What to do in case of Identity Theft?

[Createinator]

Hello LTT,

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this topic but LTT community is very prompt and friendly so I will take my chance!

In the past 6 months 6 fraudulent transactions have taken place through mine and my family member's credit cards and bank accounts.

 

Guessing that our PCs could be compromised, I have reinstalled all the operating systems and softwares 4 times since then. I have also upgraded 2 PCs running Windows XP to Windows 7 & 8.1. Changed all my Email ID, Bank, Credit Card and other details.

 

But, the probelem has occured again. This card has never been used on any website in the past 3 years and we have hardly ever used it at a Point of Sale in the past 12 months. I have no idea what is happening and how it is happening. I have taken all necessary actions regarding the fraudulent transactions but I want to know how I can protect myself from further fraud.

Any suggestion is welcom.

Thanks a lot in advance!

[thedigitalmilk]

contact the Bank, freeze all transactions until the bank can change your information to access the account. Do you do online banking?

Edit: Clarification, I don't mean buying things online i mean like managing your account online.

[Createinator]

contact the Bank, freeze all transactions until the bank can change your information to access the account. Do you do online banking?

Edit: Clarification, I don't mean buying things online i mean like managing your account online.

Yes I have frozen my accounts and blocked all my credit cards yesterday. I do access my bank account regualrly to catch any suspicious acitivities and I have been using a live usb key without persistent data to carry out all my online transactions. I have setup OTP(one time password) to authorise web based transactions. I regularly change my passwords and do not follow any set patterns.

[Grave]

Yes I have frozen my accounts and blocked all my credit cards yesterday. I do access my bank account regualrly to catch any suspicious acitivities and I have been using a live usb key without persistent data to carry out all my online transactions. I have setup OTP(one time password) to authorise web based transactions. I regularly change my passwords and do not follow any set patterns.

Next step would be to make sure you're not infected on whatever pc's you've been using, I think Don't ask how I missed that in your post unless you ninja edited it in. Not really sure if you can/should do anything else for your credit situation.

If there's any other personal info that might be at risk, you should look into handling that. Then again, I'm not sure who puts their SSN or whatever other countries use into any website, regardless of how safe your computer is.

Edit: Get a bank statement or something and contest any charges you have. Make sure they haven't fucked your credit over in any way and if they have, take care of that. That's about all I can think of if you haven't taken care of it yet or anything.

[thedigitalmilk]

run malware bytes anti malware see if it finds anything.

[Createinator]

run malware bytes anti malware see if it finds anything.

Doing just that ~ I have paid subscriptions to Malwarebytes and Eset Nod32 antivirus.

 

Next step would be to make sure you're not infected on whatever pc's you've been using, I think Don't ask how I missed that in your post unless you ninja edited it in. Not really sure if you can/should do anything else for your credit situation.

If there's any other personal info that might be at risk, you should look into handling that. Then again, I'm not sure who puts their SSN or whatever other countries use into any website, regardless of how safe your computer is.

Edit: Get a bank statement or something and contest any charges you have. Make sure they haven't fucked your credit over in any way and if they have, take care of that. That's about all I can think of if you haven't taken care of it yet or anything.

I am planning to close my accounts and open a new ones in a different bank.

 

 

Another question: can my whole network be compromised if any one pc is infected?

[Grave]

Doing just that ~ I have paid subscriptions to Malwarebytes and Eset Nod32 antivirus.

 

I am planning to close my accounts and open a new ones in a different bank.

 

 

Another question: can my whole network be compromised if any one pc is infected?

Yes, you can have an entire local network compromised if you have them connected. It's not always going to happen but there are many ways for infections/malware viruses to spread off of connected devices. You might also want to look into making your wireless router and network more secure after this, if you can and haven't already.

