I've been robbed!

[SRath]

Anyone else here ever had their bank account defrauded? I just checked my account online this morning and immediately saw a several-hundred-dollar debit to some entity on some foreign island I have never heard of and cannot even pronounce. I have made no such charge or purchase.



Called the bank. Went down to the bank. Filled out a couple of forms. Canceled my Visa/Debit card with the bank. It will take two weeks to get a new one. Supposedly, the funds will be returned to my account in about a week. Meantime, I can't pay my bills without borrowing money from my high school son's account.



Just a routine, common-place standard theft that will go unsolved. The price society pays for the "convenience" of electronic banking.



I also went to the local police department to file a theft report, but was re-directed to the county sheriff's office since I do not live within any city limits.



That's a much longer drive and will have to wait until next week since I must attend a fundraiser at my sons' high school today for a classmate and teammate with leukemia. For $5, I will get in line for a "Buzz for Brett" chemo-style head shave. Not that anyone will have any fun doing my mostly bald head, but Brett is one of the kids on the trap shooting team I coach and a super-fine young man and I'm happy to give what little I have on my head. And, thankfully, I do still have $5 to my name.



Anyone else here ever been ripped off like this? Talk about feeling utterly helpless. And that's the part that p1$$e$ me off the most. There is no one to arrest or prosecute or beat the crap out of...



And it could happen again and again and again with the same outcome...

 

[wolfman00hd]

I feel your pain. Went through the same thing right around xmas with some goon hacking my Xbox Live account and buying a few hundred dollars worth of Gamer Points. I check my accounts daily and caught it quick and went back a forth a few times between CC company and Microsoft, but eventually got it credited back and taken care of, but damn, what a hassle. The crappy part was having to deal with all the bills I have automatically drafted coming due before I got the new card in the mail.

 

[Flexiheep]

*******s somehow got into our account and pulled cash advances at Walmarts 4 hours away for a total of 700 bucks in 1 hour, At least the bank caught it and called..... The thing that shocked me was that the transactions showed as the card being swiped! That means they loaded my info on a card and used it (my wifes card and mine were in our wallets)... .....



I think it took about 2 months to get through the bank process and get our money back (In the end I believe Walmart paid the bank). Luckily there was savings to absorb the theft.



Debit cards are better than they used to be, but still stink for protection from unauthorized transactions.



Sorry to hear about your problems, hope your bank fixes you up quickly.

 

[The patriot]

Whenever I'm using the debt card and someone appears to be peeking, I 1st give them the WTF you looking at" look.

If this doesnt work I use it as a credit card so I dont need to enter my PIN #.

I've finally gave up about a year ago and got a debt card, so this is all new to me.

I was surprised at how many people I spoke to that didnt know they could use it as a CC.

 

[SRath]

I caught the transaction within an hour of it being posted. It was still posted as a "pre-authorization", so I figured prompt action could just slam the door on the transaction. But I was wrong. The banker said the pre-authorization still meant the funds were gone. Go figure. So what's the point of the 'authorization' part, much less PRE- authorization??

I did nothing wrong. My card is (was) in my wallet still and I haven't used it since two weeks ago when I bought diesel to snowplow with.

The banker said he had it happen to him once on a card he never used, while the card he uses all the time has never been hit. As he put it "These crooks are smarter than you and me and there is absolutely no way of knowing how they come up with card numbers. Probably with a computer at random until one works. "

Like wolfman, I have automatic scheduled payments that come out. In fact, I was checking to see if a particular one had yet when I saw this. Ironically, it is for a bank loan at that same bank and has yet to hit my now-depleted account. The banker "made a note of the problem" in case I don't get enough funds back in there before the loan payment hits. Whatever that means. I'd bet it would still ding my credit...

 

[MVenditti]

Always try to use a credit card, they are protected. Debit cards from checking are not FDIC insured like savings acct. I recently had a charge on credit card and card Company called me before I knew. No loss to me and they issued a new card with different acct number.

 

[SRath]

This is a Visa card that also functions as an account debit card and vice versa. The banker explained to me it had "the full protection of a regular Visa credit card", which made me about wanna puke since my only experience with a regular Visa card and being ripped off was when Bank of America bought my card issuer and proceeded to drag a claim I had in progress for over $2000 out for over a year and then declared "it wasn't pursued properly by themselves" and I was just stuck with a motor that did not even fit the motorcycle I ordered it for. And the $2000 of course.

I bought and paid for a YZ85 motor. I was sent a YZ80 motor. NOT the same at all. I immediately returned it in it's original box the same day it arrived. The seller, a crook with a motorcycle shop in Florida, refused the return delivery and refused to refund my money and even taunted me in emails about having scammed me. Long story short, the only thing I may ever get out of it besides being over $2000 poorer, is the satisfaction of burying the crankshaft from that motor into the guy's forehead whenever I next get to Florida. I at least have a name and address for that thief. And, yes, for two grand and the insult of being deliberately scammed and taunted, if I think for one moment I could do that without being caught, and I do, I would do it without compunction or remorse. That was a few years ago, but I will not forgive and forget about it ever.

So-called "credit card protection" is a lie. I'm counting on my local bank in this case, not Visa.

 

[MVenditti]

Good info, I have one also and will look into details as mine also has 5k overdraft on it. Sounds like time for middle east law, thieves get their hands cut off.

 

[bheiting]

My daughter had her credit card hacked. Someone was picking up unsecured wireless wifi signal at a local restaurant. They can sit in their car outside and pick up any wifi signal. Make sure your credit card transactions are done on a secured network.

