Hackers are draining bank accounts via the Starbucks app

CNN ^ | 05/14/15

[Enlightened1]

Thieves are stealing money from people's credit cards, bank and PayPal accounts -- by first tapping into their Starbucks mobile app.

Starbucks (SBUX) on Wednesday acknowledged that criminals have been breaking into individual customer rewards accounts.

The Starbucks app lets you pay at checkout with your phone. It can also reload Starbucks gift cards by automatically drawing funds from your bank account, credit card or PayPal.

That's how criminals are siphoning money away from victims. They break into a victim's Starbucks account online, add a new gift card, transfer funds over -- and repeat the process every time the original card reloads.

These thefts were first reported by consumer journalist Bob Sullivan.

[Enlightened1]

This is the danger of going cashless.

[caww]

...”This is the danger of going cashless”...

Absolutely....but they will do it just the same and convince society it’s safe anyway.

[Secret Agent Man]

One of many and certai ly not the biggest.

The biggest is big brother freezing your accounts. Or just taking them. For any number of reasons. In the future for being white, or a man.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

And....”for the children”.

[Enlightened1]

Here is the video of the Starbucks CEO getting interviewed by CNN. Found it interesting that their sales were down. I wonder if that had anything to do with their Anti-Second Amendment stance?

http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2014/11/03/starbucks-ceo-on-mobile-payments.cnnmoney/

[caww]

LOLOL...that’s right...their favorite line used 24/7

[nickcarraway]

But that’s just to pay for a few coffees.

[Fungi]

Bingo! What the hell is wrong with cash? You pay, no record for any criminal, and it is over.

[Enlightened1]

It's all about tracking everything about you. They can't track you with cash..., or well it's A LOT harder and too many loops to jump through.

This is why they want the FCC to control the Internet. The Smart Phones spy on you. The Smart Meters spy on your utilities usage, the iWatch (aka I watch you) tracks you, all the spying on your email and anything you do in the Cloud via Facebook, Twitter and Amazon.

It's all then analyzed through algorithms, and then they can label you and make a case against you. Oh and if you are not on it then you risk being labeled too.

The best way to counter this gigantic merging spy grid is to pump it full of disinformation. That way it can't properly analyze you.

[shove_it]

If you gotta buy a cup of coffee on credit, you don’t belong buying it at all. Learn to brew it at home. That’s why I’ve never darkened the door of a Starbucks and never will (not you Enlightened 1) /ranting geezer.

[wetgundog]

Can’t get me, I don’t drink that expensive liberal swill.

[jetson]

I’ve been using cash more and debit cards less.

[BobL]

I LOVE IT. They won’t even bother paying cash for a $3.00 purchase...oh well.

[Fungi]

Thank you for saying it for me. No Twitter, mo Facebook (aka Farcebook), no iwatch, no Instagram, no....you get my point. I will not conform.

[Swordmaker]

I think this may be ping worthy. . . the Starbucks App is not secure if you use a weak password. Hackers can break into your Starbucks account using their own computer or mobile phone and then add gift cards in their name to drain your bank account, charging up your linked credit card, or linked PayPal Account. . . all before you know about it. These crooks gain your information from WIFI transaction data at Starbucks and then go-to-town with your account after they crack your password. Merely blocking gift cards is insufficient, because once they are in your account, they can activate gift cards. Make sure you use a complex password using upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols on your Starbucks account to keep them out. . . PING!

Apple Starbucks App Security Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

I challenge the members of the Apple ping list to each donate at least $10 each to the latest Freepathon. I HAVE donated $100. Many members of the Apple Ping list are already rising to the challenge. Join them. Let's show the power of the Apple Ping list in supporting Freerepublic!

If you have ordered an Apple Watch,
MAKE A DONATION TO THE FREEPATHON!

[SamAdams76]

I like to use randomly generated passwords.

A good example is this one:

kA7&)~^CxqYh(~Vv

Now that might seem hard to remember but it's actually easy if you write out a coded phrase that allows you to piece the password together and store it in the cloud where you can access through a mobile device.

For instance, this is how I would write out the password above...

korean APPLE 7 & ) ~ ^ COFFEE xbox queen YELP hulu ( ~ VISA visa

Now nobody but me would be able to piece together the password from that.

[WKUHilltopper]

Because they can’t control you if you use cash. Going digital means they can flip off the switch anytime they want.

[Fungi]

Bongo!!!!!!! You are hereby given the most highly acclaimed seven exclamation mark award.

[WVNan]

I’m glad I never do business with Starbucks.

[Diana in Wisconsin]