Dog Community

OMG! I've been robbed! AGAIN!!!

Posted : 6/16/2007 2:40:36 PM

5 o'clock last night I make a quick run for groceries. I get checked thru and swipe my debit card. "INVALID, SEE BANK" - WTH? I always dread having my card rejected. I figure everyone things I'm broke. Anyways, red faced I had to leave my bagged groceries and slink out of the store. I drove to the bank but of course it is closed. So I slipped the card into the banks ATM and much to my dismay I got the same message.

When I got home I called the 800 number. The guy checked it out and said that the card had been used at a place that was under suspicion of fraud and when that happens they immediately cancel the card. He then went through the transactions and asked me if I had withdrawn $700, $800 and $5. I told him NO! He asked me a few more questions. We determined the last transactions that were mine - the last being at a gas station (#1 place for debit fraud!). He then said he would connect me with the fraud squad. Well after 40 minutes on hold I gave up.

I was then unsure if the withdrawls had been made or if they were attemps to withdraw, seein as I knew I had just less than $1,000 in the account. How could they withdraw $1,500?
Anyways I headed up to the bank this morning and sure enough I was over drawn $500+, plus a $5 service fee. Man, I didn't even know I could over draft on a debit card. I figured if the money wasn't there it just showed ISF.

Well I had to fill out all kinds of forms and explain that I did not LOSE or LEND my card. I put my card in my pocket that morning and it was still there when I tried to use it at 5. The bank said that they would send all the information to the fraud dept. and it could be 5 -10 days before my money is returned. So for the next little while I'll be living out of DH's pocket!

EVERYONE - BE CAREFUL BUYING GAS WITH DEBIT CARDS.

Ashley

Posted : 6/16/2007 2:46:02 PM

Something similar happened to me not even a month ago...but they were more embarrasing than withdrawls....there were $900 worth of charges for a phone sex hotline!!!! [sm=blush.gif][sm=blush.gif][sm=blush.gif]

I had to call a billion times and fax forms here and there...but they credited me the $900 and the overdraft fees, and issued me a new card with a new card number.

It sucks...but things will be alright.

the_gopher

Posted : 6/16/2007 2:47:41 PM

It may not necessarily be at the gas station. There are plenty of oppertunities for people to copy down your debit card number and the three digit security code on the back that most of them have these days.

As someone who had checking account fraud (thanks to AOL I hate them with a passion), I lost about $3000 that I will never ever see again. Maybe I could have taken more legal action but in discussion with the police they told me kindly that it most likely would not do any good. That was an entire semester worth of tuition that I had saved up.

Debit cards have some of the worst protection for fraud, but as long as you caught it in time (find out what you banks time frame is for debit fraud) and fill out all the necessary paperwork you'll probably only be liable for a fraction of what was taken from you.

So sorry this happened. Ever since I had $3K stolen from me I check my account information daily to keep tabs up to the minute on all processed transactions.

Liesje

Posted : 6/16/2007 2:48:17 PM

Grrr!! That sucks so bad!!!! I hope they can help you straighten it out.

Something similar happened to me, but I was not actually robbed. Last week, I gave my debit card to pay for dinner. The waitress said there was a "card read error" so I used DH's credit card instead. I figured their machine was whack. Then a few days later, I tried to buy cat litter at Target and it said the same thing, so I had to pay with a check. I went to the bank and they said that the bank had mailed me a new debit card in April b/c my current one was being deactivated for possible fraud. I never got a new card in April, so they are sending one next week. The teller asked me if I shop at TJ Max and I said that I did buy something there around Christmas time. She said their security had been compromised and that VISA wanted to issue new cards to prevent fraud. I guess it's nice that they are being proactive, but it would have been nice to know! I don't typically carry more than a meal's worth in cash and I hate writing checks.

the_gopher

Posted : 6/16/2007 2:51:30 PM

ORIGINAL: TheSchmee

Something similar happened to me not even a month ago...but they were more embarrasing than withdrawls....there were $900 worth of charges for a phone sex hotline!!!! [sm=blush.gif][sm=blush.gif][sm=blush.gif]

Least I'm not the only one whose thief used their hard earned money for sex stuff. Mine purchased subscriptions to just about every "asian" and "shemale/tranny" sex porn sites there are, some sex toys and magazine subscriptions. Hope they had a good time....[8|]

denise m

Posted : 6/16/2007 2:59:06 PM

ORIGINAL: Liesje
I don't typically carry more than a meal's worth in cash and I hate writing checks.

