Since 1998, Basin Street Records has been signing and promoting some of the best musical talent from New Orleans.
“Kermit Ruffins was our first artist,” said Braden Piper, Director of Operations. “We’ve also got Rebirth Brass Band, Jason Marsalis, and many more.”
Known for pushing the unique sounds of New Orleans throughout the city and beyond, Basin Street Records has become a local institution.
“It’s really a dream job,” Piper said. “I’ve loved New Orleans music since I was a kid—even though I’m not from here.”
A big part of Piper’s job is making sure Basin Street Records’ music is accessible everywhere—from live performances at JazzFest to vinyl records and digital downloads.
But last Wednesday, Piper and his team woke up to an alarming situation: a flood of online orders.
“There was unusual activity on our website,” Piper recalled. “Thousands of orders were coming in every few seconds.”
Even stranger, the orders were all for the same inexpensive item—a digital song download. After investigating, Piper discovered it was a scam.
“It turned out to be a credit card testing scam,” he explained.
Scammers had used thousands of stolen credit card numbers to make small purchases. If the transaction went through, they knew they had a valid card they could exploit for larger charges later.
“They get a small charge to go through, and then they’ll hit the account for a larger amount,” said Matt Malone, a cybersecurity expert with Vistrada.
Malone explained that scammers rely on victims not noticing the small, seemingly insignificant charges on their stolen cards.
“Diligence is key,” he said. “We used to track our finances on paper ledgers, but now it’s all electronic. If you don’t stay on top of where your money is going, it could be going straight into a scammer’s pocket.”
Fortunately, Basin Street Records was able to refund the charges on the handful of cards that were successfully processed. Piper and his team also quickly implemented additional security measures on their website.
“It’s part of running an e-commerce site,” Piper said. “It’s a risk for anyone selling something online. This could happen to anyone.”
Malone recommended that online stores install CAPTCHA to help prevent fraudulent activity. He also urged consumers to monitor their transactions closely and take advantage of credit monitoring services whenever possible.