I can't believe this just happened to me, of all people, meticulous as I am about shredding and burning receipts, frequently checking my credit reports, bank statements, and credit cards even though I've carried a $0 balance for almost 2 years. About 2 years ago, I tried using my debit card & was declined. I called the bank, and was told that a gas station that I went to was robbed, so to be on the safe side, the police called the banks to close the accounts just in case. OK, no problem, mine wasn't compromised, and I got another card number, associated with the same checking account. About 2-3 weeks ago, I tried using my ATM & was declined. HMMM... I called the bank and they couldn't be more specific except to say that the database of either an online merchant, or the company that processes the credit card transactions for an online merchant, was compromised. LL Bean was the only online transaction I had around at that time, and 2 levels of management assured me their databases hadn't been hacked into. OK, the bank sends me yet another card. Saturday night, I logged on to my bank to do my reconciliation. Normally I'm anal and do it on a daily basis, but I hadn't done anything since Thursday night because I didn't have any pending transaction that would clear until today at the earliest. I discover my card has been used at Lowes in Jacksonville, FL for over $500. Thankfully, the mgr on duty was extremely helpful and said they have the guy on tape, have the make & model of his car, but couldn't quite make out his license plate. (Hopefully a little technology can help, here). Late Sat. night, we called the police, and they sent a patrolman to take a report. Still, there was a $749 pending transaction, so I've been gnawing my fingers all weekend to find out what it was this morning. This morning, I discover the $749 was spent in Home Depot. I am so furious, feel so violated, I can hardly think. Now I need to take some time off of work this morning (maybe all day) to go to my bank, meet with detectives at the local station, and follow up with FL police. Thank God we have enough of a cushion in our checking account that our legitimate pending transactions for today won't bounce. If worse comes to worst while we wait to transfer some money out of ING, we can use our credit cards or get a cash advance.
Is it happening with only one card or more cards?. If it is only one card you only need to call your bank issuer, cancel it and get a new one (Many banks have $0 liability for fraudulent transactions).
Unreal!! sorry you've got this kind of trouble. Sounds like it is only your check card they are getting. I think I would have to switch and not use debit at all. But then, I don't use it anyway, for these exact reasons. Access to the money I use to pay bills is more than I could tolerate.
This recently happened to me, and, just like you, I am very careful... Unfortunately, I was also a victim... almost $400 charged to a clothing company I never buy from and worse, it was done online WITH MY DEBIT!!!! It is good that you have the guy on tape so you can prove it... I am also SERIOUSLY thinking about not using my debit anymore... It hurts A LOT more when it is your own CASH!!! My bank was able to issue a credit temporarily, but they are still "investigating" which means they may not actually give me my money back since the cards were always in my possession!!!!!!!!!!! my sympathies....
This recently happened to me, and, just like you, I am very careful... Unfortunately, I was also a victim... almost $400 charged to a clothing company I never buy from and worse, it was done online WITH MY DEBIT!!!! It is good that you have the guy on tape so you can prove it... I am also SERIOUSLY thinking about not using my debit anymore... It hurts A LOT more when it is your own CASH!!! My bank was able to issue a credit temporarily, but they are still "investigating" which means they may not actually give me my money back since the cards were always in my possession!!!!!!!!!!! my sympathies....
This recently happened to me, and, just like you, I am very careful... Unfortunately, I was also a victim... almost $400 charged to a clothing company I never buy from and worse, it was done online WITH MY DEBIT!!!! It is good that you have the guy on tape so you can prove it... I am also SERIOUSLY thinking about not using my debit anymore... It hurts A LOT more when it is your own CASH!!! My bank was able to issue a credit temporarily, but they are still "investigating" which means they may not actually give me my money back since the cards were always in my possession!!!!!!!!!!! my sympathies....
