Just because your credit cards are in your wallet, doesn’t mean they are safe…U.S. Secret Service agents continue to investigate a string of credit/debit card fraud cases on Daniel Island, even though the alleged “point of compromised” has been identified and shut down.

The Daniel Island business that served as the "point of compromise" in a rash of debit/credit card fraud cases has taken steps to shut down the breach, according to an investigator with the Charleston office of the U.S. Secret Service.

"The point of compromise has been identified and that business has taken clear steps to rectify the situation so that that compromise is no longer available to the cyber criminals," said John Kenney, Resident Agent In Charge.

While Agent Kenney did not release the name of the business, or when the breach was identified, he did report that investigators are still working the cases involved. The U.S. Secret Service began looking into reports of debit and credit card fraud cases on Daniel Island last month, after dozens of island residents and or employees began contacting The Daniel Island News and local authorities about unauthorized charges that were being posted to their accounts both nationally and internationally.

"We have an ongoing investigation and I can’t comment further," added Kenney. "I know there are many questions, but one thing I can share is that we are working the case and continue to work it. We advise people to be cautious with their debit and credit cards. This is not a problem that is unique to Daniel Island. It’s very normal. Cases where networks are compromised happen very routinely and that’s just part of the cyber world we live in."

Over the last week, additional new Daniel Island debit/credit card fraud cases have continued to pop up. Island resident Chip Law was contacted by his bank on Friday when a charge was attempted on his credit card account from a location in Pakistan. Ten days prior to that activity, another account held by Law was hit with an unauthorized charge in New York.

"I feel completely compromised," said Law. "I now feel uneasy with every electronic transaction I make. While I still need to use my credit cards to do what is necessary, I am now leery of all involved: merchants, card processors, banks, etc."

When asked how new cases can occur even after the suspected Daniel Island threat has been eliminated, Agent Kenney said the potential for stolen credit or debit card numbers to be used is still a possibility both now and in the future.

"Cyber criminals often, and it appears to be the case here, ‘dump’ numbers over a period of time (days or even weeks)," Kenney added. "The end users of the stolen numbers may hold them for a time as well or re-sell the numbers to other criminals."

Always careful to review his accounts each month, Law plans to stay extra vigilant in the wake of his credit card scares. He now goes online at least twice a week to check recent charges.

"Unfortunately, I thought we did everything we could to keep this from occurring," said Law. "For these instances on Daniel Island, it appears that we have been had by some sophisticated professional operators."

Kenney said the U.S. Secret Service would continue to work with City of Charleston Police and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the Daniel Island credit and debit card cases.

"We work in concert with our police partners here, but when a case begins to cross borders we either work with other Secret Service agents or international partners," he said. "And with cyber crime, it can become international very quickly."