Quote:
Originally Posted by dpg
If you use your card all the time or fairly regular how can they determine when the numbers were taken months later? Doesn't make any sense. They know someone didn't copy the numbers three weeks ago? Again just doesn't sound right I've never heard of that. Also if numbers had been taken (has happened to me) people usually make a quick hit on the card right away.
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Because the sample set is most likely not just these two cards.
If it was a lower-class CC theft ring, many of the numbers were sold to a single perso/group, or a relatively small group of people. They'll often use similar methods to first validate the cards with test charges (a small online purchase or donation, write the numbers to an old card (mag stripe reader/writers are cheap) and buy some gas, etc.). After the cards are verified, the thieves will frequently make multiple purchases of high value items that are easy to resell (iPads, etc.).
The credit card company is most likely looking at a dataset where the fraudulent charges have a lot in common across multiple cards, and then they trace those cards back to look for common establishments where ALL the cards were used. You tend to end up with a pretty narrowly defined set of merchants that all those card holders would have shopped at. Then you look for cases where number skimming of various sorts is easy to do. Restaurants are the most common culprit by far. Grocery stores almost never, small boutique stores almost never, gas stations possibly (though skimmers on gas pumps are pretty rare).
So, nothing against Town Docks, but it fits the profile...