# Can someone else use my IP address?



## Berlin (7 Nov 2007)

Can anyone tell me if its possible for someone else to use my IP address?
My credit card company have informed me of some transactions put through my account in the past week which are definitely not mine - I wondered if the cc info. could have been obtained through using my IP address? Or is that a really stupid question?


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## battyb (7 Nov 2007)

If someone was remotely connected to your computer they would be using your IP address to connect back out to the internet. It is also possible to spoof IP addresses but unlikely. If you don't have any security (Anti Virus, Firewall etc.) on your computer a remote keylogger could be placed on it and anything you type in the computer would then be emailed to fraudsters. Some people store all of their PIN's and passwords in a file in the My Documents folder which makes it very easy for anyone that way inclined. Did the credit card company tell you that someone used your IP address to make purchases your credit card? Were they able to give you the IP address used? They should be able to refund you for anything that was billed to the card but there are a few forms to fill in normally. Its just hassle. 

Did you get any odd emails recently looking for you to fill in details? credit card, passwords. It happened to a friend of mine who got an email pretending to be her Bank and she clicked on the link and put her details in without thinking, called me afterwards as it seemed a bit 'odd' the bank was asking her for her passwords. I told her to call the bank and credit card company asap which she did and cancelled all her accounts until the details could be changed. She didn't get ripped off but it was a close one.


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## Berlin (7 Nov 2007)

Thanks for the reply. No, the bank didn't mention IP address. That was just me wondering how the fraudsters did it.


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## xt40 (8 Nov 2007)

maybe they had your cc number??


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## Flax (8 Nov 2007)

Berlin said:


> I wondered if the cc info. could have been obtained through using my IP address? Or is that a really stupid question?



I'm not really too sure what you mean here. How would they obtain your credit card number by using your IP address?

Credit card fraud happens all the time. It could be the guy in the local petrol station who you gave your credit card to last week; it could be your flatmate (if you have one); it could be a dodgy website you gave your credit card details to; it could be a dodgy employee in the credit card company; it could be someone who intercepted your post, etc.

I would forget about the IP theory (it doesn't really make any sense - note I work in IT.)


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## c00lcarl (9 Nov 2007)

Flax said:


> How would they obtain your credit card number by using your IP address?


 
Online transactions may record your IP as a security measure but a fraudster would be unable to acquire cc details from an address. An IP address is generally speaking associated with only one PC (or network is a proxy server) at any one time and so the transaction can be traced (there is a useful resource to find out your current IP here: What is my IP address )

It is more likely that cc details were acquired by a virus or trojan being present on your PC or an online company not securing customer cc details properly

Carl ( ICCMhosting.com Staff )


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