A special task force that combines Secret Service investigators with local law enforcement experts has made a major break in the case of a large wave of fraudulent activity involving credit card accounts belonging to people who live and work on Capitol Hill, CHS has learned.
According to David A. Iacovetti, Special Agent in Charge of the Electronic Crimes Task Force Seattle office, investigators made a break on the case late Friday night. “We addressed it so no further fraud could be conducted,” Iacovetti said.
Iacovetti would not confirm that this wave involved a skimming device on a point of sale system somewhere on the Hill. Because this is an open and ongoing investigation, Iacovetti said it’s too soon to release details of how the accounts were defrauded but that the situation has been “adjudicated.” “Our guys got on it quick,” Iacovetti said.
Iacovetti said the investigation continues and people should remain vigilant of suspicious activity on their accounts. “We’re continuing,” he said. “There was a point of interest that we were working on Friday. That threat was reduced.”
Iacovetti tells CHS that agents will work to “reverse engineer” the circumstances and could be able to trace back all fraudulent activity for victims.
“Adjudication is the legal process by which an arbiter or judge reviews evidence and argumentation including legal reasoning set forth by opposing parties or litigants to come to a decision which determines rights and obligations between the parties involved.”
Somebody get Special Agent Iacovetti a dictionary, stat!
“Iacovetti tells CHS that agents will work to ‘reverse engineer’ the circumstances and could be able to trace back all fraudulent activity for victims.”
I can loan those guys my bank statements, which will allow them to trace back all the fraudulent activity for THIS victim!
Better bust out that dictionary, because adjudication also means “Bring to an end; settle” ;-)
A judge has settled and brought to an end the fraud? Really? Even as “Iacovetti said the investigation continues and people should remain vigilant of suspicious activity on their accounts”?
“Adjudicate” isn’t the right word, obviously, but it sure sounds like they’re doin’ something!
They cracked the case ….. good work!!! And the CHS Blog had the story big time for days … again, good work!!
Now, who and where and how??? Still more in the tube … as in pneumatic tube which pushes info forward …
Agent Iacovetti was clear with me that these cases are not yet solved and there is a tremendous amount of work left to do. I document him as saying so.
Iacovetti said the investigation continues and people should remain vigilant of suspicious activity on their accounts. “We’re continuing,” he said. “There was a point of interest that we were working on Friday. That threat was reduced.”
Exactly, etaoin shrdlu! I’m sure if a couple of us just got together and compared our bank statements, we could very quickly figure out that 1 place we all have in common. It doesn’t really seem like it should be that difficult. Obviously there’s more to an investigation than it seems.
My card was blocked last Friday after several purchases were being made in the UK. A friend of mine, who also has the Alaska Airlines BoA Visa, had his card blocked the next day, as someone was using it in Los Angeles.
Just saw this post and thought i should check my Chase account and found this for $62.82:
FARMACIA SANTOS MEDICOS SANTO DOMING
Unfortunately, I have never been to the Dominican Republic, although i hear it’s nice. Canceled this card and will call the cops after work. This is scary stuff people. CHECK YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS!
Thanks to CHS for reporting this. I didn’t think too much of the fraud when BOA called us last Tuesday to inform us a physical copy of our credit card was being used in Russia. BOA caught it after one transaction, although several more were attempted and declined. I filed a report with SPD this morning thanks to this article. Crazy how widespread it is.
BOA said that our card was skimmed….I hope CHS does a follow-up as I would ultimately like to know which establishment (or establishments) on the Hill were responsible.
good work everyone. still would like to know where this all started. wish we COULD get all together and start a google docs or compare notes.
just glad it’s all over!
Apparently I bought $612.00 in eyewear at a mall in South Africa while I was sleeping last night.
I haven’t used my card in weeks other than at Safeway and usually pay cash for everything else. I ran out of cash last night for the first time and used it at Madison Pub to get a beer. It wasn’t until Madison Pub submitted their transactions this morning that the fraud showed up… so not sure there’s a connection or what but sucks nonetheless.
I was hit by this recently. Coworker was informed by his bank it was likely the Broadway QFC (I’m assuming the N Broadway one since I shop there often).
I still don’t believe it’s useful to post the names of locations where we think the information could have been stolen. There are too many variables and the harm outweighs any good that will come of it. As soon as there is anything definitive, CHS will report it.
of course, B of A will say it was a “skimmer”. They don’t want anybody to know that nobody’s database of card info is unsecure. It’s entirely possible the card processor or VISA even was hacked and the hacker was running the cards to see what they could get.
chase online transactions showed a $6.20 debit and credit from POS DEBIT STD SOLUTIONS 800-4490299 DE this morning. ‘POS DEBIT’ makes it seem like my PIN was used, but the transaction is pending like a signature authorization. Thanks for the reporting, otherwise I wouldn’t have checked and deactivated the card in time.
