MasterCard Deemed Unsafe? 'Anonymous' WikiLeaks Supporters Claim Privacy Breach

Hackers group Anonymous, which has been working diligently in support of WikiLeaks, claims to have acquired information for numerous MasterCard credit cards following its attack on MasterCard's website.

"To people of the industrial world, dismiss your #Mastercard now!!!" the group's Twitter account posted, with a link to alleged leaked credit card numbers, before the account was shut down by Twitter.

A seemingly related campaign called Operation Bank-Troll is quickly gaining momentum on the Web. An image is being circulated encouraging folks to spread the message "MasterCard deemed unsafe" and that private account details have been breached from MasterCard.

MasterCard, for its part, is denying the rumors. It stated in a tweet, "Recent rumors of a security breach are false & cardholder numbers that were published are fictional. Your info is secure."

But the rumor persists. MyBankTracker says private info has indeed been compromised, emphasizing that the ongoing WikiLeaks cyber war "is getting personal."

MyBankTracker captured a screenshot of the numbers tweeted out by Anonymous, blurring out part of them to protect privacy. They appear to be credit card numbers and expiration dates.

Though the credit card tweet was indeed the last update before Twitter suspended the account, Twitter tells HuffPostTech it has no comment as to why the account was taken down.

Anonymous spent Wednesday taking down the MasterCard and VISA websites while disrupting others, reportedly including Sarah Palin's. By end of day, new Twitter accounts had surfaced, apparently belonging to the organization.

UPDATE: MasterCard has reiterated its stance, tweeting to HuffPost, "Rumors of security breach false. Numbers published fake. Customer information secure." It also linked to this statement.

Comments

[ANONYMOUSentity]

01:50 PM on 01/05/2011

We are ANONYMOUS and we have no face. Please watch this, a message from one of our own, before you judge us by the media....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tth03B1sxc

We are ANONYMOUS
We do not forgive
We do not forget

[duskdemon]

12:52 PM on 12/12/2010

numbers are fake. info is secure. leak is only 5000 barrels per day.

[logicanada]

01:34 PM on 12/10/2010

A return to simple cash transactions would be soooooo refreshing. If you don't have cash you don't 'need' the trinket you covet so much.

[aristippe]

01:55 PM on 12/11/2010

obviously u don't understand modern finance.

[Trythis]

09:54 AM on 12/18/2010

I've gone back to writing checks rather than using debit or credit cards. I read this headline on Reuters news and wonder how much had to do with suspending the Wikileaks account. This article says they receive as much as $.44 from a merchant to process a debit/credit transaction but it costs the bank only from 7 to 12 cents.

"New Proposed Fed Rules On Debit Card Fees Crush Visa And MasterCard"

[PoliticalRockChick]

10:46 AM on 12/10/2010

You cannot use your Mastercard, Visa, Amex cards and paypal account to support Wikileaks, but you can continue to use your Mastercard, Visa, Amex cards and paypal account to support the Ku Klux Klan. - Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report. LOL

[Rosewren]

01:16 AM on 12/10/2010

There are several petitions circulating that can be signed in support of Assange. Here is the top one but if you Google "petition Assange" you can have several choices.

http://www.readersupportednews.org/julian-assange-petition

[skatanic666]

04:22 PM on 12/09/2010

Earlier today the MasterCard servers were taken down by a DDOS attack and replaced with a phishing scam for at least a few hours. All traffic to the servers, including payments made by cardholders, was routed to the perpetrators of the attack. A spokesperson from MasterCard said, "We are doing everything in our power to remedy the situation. We are currently working on getting our servers back up, but have already taken down connection to the phishing servers. We can't know how many people were affected until we know how long the information was being stolen for, but anyone that has used their card today may have been affected."

[zeebruce]

02:49 PM on 12/09/2010

American Express will be my credit card of choice for all future transactions by myself and my business. Where I cannot use AMEX I will be using cash or checks in the future. The US Justice Department should be investigating Visa and Mastercard for their abusive interest rates and penalties. Visa and Mastercard personnel never been prosecuted for theses ongoing illegal activities. It is time that they were.

[Oranges13]

01:12 PM on 12/09/2010

How is this helpful? I'm generally pro-wikileaks but I use Mastercards. Why should MY cards be compromised because of some "evil" corporation?! Not. Cool.

[walkerke]

03:38 PM on 12/09/2010

Your numbers haven't been compromised. They're just trying to freak every body out.

And this isn't Wikileaks' doing. This is being done as retaliation to Wikileaks'/Assange's treatment.

[polishlogician]

11:29 PM on 12/12/2010

collateral damage...

[mlkx]

01:11 PM on 12/09/2010

Well if "private account details have been breached from Mastercard," maybe Hilary can finally get Ban Ke-Moon's credit card details, that is if the US 'diplomats' at the UN haven't "found" it for her already.

[persianadvocate]

11:58 AM on 12/09/2010

Freedom of speech? Priceless.

For everything else, there's Mastercard (tm)

[wdw505]

10:00 AM on 12/09/2010

who cares.......just watch your statements

[themainpoint]

08:52 AM on 12/09/2010

Are the pay as you go cards safer?

[cmalloy]

08:44 AM on 12/09/2010

So many people criticize Anonymous for their actions and characterize them as bad. These are people that would have probably criticize those who performed sit-ins during the Civil Rights Era. When the system is designed to oppress people who work for freedom of expression, it is unjust.

Those who take action, although legally questionable, are doing the right thing in opposition of injustice.

An unjust law is no law at all. - St. Augustine, De libero arbitrio, Bk. I
(Also an inspirational quote employed by MLK Jr. while in Birmingham Jail)

[Michael Morrison]

01:30 PM on 12/09/2010

The folks who performed sit-ins during the Civil Rights Era didn't hide behind anonymity. Their actions and identities were there for all to see.

[AGooglyMinotaur]

09:15 AM on 12/10/2010

So were the actions and identities of the people they protested against. Is that true of the cables? Anonymous is a clandestine response to a clandestine problem.

[OliverTwist]

08:28 AM on 12/09/2010

For us now, there is no truth and justice.

It's all power and privilege.

Big Fritz told Mastercard l he didn't like this Assange guy, and he wanted him cut off, see.

So they did.

Who cares about laws anymore, anyway?

Laws are for suckers.

[OliverTwist]

08:05 AM on 12/09/2010

Mastercard accounts are only as secure as the whim of the government.

No charges. No judge. No trial.

[Oilygarch]

02:47 PM on 12/10/2010

No shirt / No shoes / No service.

Sorry, just had to. ;-P