Weird bizarre stuff happening in our house

[ozman]

I don't know if this is paranormal but this stuff is sure unexplainable. I tried every way to understand it but still cannot figure out what is going on.

The first thing that is bizarre is the fact the state has recently been sending me checks even though I owe them thousands and they garnish my wages. (Maybe they thought they garnished me a little too hard and decided to give me some checks?)

The second is one of the most bizarre things that has ever happened to me.

My mom never shops online and a few months ago she started getting fraudulent charges by Google playstore for purchases of soccer and other sports apps she never used. The culprit here is a sports app lover and it is always a Google charge and never Apple.

I initially thought it was my 2 brothers but they both have Apple devices and no android at all. When my mom cancelled her card and ordered a new one, bam right again same charges that total to $180 exactly. After the second dispute and chargeback which got her money back, she now put her credit card in her ID badge given to her by work to hide it and has never seen those charges again.

Here is the bizarre part. A few weeks ago I came to the bank to find out that my account was negative $180 for the same Google charges that also posted to her account and I started wondering if some hacker is at work here and how is he getting this stuff. The laptop I use is a Mac which isn't vulnerable to malware and viruses as PC is. I even took Windows off Mom's computer for Linux which is also less vulnerable.

When I shop online I only use Paypal and paypal never shows my card to anyone. These charges posted directly from my debit card.

Here it gets really bizarre. 3 days after my bank (Associated Bank) got me my money back and gave me a new card which I didn't use online at all. Mom calls me and says she got an email of Google charges again from Playstore. I checked the email and it had the last 4 digits of the card the bank just gave me 1 day before. Just 1 day before. Wow, how on earth is this even possible I wondered. And it was used from moms Gmail account. I looked at the Google Wallet and it showed my card and expiration but not my name and address and here was an important clue because if someone can access my wallet, they can see my drivers license for address and all of that so this has to be someone that is not in our house. It has to be a hacker. I also took into consideration the fact it could be someone who actually works at a credit card processing place where the banks get their cards from.

At this point I am totally confused. I looked at moms connected android devices from Google Play and none were in there except for her Note 4. What in the.... This is truly bizarre stuff here so I don't know if it is paranormal or not seriously. My brothers know to not mess with me because I disconnect internet from them for months on end if they p*** me off. I also sleep with my wallet ever since that first $180 charge.

[freetoroam]

Stop using all cards online, contact your banks fraud department and they will look into the times the transactions were made and from where....then you either call the police and get them to arrest someone in your household, or you let the fraud department do it for you.

One card being fraudulently used, can be passed as fraud from a hacker, but numerous cards and new cards being used, indicates you either have a dodgy postman or a dodgy brother.

Edited December 6, 2014 by freetoroam

[Patient Zero]

i wouldn't call this paranormal, unless you believe the soccer app loving thief is a spirit or demon.

Where is the common denominator here?

Do both of you use the same bank?

Have both of you purchased something online, with the cards in question, on the same device?

Who has access to both of your cards?

It's very possible it's a family member or friend.

Look for the common denominator and you'll likely find the culprit.

As freetoroam said, start the ball rolling on an investigation.

If the thief catches wind of you contacting law enforcement, unless their stupid, they'll at least stop.

At best, they'll fess up and beg you not to have them arrested.

[Bendy Demon]

I was gonna suggest that but you guys beat me to it.

Calling the credit card company is fist and foremost, they will probably be able to help you on this matter. Putting a stop to your current cards is essential too. Remove all the unnecessary apps on the Iphones because some of them can trick you into unknowingly making purchases.

As for the checks you are getting that you claim you aren't supposed to be getting, call the state that is sending them and tell them about it, if you don't you might be getting a nasty call and/or visit from the IRS and you risk losing everything including your car or home to pay off debts.

ALSO...you need to learn to do some really precise record keeping. After you make any online purchase, print out a copy of the e-mails sent that confirm your orders. Keep the e-mails on file on either your computer and/or flash drive as back-up in case it is needed.

Keep very detailed records of your finances, debts and purchases and don't use Iphones to make online purchases. Use a regular computer. Iphones/Androids are too easy, apparently, to hack.