I am new to Seattle and visited the Capitol Hill two weeks ago and used my Amex at Bleu Bistro. Amex fraud division contacted me within three days of my purchase on the hill with questions regarding several charges at a mall in Baton Rouge, LA.
My card was shut down by BECU fraud dept. on Saturday afternoon (in the middle of moving house and trying to get my halloween on). I love BECU, but sadly they don’t have 24/7 customer service, so I wasn’t able to confirm that my card had been hit by the nefarious STD solutions until just now. Yup. Reporting to the police after work. How was I sure it was fraud? I’d never shop at Wal Mart. :D
Thanks to CHS following the story, at least I had a good idea about what was going on and realized I just had to let it go until today.
Also, I get the pros/cons of naming businesses here, but I’m just fine letting the police do the work. Hopefully they’ll let us know one day, I’m just interested.
Over this weekend a suspect pending charge from STD-Solutions for $5-and then a credit back for the same amount-just walked into the Chase on Thomas to get my card cut up :(
I live on Thomas, used my card at QFC more than any other place
Yay for law enforcement.
“We addressed it so no further fraud could be conducted,” Iacovetti said.
I hope that the case eventually leads to an arrest…
I’m just really glad that they worked/are working on this and made headway. I remember 5 years ago (the last time I had fraudulent charges on one of my cards) that it was very “sorry, not much we can do,” so it’s nice to know that when it’s evident something is going on to this degree in the area that people are working to fix it. Thanks! I feel safer swiping my card around the Hill now.
I don’t live or work on the Hill – I’m out in Wedgwood, but was notified on the 30th that my card was being used in Antioch and other areas of the SF Bay Area. That said, my bank, BECU, didn’t mention the need to call SPD… Oh, and they did mention a pending charge from STD Solutions (in fact, a search for them brought up this post).
I had two charges on my account. One was made yesterday (Sunday, Halloween) for about $5. The other was made today, November 1st, for around $150. The first one from from somewhere called Solo Mobile, and the larger one from from a place called Couch Tard. (wtf sort of name is that!?)
I went into the Chase on Cap. Hill and they took care of it for me on the spot. I couldn’t file an ‘official’ dispute until they posted, but they gave me provisional credit for the amount that was pending. YaY Chase!
Based on what my bank told me the common thread was QFC (not sure if they meant the one on Broadway or the one on 15th)
It’s possible that we’ll continue to see a wave of reports as the thieves use account info that was accessed before the Secret Service took action.
I’m kinda of a betting man, and I’d bet that some business’ POS was hacked or left wide open for some kids to have their way. The USSS prolly found the merchant and had them close the security hole. Merchants, I implore you; Close to close your (security) holes.
$300 at a Halloween store
$100 ??? can’t remember where
and $37 at Jack in the Box – that’s a lot of tacos!
they also tried to use it back east in the U.S.
but we’ve already had fraud call us and tore up the cards
Rat Bastard’s!!
Swiped my card at Rite Aid, and then charges were made today.
But I believe the USBank at Broadway and John replaced the card readers on their ATMs over the last couple weeks. I use their ATMs somewhat frequently (once or twice a month) and noticed that the same ATMs now have different card readers.
Just an observation, may not have anything to do with this case.
$40 charged on my debit card to a gas station in Orlando, FL. Wee. I live around Cal Anderson and work downtown.
SHELL OIL 3096 CURRY FORD RD ORLANDO
I have a US Bank card and luckily my bank caught it and declined purchases before any money was taken from my account. They stated that STD Solutions was a charge attempt as was a children’s clothing store they didn’t name nor it’s location. I shopped at Broadway QFC on Sunday and live on the hill and used the card at a couple of the north Hill convenience stores.
I visited Capitol Hill all the way back in March, and I also got the fradulent charges from places in British Columbia and STD Solutions this weekend. QFC was definitely a place that I visited and used my card at.
Okay, I must admit to checking back in the CHS posts to see if either of the Belmont Court Russian spies worked at a data processing center on the hill.
Neither did, of course.
But dang.
;)
I live in Federal Way and went to dinner on Capitol Hill on 10/15. On 10/27, I got a call from BECU wanting to know if I had made an online purchase for baby clothing in the amount of $7.20. It was charged through SFD Solutions. Evidently, the ruse is to find accounts that will allow a small transaction to go through so that they can run up larger amounts after that. My card was promptly canceled. I didn’t lose any $ and I know that some of you have. I strongly encourage you to file a report with the Seattle PD. Even though it was only $7.20, I did and even have a case #. Filing will help to put these crooks in jail and might help some of you get some of your money back from your bank Couldn’t hurt.
