Website lists full credit card details of 14 Canadians
A Bridgewater, N.S., woman was shocked to learn from CBC News that her full credit card information, plus home address, email and phone number, had been posted online.
The woman's personal information had been posted along with the names and details of 13 other people from across Canada.
Carrie Hurley knew someone was fraudulently using her card a few weeks ago. She checked her account online and saw a charge for one cent, and then for $42. She called her bank and changed her card.
But CBC News learned Friday that her problem was even worse.
The site listed her:
Full name.
Home addresses.
Email addresses.
Phone number.
Credit card information (including the name on the card, number, the three security code digits on the back and the expiry date).
“I panicked. I had you on one phone and the bank on the other ear,” Hurley told the CBC’s Yvonne Colbert, who broke the news to her.
The site Pastebin.com allows anyone to paste large amounts of text online. It's not known who posted the credit card information or how it was obtained.
There are many pages of similar information on the site.
CBC contacted several people on the list. All said their credit cards had been compromised, but none knew their information was online. The other addresses include those of a second woman in Nova Scotia, along with people in British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.
“It's scary. I don't know — why me? I can't imagine why anyone would target me. I could see if I was a big business owner,” Hurley said. “I'm afraid that if they got ahold of this credit card, what other cards can they get ahold of? I have other cards I’m worried about.”
To check if your information is on the site, do an online search for your name + pastebin.
The CBC contacted Halifax Regional Police. They contacted the banks involved in the information and are investigating.