Also..you might need to find a different credit card company because it could be that someone who works there is possibly contributing to the problem. Either way I hope you get it straightened out and soon.

Edited December 6, 2014 by Ryu

[Redefining Success]

why would you even consider asking the question on a paranormal forum?

[ozman]

Redifining success u talking to me and what question? Obviously this is something unexplained and almost paranormal. My card which is in my wallet and brand new never used, somehow ended up being used to purchase stuff on Google PLay. That is weird as it never happened to me.

[freetoroam]

My card which is in my wallet and brand new never used, somehow ended up being used to purchase stuff on Google PLay. That is weird as it never happened to me.

Why did your bank give you a new card? You know a new card does not mean new account details, the only thing which differs will be the 3 digit security code on the back, it all depends on why they issued a new card.

Banks do not like letting people off without paying their bills just because you say it was not you who used it.....you have to go through the fraud department for this. Let us know what they say.

Edited December 6, 2014 by freetoroam

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

1. Tell your/your mom's bank your cards may have been compromised, they will reissue.
   
2. Because these issues are with the Playstore you need to secure your Google account (who ever is charging things to from playstore has your mom's Google info)
   

• Log into Google
  
• choose security
  
• go to devices and activities, click "view activity"
  
• if there are any devices you don't recognize remove them
  
• Click on secure account
  
• change password
  
• check recovery information
  
• check account permissions ( remove any you don't recognize)
  

If you didn't find any "suspicious activity" or unknown devices that means that the charges might very well be made on your mom's devices, so you might want to have a closer look at who has access to them (i.e.little brothers). You might also want to add a password for playstore purchases.

[Redefining Success]

Redifining success u talking to me and what question? Obviously this is something unexplained and almost paranormal. My card which is in my wallet and brand new never used, somehow ended up being used to purchase stuff on Google PLay. That is weird as it never happened to me.

As youre the OP, then yes.

Some one must be using it, simple as.

In the first instance surely you would contact the bank or card issuer.

Could some one be fishing your mail? Snail mail, not e mail. Did the card and details arrive promptly? or was their a delay?

I dont see what a `ghost´ would want with i tunes or google.

Id be checking closer to home.

[coolguy]

Yeah this is strange stop useing these cards on line

[Oniomancer]

It doesn't have to be online. You might be the victim of skimming:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_fraud#Skimming

If you've got the right kind of card, it can even be scanned remotely:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_identity_theft

http://www.snopes.com/fraud/identity/pickpocket.asp

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

I think he needs to look closer to home and that the problem is equally that some one (whether its his brothers or friends of theirs) has not only access to their credit debit/debit card but also his mom's Google Play Store account because that's where the cards were used. The common denominator is her Google Play Store account that was used with her first credit card, used with her 2nd credit card and then used with ozman's debit card. If it was a random hacker they wouldn't be using her credit card(s) and later his debit car together with his mom's account. They would just be stealing the credit/debit card info. He needs to do what I outlined above to secure the account and I think it will also tell him who's doing it.

Also @ozman keep telling yourself that Mac isn't vulnerable to malware if that helps you sleep better, but know that if you connect to the internet then that just isn't true.

[ozman]

I just got back to this topic now. I didn't even know it was still on fire but I noe got the MasterCard secure code which asks for pins when people try to use it online.

[ozman]

Lately I have also noticed increased attempts to get into my Facebook and Microsoft accounts. See attached screenshot. I run some online sites that make money and I wonder if thieves are trying to steal those. I almost fell for a godaddy phishing email recently.

http://imgur.com/7YIsIJO

Edited December 20, 2014 by ozman

[Patient Zero]

why would you even consider asking the question on a paranormal forum?

Why not?

He posted the thread in the off topic section.

Why be afraid to ask questions? We have a ton of knowledgeable people here.

[Redefining Success]

Why not?

He posted the thread in the off topic section.

Why be afraid to ask questions? We have a ton of knowledgeable people here.