If you want some tips on how to safely scan all your pc's without causing red flags for malware to lock down your system(s) or mess with your antivirus/malware removal attempts, there's some guides on the LTT forums for you. Post in Networking if you want to know more about making your local network safer, I'm not an expert on that.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/134329-malware-removal-tools-pc-support-tools/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/90213-malware-removal-guide/

Both of these are good, recommend reading the 2nd link before proceeding with any downloads from the first. Basic idea is to get on a safe pc and network, download what you need onto a flash USB drive, rename them, run MBAM/etc. first on the infected computer(s) to check for basic stuff in safe mode, then rootkit removal tools, CCleaner, etc. for the harder stuff. Make sure if any .dll's or registry keys are messed with that you restore them or look them up as well, maybe do a system backup/restore if you need to.. It'll say all this in these guides and take you through a thorough procedure to, at the very least, help with the problem. If it's really bad, you can probably use a paid service to rid yourself of anything like Kaspersky or MBAM pro/whatever it's called.

Edit: Even with basic stuff, I've managed to remove all of the crap from a severely infected pc. I just didn't have any backups or restore points so I lost some data that can't be recovered and probably screwed up the pc pretty badly, but the pc was on its way out anyway so that didn't matter. No personal data stolen/lost or anything like that. I was reckless but yeah, over 150 trojans and a handful of boot sector issues, rootkits, what have you, all gone, multiple times. I'm confident you'll manage.

Also, it didn't help that I had firewall disabled, no antivirus, and many other risk factors, lol.

[GeekySole9354]

Sue the bank and get the money back

[thedigitalmilk]

Doing just that ~ I have paid subscriptions to Malwarebytes and Eset Nod32 antivirus.

 

I am planning to close my accounts and open a new ones in a different bank.

 

 

Another question: can my whole network be compromised if any one pc is infected?

If you have any other PC's or devices that have been in contact with anything that has been infected on the network it is a possibility.

[Createinator]

Yes, you can have an entire local network compromised if you have them connected. It's not always going to happen but there are many ways for infections/malware viruses to spread off of connected devices. You might also want to look into making your wireless router and network more secure after this, if you can and haven't already.

If you want some tips on how to safely scan all your pc's without causing red flags for malware to lock down your system(s) or mess with your antivirus/malware removal attempts, there's some guides on the LTT forums for you. Post in Networking if you want to know more about making your local network safer, I'm not an expert on that.

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/134329-malware-removal-tools-pc-support-tools/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/90213-malware-removal-guide/

Both of these are good, recommend reading the 2nd link before proceeding with any downloads from the first. Basic idea is to get on a safe pc and network, download what you need onto a flash USB drive, rename them, run MBAM/etc. first on the infected computer(s) to check for basic stuff in safe mode, then rootkit removal tools, CCleaner, etc. for the harder stuff. Make sure if any .dll's or registry keys are messed with that you restore them or look them up as well, maybe do a system backup/restore if you need to.. It'll say all this in these guides and take you through a thorough procedure to, at the very least, help with the problem. If it's really bad, you can probably use a paid service to rid yourself of anything like Kaspersky or MBAM pro/whatever it's called.

Edit: Even with basic stuff, I've managed to remove all of the crap from a severely infected pc. I just didn't have any backups or restore points so I lost some data that can't be recovered and probably screwed up the pc pretty badly, but the pc was on its way out anyway so that didn't matter. No personal data stolen/lost or anything like that. I was reckless but yeah, over 150 trojans and a handful of boot sector issues, rootkits, what have you, all gone, multiple times. I'm confident you'll manage.

Also, it didn't help that I had firewall disabled, no antivirus, and many other risk factors, lol.

Thanks, those links were very useful.

I will run those processes this weekend.

 

Although I have made fresh installs of OS on all my PCs but can't be too sure.

 

Secondly, is there any reliable way to scan a NAS, DAS and Data Stored on cloud remotely?

[thedigitalmilk]

Thanks, those links were very useful.

I will run those processes this weekend.

 

Although I have made fresh installs of OS on all my PCs but can't be too sure.