Only my debit card. DH never activated his. Update: Bank said they should be able to credit us the money by the end of the day. They wonâ??t pursue it any further because Lowes & Home Depot, not the bank, will have lost money when the smoke clears. They said the best bet is to follow through with the local PD, which I already have. Home Depot's manager on duty barely seemed interested. She asked me for the transaction number on the receipt in order to look it up. I'm like, hello, it wasn't me in the store. I wouldn't have a receipt. OY! She said she'll pass it up to the store manager, who'll have "the proper person" follow up with me. It seems Lowes is the only one truly interested in investigating this. Jacksonville PD says they would only report it to their forgery department for follow up. Theyâ??re considering it 2 separate crimes since it was done in 2 stores. Boy, the woman who took the report sure had an attitude. I barely began speaking, and she insisted, "you must have lost the card". I was like no, I still have my card, and I even showed it to the bank this morning. I was really surprised they wouldn't follow up on such an easy lead where the suspect is on camera! LL Bean again said nothing happened on their end, and that they use the latest secure technology available. The gas station said they had no theft. Which only leaves the cell phone bill I paid online, a very well-known charity I donated to over the phone, and a restaurant near my job that our co-workers and I frequent.
There are many dishonest people in this world. Some of them even have access to ATM or POS machines. Every company you pay has the potential to either steal your identity or submit additional charges. Same goes for their current and possibly future employees or owners. The CC and store policies for handling fraudulent charges are designed to meet their fraud loss vs. investigation cost requirements. If the consumer pays a fraudulent charge because they think they are stuck with it, the store is happy. They are not designed to prevent or limit damage to consumers. Until recently the courts have viewed the defrauded store or bank as the victim, not the consumer. This has only just started to shift. 1) Only use credit cards for retail stores or on-line purchases. 2) Use one card for all retail, and a different one for on-line. 3) Never use checks for paying retail stores. 4) Never use debit cards for anything. 5) Never activate debit cards. 6) Never use ATM cards at other than your own bank's ATM, where it is under their control 7) Check your statements on receipt. Dispute errors in writing. 8) Check your credit reports on a periodic basis, and report and dispute any errors, in writing.
Re: Re: Identity Theft!!!!!! ontrack, Good thing is the bank has now credited the money back to my account, but I don't even want another debit card right now. I think I'm gonna get used to carrying cash for a while. All 5 places I've used the card told me they have nothing amiss: the restaurant swiped the card in front of me; I called in a donation and a catalog order; I paid my cell phone bill online, and I paid for gas at the same 2 gas stations I've been using for the past few years.
Re: Re: Identity Theft!!!!!! The banks have been pushing the great "benefits" of check cards, but it appears to me that most of those benefits are to them: merchant charges, with no consumer float. The consumer protections are weaker, and the likelyhood of damaged credit and business relationships, for which you will never be compensated by anyone even if you get your money back, are definitely higher. With credit cards, they are the ones who have lost money, and they have the incentive to deal with it quickly, by issueing new card numbers, requiring merchants to verify more information or eat charges, tracking which merchants are associated with fraud, etc, and they have made business decisions to have people in place to do all that. With debit cards, you have already lost money, its your money not theirs, and you are depending on their good faith to credit it back, against their own monetary interests, when they get around to it. Although there may be Federal laws on their duties to do this, having already lost money, you are likely financially weakened in even preserving your rights. All around a bad deal. You may still want to make sure that your notification to your bank is in writing, CRRR, or have a copy signed for by a bank officer when you hand deliver. There are some banking regulations on fraudulent transactions that require timely notification in writing to preserve your rights, that might leave you out in the cold if they screw up and you haven't notified in writing within certain deadlines.
Uh...how about having a debit card that only accesses your "liquid" spending cash? Tallk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater! aiki
ATM card would be safer than a debit card. PIN only, no signature that can be forged. Not usable for phone or internet orders. Still no protection against card number and PIN capture, but at least that requires the physical card at a known POS terminal. This ignores the whole issue of fees, of course. CC is still a safer thing to carry.