This happened to me in mid-August. Two $500 transactions in Orange County, CA, on a Friday, so they didn’t post to my account until Monday.
Use my debit card all the time at grocery stores (Safeway on Madison and 15th&John, QFC on Broadway and 15th, Citgo, Shell, and at my own credit union (Group Health) plus credit union ATMS in the Courthouse complex downtown). Oh, and my neighborhood mini-mart.
My credit union replaced the funds the same day after I filed a police report with SPD and an Affidavit of Fraud with my bank.
I am grateful to my credit union but utterly dismayed my the scale of the fraud.
Came home to a call from my bank yesterday: Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s, Macy’s and more Macy’s charges in Indiana before Bank of America put a fraud hold on my account. Only places I’ve shopped recently on Capitol Hill were QFC, WA State Liquor and RiteAid. Looks like others are also reporting QFC on Broadway to be a common link.
As far as being this thing being handled – I doubt it. My card was compromised Sunday and yesterday 11/1.
I live and work in Queen Anne, and my first charge of $6.60 to STD Solutions was made. Soon after, there was a charge at a chevron in California followed by a $800.00 charge at Target blocks away from Chevron. This all happened immediately after my direct deposit went through.
Ok so I was awaken to a call from my bank this morning to see if I was in Italy… I was like no but I am in bed it’s 7 AM what up? She begins to tale the great story about someone in Italy that was buying over 300 worth of grocerys on my tab… She then starts to read off all my transactions from the past week and then it hits me the skimmer is easy to find, how you say? simple we all used our cards at the same place, I think if we all work together we can solve this problem we must find the common store we all shopped at I think it’s vaule village or the shell station on the corner of broadway and pike let me know if this is catching some traction?
My card had the STD solutions “test run” debit/credit; then around $300 was charged at a night club in Moscow, Russia; luckily Chase cancelled my card after those purchases due to the suspicious activity; but the person attempted nearly 5 more purchases with my cancelled card.
The most common store I’m seeing everyone shop at is the QFC on Broadway. Everyone keeps listing the businesses they’ve been using, and thats the consistent one I keep having in common.
My ATM card was “skimmed” off of a gas pump about three weeks ago on Capitol Hill. They were able to capture the pin number and reproduce a card with my account information linked to it. Over a thousand dollars was withdrawn from my account from various ATM machines in South Seattle within about a two hour time span. Luckily, I caught it that same day and was able to freeze my account and get a new card. I was a little surprised that BECU didn’t catch the excessive withdraw’s before I did but, they were very prompt in acting on it and credited my account back within a week. Lesson learned: always pay inside the store with cash or credit.
Before including phone numbers in an article, it would be a good idea to check them. Calling (206) 625-5011 results in a routing tree labyrinth that even the most dedicated citizen is unlikely to penetrate. I certainly gave up after 3 minutes.
If the Seattle PD is actually interested in garnering statistics, they must make it easier to report the information they’d like to have.
On the lighter side, American Express caught the attempted frauds, declining the charges and simultaneously emailing, phoning, and flagging my online account. Their fees are high, but their service really is excellent.
I lived on capitol hill and my Delta Card – AMEX was used in the Bronx for $600 at Macys. AMEX caught it and refunded the money. My BoA debit card was also hacked and used in the Dominican Republic at a car shop for $50. BoA caught that as well and fixed the problem immediately. I am very happy they caught the person doing this. Thank you!!
The staffing of the line varies, SPD tells us. It’s their non-emergency line so service requirements are different. We’ll check in with SPD to see if there’s an easier way to deal with the tree.
The tree isn’t that deep — you want 2 then 8
My card suffered from the “std solutions” test charge, followed by several $110 charges at a Target in Stockton,CA. This happened right after I used an automated parking meter on Capital Hill, which would be a very disconcerting connection indeed!
Not saying it isn’t possible — in fact, I’m checking with SDOT to find out if they’ve been contacted in this investigation — but remember that any transaction in recent time maybe as far back as a few months could have exposed your account to this breach.
Who’s minding your store while Seattle so-called white-collar crime wave runs rampant. Been kept pretty much on the down-low by local Secret Service agents. Makes one seriously wonder just who is involved and what culture are they predominently a part of. I’d really be interested in this cutting-edge data if and when anyone can send it to [email protected]?thanks in advance and do not forget to VOTE!
My debit card got hit on 10/30/10 for $107 at a WalMart in South Carolina. There are only two places on Capital Hill that I use my card. This worries me.
