15 Most Popular Things Purchased with Stolen Credit Card Data
When spending is up, the opportunity for fraud is up as well, so during this holiday season, consumers and retailers should be especially on their guard against fraudsters. During this holiday season in particular, scammers have developed some ingenious new ways to skim customer credit card info that could potentially lead to another data breech like Target's massive 2013 data disaster.
Unless you want to pay in cash and miss out on all the miles, cash back, paper trail, consumer protection, and other benefits of using a credit card, you'll have to assume a little bit of a risk. Still, as long as you check your statement before you pay it, you should be fine, since the Consumer Protection Act means you're not liable if you report the fraud within 60 days of receiving your statement.
So what kind of stuff should you be looking out for? According to MarketWatch's research, it turns out thieves tend to have certain tastes. Here's a list of the most commonly purchased items with stolen credit card numbers.
- Rolexes
- Louis Vuitton handbags
- Diamond rings
- MacBooks
- Smartwatches
- Cases for electronic devices
- Gift cards for iTunes and Best Buy
- World of Warcraft gold
- Website hosing services
- Graphic and web design
- Search engine optimization
- Coupons for Facebook ads
- Pizza
- Red Bull
- Hotel rooms
Besides being useful to know what to expect to show up on your credit card statement, this list sheds some light on exactly who is doing the stealing. Virtual thieves are usually faceless, but this list provides quite the face.