I never carry cash. More than once, I've had to grovel under my car seats to find change for a parking metre. My kids can smell cash! I could go months with not a dime in my pocket, but the one day I am carring cash I hear - "Mom, do you have any money?"

Well I may be carrying cash more often after this - the kids will love it!

Bullymom

Posted : 6/16/2007 3:05:40 PM

I never carry cash either. I always use plastic. That's very scarey though. Hope ou get everything worked out

paulaedwina

Posted : 6/16/2007 5:32:15 PM

I'm in no danger of being defrauded since I'm broke all the time. Stealing my debit card might get you admission to a movie.

Paula

DumDog

Posted : 6/16/2007 5:56:26 PM

i like cash and always will. i bought my mom a DVD player with cash... i got a dirty look from the sales clerk.
and yeah my biggest fear is being turned down at the check out lane because i have no money.

i'm kinda weird in that... i need to SEE money to believe its there... i cant just assume i have enough in my bank.
when i do have money and use my debit card i always assume i have less than there really is....

it scares me about the gas station thing though... because i sometimes travel alone with my kids in the car i flat refuse to
go inside to pay and leave them all alone. so its a big help for me to have a debit card in that respect, which is about the only
time i use it......
i have a long list of why i like cash but i'll spare you guys lol when i was a kid i used to do the pirate thing and
bury my money in the yard and make a map telling me where it was. nope i never lost any of my money either.
i never trusted to leave my money alone in the house while my brother was home....

as for the ISF thing. i read somewhere recently that banks are going away from that. they will let you over charge or over draw because it isnt their responsibility to keep
track of how much you spend in a day..... [8|]
i think i might go back to burying my money in the back yard.....

karen friesecke

Posted : 6/16/2007 6:14:01 PM

that really blows!! my dad had something similar happen to him with his visa. he had 2 seperate purchases on his visa, one for $1200 & one for $349 from a place that sells fancy car kits like lights, stereos etc..visa was really great & reversed the charges. i think that the shop owner was in on it b/c my dad NEVER lost of misplaced his card. when i worked in retail we were NEVER allowed to make a charge without the card present & if the bill was over $500, we had to see photo ID. and it's funny, the last thing that my dad bought before these charges came up was gas!

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 6/16/2007 7:41:53 PM

That sucks. I hope you have better luck than I did. That happened to me a little over a year ago. The bank finally decided that since I was positive that the card was never actually taken, I must have given the pin and permission to use it to someone. [:@][:@] All this while they had a running story on the news nearly every night about credit card fraud at gas stations in the greater Sacramento area. Seems the crooks have ways of inserting little cameras in the machines that "read" all the info on your card when you slide it through. They use the same kinds of little gizmos in ay phones at airports, which is why anyone who makes a call at one of those phones using a phone card just might find a huge phone bill with calls to countries in Africa and the United Arab Republic.

Joyce

janobonano

Posted : 6/16/2007 10:09:38 PM

What a bummer! I think you'll have to keep a close eye on your credit history after this.

glenmar

Posted : 6/17/2007 6:51:57 AM

This does suck and I'm sorry you're having to deal with this.

Just to correct a misconception, banks make BIG bucks by not disallowing debit card transactions. They are quite likely to allow that gallon of milk and loaf of bread because those items then COST you the extra $37 or so in overdraft fees......

pofi_pasquale

Posted : 6/17/2007 9:36:19 AM

My understanding on the overdraft of withdrawals from the ATM and your checking account is that since you have till a certain time in the day to cover that withdrawal with a deposit - say your paycheck - it is allowed on that day, but when your account is overdrawn at end of the day, it freezes. Most of the time you would never know this, but someone explained it to me that way. I guess you might have more significant expenses one week and need that money before you've had a chance to deposit it and you can sort of float yourself the money for a few hours.

So sorry this happened to you - how awful!

Well worth watching your credit history as Janice suggested - I subscribe to one credit monitoring service so I always know if there is anything negative posted or if my credit history is requested (sign that someone is trying to open a line of credit under your name).

glenmar

Posted : 6/17/2007 9:44:20 AM

There was a story on the national news not to long ago about the way banks end of scalping their customers, and this was one of those ways.

With our bank, every second Saturday TWO deposits hit at precisely midnite. If a charge happens to be made at 11:59 instead of 12:01, I get hit with a charge.....and this happened ONE time to me.....the difference between the gas I got and the account balance was 5 freaking cents. If at the exact second that the charge comes in, there is not sufficient money in the account you are flat out screwed.