Don’t give up, it looks like they don’t staff the line after a certain time. I called at lunch time today and quickly got to a person (I think all I had to do was press 2)
No one has seemed to have brought up the point that a businesses’ credit card machine/software isn’t unique. I’m sure a lot of CapHill businesses use the same readers and programs, and one of those versions wasn’t secure. While QFC seems to be a common thread, it’s also just a big place that a lot of us are going to shop at and use a card…it would be a common thread regardless. You’d likely run into the same amount of overlap between victims if you filter by machine/software that has ever run the card. The person who did this might live near by and might have tapped into a lot of places.
I’m not trying to vindicate the QFC (they could be involved), but let’s not throw them under the bus as the only trouble maker just yet (people have already said they’ve never shopped there and been hit). I feel like them coming off as the only issue will deter people from checking statements if they think “well, I’ve never shopped there, can’t be me”
I too have charges from businesses in various states, including the already named STD Solutions. Most charges are under $20 & could’ve easily gone unnoticed if I weren’t on a tight budget checking my account regularly. I have used my card minimally in past weeks & since the wave the only Cap Hill business I visited prior to the breach was the QFC on Pike & Broadway. I used the self-checkout yesterday & within hours the 1st fraudulent charge showed up.
In my opinion, holding a balance above $500 on a commonly-used card is unwise. I was hit last week for $55, and there was only $120 more they could have stolen. OH, THE RISK REDUCTION we all could achieve with such a simple technique.
This was my first incident, aside from $5 a few years ago. I visit CapHill sometimes and buy there.
If you want anecdote: Someone in Brazil bought $35 in movie tickets and $25 in McDonalds. Hooptie! Control your own loss risk, fools.
I was hit this morning 11-04-10 with the news from Chase Bank that my debit card was used improperly used to purchase over $800 of jewelry from a store in Spain. The fraud department of Chase Bank denied the charge and canceled my card. I live in Capitol Hill and have used my card in both QFC stores on Broadway and other stores in Capitol Hill. I found a charge from STD Solutions for $6.20 which is pending and is the source of my problem.
I went to broadway grill 9/27, I was called 7 days ago by my bank because of fraudulent activity from STD solutions. Quite interesting
SO, funny story.
I was reading this article, and it prompted me to check my account.
I noticed a strange $300 charge last week (halloween) to TRANS KIBO TRAVELS LTD. Having no plans to go to Killamanjaro soon, I called in.
They mentioned that there had been a $6.15 charge and refund to STD SOLUTIONS a few days prior.. . I googled it.. and it landed me back on this website
Chase is cool about it, though.
I live in Santa Monica & I got a call yesterday from Bank of America Fraud Protection. A small charge was also made & then credited by STD Solutions supposedly in Delaware.. This being the said “test charge” before several other large purchases were made. Bank of America has canceled my card (that I’ve had memorized for over a decade & is saved in all of my automatic payment accounts) & is sending me a new one. But beware Los Angeles, looks like the crime has moved down the coast. I have not yet reported this to the police, not sure that I will yet as I haven’t heard of it happening to anyone else in LA thus far.
Unfortunately, I found out the hard way about the fraudulent charges on my card. I went out for lunch with my co-workers and my card was declined. WTF Bank of America didn’t even have the courtesy to let me know! I called them and they said there was the “STD Solutions” charge in Delaware of $9.60. I asked them what that was and they said it looked like a children’s store charge, but now I know that it’s not true, still not sure what it is except some sort of “test” charge. My card was being used in Pakistan, and I live in Virginia. Soo be careful people..
I (almost) just got hit with a $1,100.00 charge on my bank card at Ralph Lauren in the UK. This happened yesterday. I do shop on Capitol Hill (T.Joe’s especially) but mostly do my purchasing on Rainier at the QFC etc. Luckily my credit union contacted me and they blocked the charge…phew!
I was trying to buy coffee in Ellensburg and card did not work, immediately usbank called me to confirm or deny std purchase. Had to cancel card and still waiting for new one. A slight convenience but they caught it and it looks like it’s been affecting a lot of people! I live in Northgate area.
I got the same as above. $7.70 charge from STD, then a credit for the same amount. Chase fraud division caught it and contacted me. The person I spoke with said it was a children’s clothing store in delaware and the transaction was done via computer (big suprise there). I picked up an email virus last week and I’m pretty sure this is how they got my card #. Be sure to either wipe your computer or do a full system scan with a malware detector. I used malwarebytes which took care of it.
I just got hit over the Thanksgiving holiday for over a thousand dollars in charges at the Gap, H&M and other stores in California, plus that STD Solutions one. The only place on Capitol Hill I have shopped in the past 3 months is at the Broadway QFC where I stopped in to grab a soda from the cold case and stupidly used my debit card instead of cash.
this happened to me this weekend 2/20/11
be warned –this is still happening.