HACK

Last week I was shopping at a Cabela’s store in Kansas City, Kansas for some things I will need for a float trip later in the summer, things like nylon underwear that dry quickly and a wide brim hat. My cell phone started its ‘Ahooga. . .Ahooga’ warning that someone wanted to speak to me. I don’t get that many phone calls, my smart phone is really smart but someone on the other end has to push my button or it’s just another gadget, the next generation wrist watch-camera-weather report-flash light-calculator, more so than telephone. I didn’t recognize the number and the lady on the other end wanted to know if she could speak to me. I told her that I was me, expecting a marketing pitch or admonition for something I’d done wrong, or not at all. She was calling from the security division of my credit union. “In the past few hours we’ve noticed some suspicious activity on your debit card account. Did you make a $67 purchase at Fine Wines liquor store in Detroit, Michigan this morning?” “No” I said, “I did not.” She continued, “How about Marathon Fuel Stop in Detroit; and White Castle restaurant in Southfield?” I said no and no again. I got the message and the interruption had gained my undivided attention. I stepped inside an unoccupied fitting room and closed the door. We talked, I asked several questions and she gave me good answers. My account was canceled after about $125 had been charged to it and I was instructed to destroy that debit card. Next week, when I get back to Grand Rapids I will have to do some paperwork at my credit union to get those charges off my account. In the end, it won’t cost me any dollars, only the inconvenience. 

I called them back yesterday and talked to another security specialist. He suggested that when I do a debit transaction away from home or in a business where I don’t usually do business, to use it as a credit card; sign for it rather than punch in the pin number. He also said it probably didn’t matter. All hackers need is your card number. They have machines to make their own bogus cards and sell them with directions to use them as credit cards at business that do not ask for identification. I guess I really do need to check my credit card activity on the credit union website, every night. I am truly impressed that my guys were good at recognizing the fraud and getting it stopped so fast. They must have algorithms that profile your purchase patterns and when a couple of unlikely transactions pop up, a red flag goes up and a trained specialist takes over. It happened once, several years ago. The security specialist challenged a purchase at a restaurant in Buenos Aries, Argentina. We canceled that card and ordered a new one but I didn’t really see myself as a target. 

I try to identify with the cyber thief, whatever it is that makes us alike. I think there is a bit of a thief in all of us. The easier it is to profit from someone else’s loss and the less likely you get caught, you give it more thought, tempted to go there. Who knows, under the right circumstance maybe you do go there. Being so physically removed from the victim, it’s easy to rationalize you are just doing what someone else will do, if you don’t. I think that is the underlying logic of free market capitalism. If we compete and we want to have winners, there are going to be losers and that’s part of the equation. How many day traders make a good living selling short? I imagine all reputable businessmen would cringe at my rationale and take me to task. They don’t see themselves as human on human predators, as if we don’t feel the pull of a darker side. They say you can't buy respectability but we (all of us) we pour a lot of money down that hole. I’m not going to be angry and despise hackers or even their Johns who buy the bogus cards but I will be more cautious with my own business.