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If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

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Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#21
post #19
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't had anything odd yet. Ironically, Chase did flag my DigitalOcean charges last week.

A few months ago I had some trouble with BofA flagging my card for "suspicious activity." I had to go in and get a new card twice over two months. The only change I can think of is that I switched hosting to DigitalOcean. I had been thinking of switching banks for awhile, but this ended up being the biggest motivator to finally pull the trigger.

My Chase cards seem to get compromised somewhat regularly but it's never been an issue. I get a robocall that asks me to press 1 if fraudulent, 2 if legit. Obviously I indicated that the DigitalOcean charge was fine.

Whenever I've had an actual fraudulent charge, Chase has just overnighted me a replacement card, both with my business and personal cards. They've got wonderful customer service.

Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#25

I cancelled mine for an unrelated reason, but was about to anyway once news about the Linode compromise got out. Linode themselves have admitted that the only thing between HTP and the credit card numbers is a passphrase (of unknown quality). I no longer have any VMs on Linode. It's unfortunate that a company I trusted behaved so oddly and non-transparently over the course of the incident.

The Linode write-up from HTP which may be relevant to this.

Scroll to the "Linode" section of course.

http://www.exploit-db.com/papers/25306/

Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#26
Signing up for on-line services is a good use for "virtual account numbers". This is a feature offered on some Citibank and Discover credit cards (maybe others) that allows you to generate a separate credit card number that's billed to your original account. The nice thing about them is that once a virtual account number has been billed by a vendor, it does not accept any charges in the future except from the same vendor. So if the account is compromised, the credit card number is useless to the person who steals it.

Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#27
What do you mean by "cancel"? If you mean have your card issuer give you a new card with a new number, and stop allowing charges using the old number, that isn't necessarily sufficient. You may have to close your underlying account.

Visa and MasterCard both have updater services, which are available to some (but not all--I'm not sure what exactly the requirements are for access) merchants that accept their cards. The updater service allows the merchant to inquire about a particular card number and receive back a status that can be one of: no info available; card still valid; card replaced and here is the new card number and expiration date; account closed.

Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#28

Signing up for on-line services is a good use for "virtual account numbers". This is a feature offered on some Citibank and Discover credit cards (maybe others) that allows you to generate a separate credit card number that's billed to your original account. The nice thing about them is that once a virtual account number has been billed by a vendor, it does not accept any charges in the future except from the same ve…

I wish other banks offered that functionality. I am not a fan of Citibank.

Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#29
post #27

What do you mean by "cancel"? If you mean have your card issuer give you a new card with a new number, and stop allowing charges using the old number, that isn't necessarily sufficient. You may have to close your underlying account. Visa and MasterCard both have updater services, which are available to some (but not all--I'm not sure what exactly the requirements are for access) merchants that accept their cards. The…

> card replaced and here is the new card number and expiration date

I assume they don't do this if they replace a card that was stolen/compromised...

Re: If you didn't cancel the credit card you used for linode.com, now is the time

#30
post #27

What do you mean by "cancel"? If you mean have your card issuer give you a new card with a new number, and stop allowing charges using the old number, that isn't necessarily sufficient. You may have to close your underlying account. Visa and MasterCard both have updater services, which are available to some (but not all--I'm not sure what exactly the requirements are for access) merchants that accept their cards. The…

Is there a difference if you report your card lost (just ask for replacement) or stolen?
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