 

[fest3er]

No, better to apply a sturdy bat to the scammer's knee. Then get him to cough up the funds. Some people just find it hard to accept that there are consequences to their anti-social behaviour until the error of their ways is driven home (to continue the baseball analogy).

 

[SRath]

I had all kinds of "what if" scenarios running through my mind. Especially given that my own computer recently died from another motherboard failure and the fact that I have since commandeered my sons old laptop with no anti-virus/spyware stuff on it at all.

The banker assures me this was not a case of being hacked. Someone simply came up with the card number by any one of innumerable methods. I don't see how that could rule out being hacked, but whatever; as long as the bank gets the money back in my account asap.

 

[Jim W]

I had this happen to me last year. But the credit union that I belong to employees a on line fraud monitoring service, at no cost to the member. This service caught two five thousand dollar purchases of computer equipment from Great Britain and shipped to Holland. They called me to confirm the purchases by identifying them selves to me and then asked me if I authorize this. Simply stating yes or no with no personnel information pass between us.

Since I did not authorize this they then canceled my debit card and informed my credit union of this. I was not out any funds but did need to get new debit cards.

My credit union advise me to use our visa Credit card for on-line purchases since that has a buyer protection plan. Per my credit union a debit card even though I can charge to it does not have any buyer protection plan.

One nice feature is that anything that is charged to the credit card has a 1% cash back feature that is paid yearly. When every I charge to the credit card, I put that money aside just like a debit card and pay it off every month. I have no fees or any interest charges that I need to pay for this way.

Jim

 

[bheiting]

I had all kinds of "what if" scenarios running through my mind. Especially given that my own computer recently died from another motherboard failure and the fact that I have since commandeered my sons old laptop with no anti-virus/spyware stuff on it at all.



The banker assures me this was not a case of being hacked. Someone simply came up with the card number by any one of innumerable methods. I don't see how that could rule out being hacked, but whatever; as long as the bank gets the money back in my account asap.

The hackers usually are not the ones using the numbers. They are sold over the web. Your banker is lying or clueless. In our litigious culture no one admits fault.

 

[Superdawg]

Credit vs. Debit: Big difference.

Credit Card: for online purchases, I recommend always use a credit card. If it is stolen or used fraudulently, it is the bank's money until you pay the bill. The bank will usually be quick to remove the fraudulent charge, after all, it's their money.



Debit Card: If this card number is hijacked and used fraudulently, the money will come immediately out of your checking account (your money) until there is no more. The bank will yawn, yawn some more and take their sweet time replacing your money.

 

[fest3er]

These are the reasons I've never had, do not have, and never will have, a debit card. Convenience/speed versus relatively better security, I'll take the security.

 

[sarj]

Never used either a debit card or an ATM card. Don't even know if there's a difference. I was getting a little bit of a hard time once in a bank over not having an ATM card, and specifically a PIN #, since she said it would prove who I am. I asked the girl if she had one, and she said of course, she used it all the time. I asked her how her account balance compared to mine, and it got really quiet. The teller knows who I am now.



I learned something interesting last month. A debit card with a PIN # will allow someone to access your accounts online, allow them to reset a password, and then reset contact information on the account; i. e. ; addresses and contact phone numbers. This would not be a good thing for security conscious people. Apparently there is a huge security hole there in the name of convenience, and it all revolves around a PIN #.



I never understood that tellers response that a PIN # would prove who I am. I told that teller that it's her business to learn who her customers are. I mentioned I opened my account there in 1976. She said Wells Fargo hadn't been there that long. That's whatcha call a hanging curve-ball.

 

[BIGNASTY]

Dont ya just love our new world ROBBED and didnt even get to see the gun. I wonder if the guy or gal even used a mask, Thats why we have ONE card for all the transitions we do on the web. and that has safe guards on it and the other we use a few times as we can. GREEN PAVES THE WAY

 

[jwarnick]

Was at home on the computer when the CC company called to ask if I was in France using the card. Someone had signed a charge slip in a store there. Got the money back. Evidently the transaction didn't fit my profile.

 

[SRath]

I so seldom use my credit card that when I do need to, such as when I was buying gas on a 2000 mile trip home just before Christmas, the doggone thing won't work. Apparently, using it in any manner whatsoever if you don't use it regularly is "suspicious activity". So there I was on an outdoor payphone in a freezing rain/snow storm for the better part of an hour raising hell and trying to convince some foreigner in South America (this is what passes for 'customer service' these days) that I am the legitimate cardholder and that this transaction and several more to come as I cross the USA are also legitimate and that I do not want to repeat this procedure every time I need gas. This was the third time in 15 hours that I had to call them and go through this rigamaroll to get my card to work. Once was understandable. Still a pain, but understandable. Three times was ridiculous. If I had known what a hassle it was going to be, I would have just carried a thousand dollars cash for gas.

 

[Tractorat]

I so seldom use my credit card that when I do need to, such as when I was buying gas on a 2000 mile trip home just before Christmas, the doggone thing won't work. Apparently, using it in any manner whatsoever if you don't use it regularly is "suspicious activity". So there I was on an outdoor payphone in a freezing rain/snow storm for the better part of an hour raising hell and trying to convince some foreigner in South America (this is what passes for 'customer service' these days) that I am the legitimate cardholder and that this transaction and several more to come as I cross the USA are also legitimate and that I do not want to repeat this procedure every time I need gas. This was the third time in 15 hours that I had to call them and go through this rigamaroll to get my card to work. Once was understandable. Still a pain, but understandable. Three times was ridiculous. If I had known what a hassle it was going to be, I would have just carried a thousand dollars cash for gas.

Which is why, when on a long distance cross country trip, I will call the card company beforehand, and let them know I will be using the card. And to expect some pretty large fuel charges several times a day.