.
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[Myk Rian]

Thanks for the heads-up, Keith.

Info on the HF website:
http://www.harborfreight.com/protectingcustomers

[Sam Murdoch]

Geez - I just made my first HF purchase in 30 years and this . Thanks for the warning. I'll check into this.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Open all letters from your credit card companies, even if they look like mail mistakenly trying to enroll you for a card that you already have. Discover Card has sent out new cards in a letter that mentions security breaches "not in Discover Card systems". From the outside, thie letter looks like it would be a typical advertising flyer.

[Dan Hintz]

Open all letters from your credit card companies, even if they look like mail mistakenly trying to enroll you for a card that you already have. Discover Card has sent out new cards in a letter that mentions security breaches "not in Discover Card systems". From the outside, thie letter looks like it would be a typical advertising flyer.

Yep... got a new card from them last month. Of course, it's the same account #, just a new security code. Since they don't use that for in-person transactions, I'm not sure what problem it solves, but hey, no muss on my part.

[Jim Koepke]

Yep... got a new card from them last month. Of course, it's the same account #, just a new security code. Since they don't use that for in-person transactions, I'm not sure what problem it solves, but hey, no muss on my part.

The information on the magnetic strip is likely different as is the expiration date. The expiration date is the first step in credit card security.

jtk

[John Coloccia]

Thanks for the head's up, Keith. We only have two credit cards....one for gas and one for everything else. Both of them get replaced on a yearly basis due to some fraud SOMEWHERE. It's almost entertaining, but it actually is a little reassuring that my CC companies really do a pretty good job of weeding out the fraud before I even have a chance to detect it.

The funniest one, though, was when I tried to use my CC at a restaurant. FAILED. Hmmmm. I left my wife to pay cash and I walked outside to call them....what's the problem? Fraud department put a hold on the card. They detected suspicious activity in another country.

them: "Are you in the United States?"
me: "Yes. I'm out to dinner with my wife and friends right in Connecticut."
them: "So you're not in Mexico?"
me: "No...but I am at a Mexican restaurant."
them (sheepishly): "Uhm...what's the name of the restaurant?"
me: "Puerto Vallarta, in Newington, CT."
them (little giggle): "Never mind. You're all set, sir."

[Matt Meiser]

The funniest one I had was our credit union. They messed up switching the phone number on our account when we moved (but not any of our other accounts) and couldn't get a hold of us. I found out when I tried to use it and it was declined. I called and she said there was extensive fraud. Started reading through the list and it was all places on the far south side of Chicago which is where I was travelling for work. It wasn't until about the 20th line until she actually got to a fraudulent charge. She jokingly scolded me for being where I had no business going then took care of everything.

Couple years later they called my house about a $600-something charge at Best Buy before I even got home. Wife called me and I couldn't tell her I didn't do it and would have been in trouble if I refused to tell her that I was buying her a laptop for her birthday.

Hard to tell from the press release if this is an online-only issue or if you might be affected if you used the card in-store too. I've been to a store recently, but never ordered online.

[Dan Hintz]

The information on the magnetic strip is likely different as is the expiration date. The expiration date is the first step in credit card security.

jtk

Nope. The expiration date is the same, too, and the 3-sigit security code is not stored on the magnetic strip.

I was somewhat baffled what they really accomplished with the exchange.

[Beau Cassidy]

A lot of credit card theft occurs from scammers at gas stations and it happened once to me. I now pay for gas by going inside to pay. Problem solved. I also try to avoid ATMs for the same reasons unless it is the kind that actually sucks your card up into the machine to read it instead of swiping it.

[Dan Hintz]

I also try to avoid ATMs for the same reasons unless it is the kind that actually sucks your card up into the machine to read it instead of swiping it.

How do you think this protects you from the same type of theft? If your card moves past a reader attached to the outside of the machine, the damage is done... the fact that the card is inside the machine is irrelevant.

[Matt Meiser]

Or from the gas station attendant using a skimmer.

If you want to take precautions, don't do it based on urban legend.

[Brian Kerley]

but it actually is a little reassuring that my CC companies really do a pretty good job of weeding out the fraud before I even have a chance to detect it.

This is what is so amazing really. The last time I got a call from them about someone trying to use a card at a store just a few miles away. Heck, I've gone to that store. But this time, they somehow knew the $50 charge was not me.