 

Secondly, is there any reliable way to scan a NAS, DAS and Data Stored on cloud remotely?

Just a question but are your copies of windows genuine, because i have seen illegitimate copies revealing 100's of issues on malwarebytes after a clean install...?

[Createinator]

Just a question but are your copies of windows genuine, because i have seen illegitimate copies revealing 100's of issues on malwarebytes after a clean install...?

 

100% clean, downloaded from Microsoft Store website and I am not running a single pirated software.

[thedigitalmilk]

100% clean, downloaded from Microsoft Store website and I am not running a single pirated software.

You are a better man than me then...

[Createinator]

You are a better man than me then...

But all the premium I paid for these software easily piratable has not saved me from identity theft...

I should use VMs for all my future financial transactions from now on

[thedigitalmilk]

But all the premium I paid for these software easily piratable has not saved me from identity theft...

I should use VMs for all my future financial transactions from now on

True, dont think there is much else that can be done just now, just switch banks scan all devices and keep your eyes peeled. Good Luck.

[Createinator]

True, dont think there is much else that can be done just now, just switch banks scan all devices and keep your eyes peeled. Good Luck.

Would it be a good idea to get new sim cards for my mobile phones?

[thedigitalmilk]

Would it be a good idea to get new sim cards for my mobile phones?

I don't think sim cards are a problem, I may be wrong but I don't really know...

[Jack.EXE]

Time to install Fedora Linux?

[Createinator]

Time to install Fedora Linux?

Using Peppermint OS in live USB key.

[Yoinkerman]

I doubt it's computer related, at least on your end. I would look at how your statements are handled and get new cc numbers and where they're being used.

[Createinator]

I doubt it's computer related, at least on your end. I would look at how your statements are handled and get new cc numbers and where they're being used.

Thanks, this will be my next step. I will cancel all my credit cards and apply for new ones.

[Jack.EXE]

pssst.. pssst...

 

 

has your bank installed the patch yet?

[Yoinkerman]

I wouldn't do that, it messes the crap out of your credit. Request new cc numbers from the bank, they will do that in these kinds of cases.

Thanks, this will be my next step. I will cancel all my credit cards and apply for new ones.

[Grave]

Thanks, those links were very useful.

I will run those processes this weekend.

 

Although I have made fresh installs of OS on all my PCs but can't be too sure.

 

Secondly, is there any reliable way to scan a NAS, DAS and Data Stored on cloud remotely?

Formatting or reinstalling OS's might not always solve all issues anyway, at least as far as I know. Cloud data is probably the safest of those, other storage I'm not so sure about. No idea how you should go about malware/virus removal if it just so happens it is. Try asking in Networking or Gen. Discussion. Right now, just work on the credit thing and setting up security on your computers. Then work on securing your local network a bit better if needed, and then mess with anything else.

I'm assuming the NAS or whatever doesn't have anything super important, though. Prioritize however you need to, but first step is to make sure you aren't getting attacked over and over again. That will make your life hell, especially if it continually spreads around. You might not even be affected. If MBAM, MSE, Kaspersky TDSSKiller.exe, Spybot Search & Destroy, etc. all come out clean, you're probably safe, very unlikely none of those would pick up something if they're all up to date and ran correctly. Run CCleaner and/or ComboFix, make sure nothing strange is going on and you're probably fine. Remember, do a full scan with MBAM and/or MSE over partial/quick scans. Takes much longer but it's the only way to really make sure. After that, you won't need to worry about it as much.

Pro tips on keeping things secure later on is just doing a full scan every 3 months, a quick scan once a month (if anything, MSE is pretty good), MBAM if you feel something is wonky, clearing temporary files/caches regularly if you can be bothered with losing your url history, and just making sure you have some form of protection. If you have Windows 8, you've already got the updated Windows Defender which is better than MSE (takes less resources, does the same thing, auto updates Windows, etc.).

Apologies if I freaked you out by suggesting an antimalware route! It's always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to things like identity theft.