I almost forgot. One more reason that print circulation at the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette may be falling more steeply than elsewhere in the country is the credit-card disaster of last winter.
Now, what would make me remember that?
Earlier today we received a message on our answering machine to call a fraud hotline for one of our Visa cards. A half-hour ago, a very helpful woman at Chase told us that $2,700 had been transferred from that card and into someone’s pocket just yesterday. We canceled the account immediately.
I have no one to blame but myself. Shortly after the story broke some months back, I checked to see whether we were among those whose credit-card numbers had been stolen. We were, but I figured that if nothing bad happened immediately, then we would be OK. Inertia is a powerful force.
And how stupid and/or naive am I? I just got finished entering a different credit-card number at the Globe’s customer-service site.
Do I know for a fact that this attempted $2,700 transfer was related to the Globe? No. But I’m willing to bet that it was.
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MovedtoNewYork
Wow, sorry to hear that, Dan. A day or two after that story broke, I got a call from “my bank” asking me if I wanted to enroll in fraud protection, and would I just give them my social security number, address, etc. to “verify” who I was (recall that they called ME, not the other way around). I immediately cancelled my card.As an amusing follow-up, I of course forgot to put my new credit card into the Globe system. After a couple months, the Globe started sending me letters, but they were VERY polite, and my papers kept coming with no interruption. I eventually paid up, but I’m curious how long I could have gone on without doing so. I suspect they were in no hurry to lose another subscriber.
Howard Owens
I like Steve Yelvington’s theory … the not-quite-national, but large metros are being hit the hardest.
MeTheSheeple
I switched to a paper bill after that debacle, and got a new credit card.The Globe was chasing me down a week or two ago, offering a $20 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card and a 3(?)-percent discount on the subscription if I gave them another credit card. I laughed.Fooled me once, shame on you. Fooled me twice …Dan, you can get your credit reports for free (free-free, not the free-we’re-signing-you-up-for-a-$20-a-month-service free) from http://www.annualcreditreport.comYou probably oughtta get ’em now, and maybe in a couple months … and possibly look into the “fraud watch” thing to prevent additional accounts from being opened.More info here:http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htmMore advice here:http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/339
Brian
Do you realize that a company that is owned by a banking institution made a nice profit off of your loss? And that very institution could have prevented your loss but did nothing in order to protect its profits?Non-profit web site-www.cv2now.com
Anonymous
I’m one of the people who’se CC number was compromised too. At the time, the Globe was promising everyone effected one free year of a credit protection service. I have heard nothing of this since. So, when is this going to happen?
Anonymous
Some genius probably confused the annual free credit report we are all entitled to anyhow. Don’t hold your breath. Your credit card issuer probably will alert you as they did DK.