We do have a wealth of knowledge, but surely the card issuer and bank should of been contacted in the first instance, not pondering on a forum, then, retell the story here.

[ozman]

We do have a wealth of knowledge, but surely the card issuer and bank should of been contacted in the first instance, not pondering on a forum, then, retell the story here.

Well duh i already contacted them and they refunded me the money but i didnt ask them who is or how they are using my card. The fiirst time my name was charged to my card, the second time with the replacement card, my moms name was charged with the card meaning that person doesn't have access to my wallet. If they had access to my card inside my wallet they would have seen my name written on the card.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Did you secure and recover your mom's Google account yet?

[ozman]

Did you secure and recover your mom's Google account yet?

I didn't cuz she isn't a smartphone person and doesn't even use it for anything. It is just an account. But now that you told me, I will change the password for it. Thanks

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Your opening post said the charges stemmed from her Google account. Follow the steps I outlined earlier and you will probably figure out who is making the charges because Google identifies what devices are authorized on an account

1. Tell your/your mom's bank your cards may have been compromised, they will reissue.
   
2. Because these issues are with the Playstore you need to secure your Google account (who ever is charging things to from playstore has your mom's Google info)
   

• Log into Google
  
• choose security
  
• go to devices and activities, click "view activity"
  
• if there are any devices you don't recognize remove them
  
• Click on secure account
  
• change password
  
• check recovery information
  
• check account permissions ( remove any you don't recognize)
  

If you didn't find any "suspicious activity" or unknown devices that means that the charges might very well be made on your mom's devices, so you might want to have a closer look at who has access to them (i.e.little brothers). You might also want to add a password for playstore purchases.

[ozman]

Your opening post said the charges stemmed from her Google account. Follow the steps I outlined earlier and you will probably figure out who is making the charges because Google identifies what devices are authorized on an account

Yeah I am a tech savvy guy and did all those things except for the compromised account isn't one used on her device. I did all that research. Her device doesn't even have the movie and the games they bought using my card. They got both me and her for $180. She got frauded twice and i helped her get new cards each time. Wells Fargo and My Bank are both good about getting us our money back after fraud. The charge back fee only hurts Google.

Microsoft said "Suspicious login detected from Ukraine" to my account at Microsoft and all of a sudden I see around 7 Facebook password reset attempts on my FB account. My passwords are complex and I always use different passwords for different services. I doubt they compromised my web accounts. I think what may be going on here is an android compromise as I may have used my own card on android and you never know these days, android can get some malware. It ain't as tough as iOS that is for sure. What made me post about this on UM is the fact that they keep doing it everytime that we get a new card. So far it hasn't happened lately since my post on this forum.

My mom works days and I work nights and no one can get to her card easily and as for me, my brother brings his friend guests sometimes but he told me they would dare never and if they did they would use my name to run the card and not my moms names. Banks normally deny a card if name address and zip don't match what they have on file for that card number so I am surprised how they (associated bank) even let it go through. What made it is bizarre is same amount of charges that equaled to $180 initially for both her and I and then $42 for me again.

Your opening post said the charges stemmed from her Google account. Follow the steps I outlined earlier and you will probably figure out who is making the charges because Google identifies what devices are authorized on an account

I meant to quote you in my last post. I use my card more often online than my mother does. I run websites so pay hosting fees and order things online. Those stuff downloaded were never authorized on her account and not on mine. I checked history on both my 2 Google accounts and hers. It is as if someone ordered stuff from Playstore under her Gmail account "On a device that doesn't exist" No device at all, they just plain ordered with no device.

Edited December 22, 2014 by ozman

[ozman]

Here is the orders that show under her Google account. These were charged to my card. Somehow someone knows the connection between her and I even though we don't have same last names or same address with cards. My card shows hopkins address and hers another city.

NAME PRICE

STATUS CATEGORY

4000 FIFA points (FIFA 15 Ultimate Team)

$39.99

December 3, 2014

Complete

Android Apps

Divergent

$7.99

December 1, 2014

Complete

Movies & TV

Action & Adventure

[Redefining Success]

Well duh

Good boy

[ozman]

Good boy

Rude boy