I just want to give you all a heads up!
My debit card information was stolen. They started to use my card yesterday. They only got two charges through and it threw up a red flag and the fraud division of my bank put a hold on my card! The stores that the thieves shopped at and were successful were web hosting and Dr. Jays. When they purchased at Dr. Jays, the transaction was from New York and that threw the red flag. They tried to charge $1019 at Best Buy, another $300 something at Best Buy, another $300 something at NBA.com, another $300 something at Dr. Jays, and several other small ones that I can’t remember.
My bank will pay me back for the $75 and $90 that went through, but it will take months, so I am very pissed off!!! I thank God that my bank has a fraud department and that they caught this before they totally wiped me out. Anyway I will never use a debit card again, this is the second time this has happened to me. No more online shopping and cash and check only.
When I went to the bank this morning the teller had a stack of fraud claims on her desk. I asked her if they get a lot. That folder was just yesterday, they have recently been getting 100’s a week, and she said mine wasn’t bad, some are in the thousands. She said she has never seen it this bad, she said the criminals are getting better. You don’t even have to use it online, they can get it from keystrokes on your keyboard.
Another heads up. A lot of people in the “alternative media” have been warning to get your money out of the banks, to only keep as much as needed for bills. They say the bank does not even have your money in the bank. Well I witnessed that too this morning.
My branch is really small and while I was waiting for the bank lady, a lady came through the drive through asking if she could cash a large amount. The teller asked how much, it was $14,000 something, I think $14,600, it was below $15,000. The teller told her that they do not have that much cash on hand in this branch. So the lady asked about other branches, and the teller said that they would call the other branches and check. The inside teller guy called 3 branches and the main one downtown, none of them had enough cash to cash her check.
She was pissed, they told her she could put in a request and they may have the money tomorrow!! The lady was like I need MY money TODAY!! She then asked if she could cash smaller denominations at the different branches, and the teller told her she could, but that it would probably raise a red flag and they might put a hold on her account!!!!
So the “alternative media” has been right!!!! You can’t even take your money out of the bank!!!!!!!
Stay alert!!!!!!
I am still pissed about this. I have been going through all the places that I have used my debit card and I cannot figure where they stole it from. UGGGH. It makes me so angry. I hate thieves, that is my money.
Just said a prayer for you Missy that you get back as much money as possible ASAP and the fraudsters are jailed.
Refuse to use debit cards (even though I’m ALWAYS getting them from relatives at Christmas!), such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Darden Restaurants, etc. But every now and then some telemarketer huckster calls me up trying to get me to buy stuff I don’t need and get me to buy into one scam after another. You hit the nail on the head: spend cash and use checks if possible (problem is I bank at a bank 100’s of miles from me and local biz’s often refuse “out of town checks”… I trust this bank over local ones…its members are a group of folks I doubt the fraudsters want to mess with if you know what I mean…)
Thanks DL, I should of learned my lesson last time, but convenience got me.
My bank has been pretty good about catching fraudulent charges.
Someone got my number, I don’t know how, and went to Home Depot. They bought a $300 gift card. I hear they do that then turn around and use the gift card to buy items they can resell.
I got my money back though. I imagine if you work in a bank it is just an ongoing thing, trying to catch fraud before they clean your customer out.
okay I called the bank and got the two businesses that transactions went through. I looked them up on the web and called them. Webhostingpad.com said they kept trying to push it through, but it came back as fraud, charge will be dropped in a couple of days, and I called Drjays.com and the guy looked it up, their fraud department caught it at 5 am this morning because the order ip address was in Indonesia!!!! He said the charges will be dropped in a couple of days!!! Yeah I feel better, and I called my bank, my bank lady was very happy. Anyway I am still not using my debit card, lesson learned!!!
cash or check from now on
I know, but your gonna have to help me get used to this!!
I never buy anthing on line anymore as this happened to me a few months ago. The bank caught it and called me and asked if i had bought anything in Texas. I told them no and they sent me a new card and cancled the old one. I have a what you might call a good bank. They don’t miss much.
I hope you get all your money back, Missy. This happened to me about 5 year ago and it took months for me to get my money, which came back in small amounts over a long period of time (Citibank) so I was never really sure if I even got it all.
Jolly, I am lucky I have a good bank, they are local. I ended up calling the places where the charges were made, and they are going to remove them, both said that the charges threw red flags at them too because the ISP was originating out of Indonesia. I called the bank back, she was real happy, because she said that they always pay back their customers, but usually never get their money back. so the trick is bank first, then the companies where the fraud took place.
Again Jolly your article was awesome! I printed it to read again and again!!
I try and not keep much in bank account with debit card but do need it for some transactions,a few places I deal with have daily specials,a check won’t cut it,always keep well under 2000.,been lucky so far but need this for things I still stocking up on ect.
Had my identity stolen about 3 1/2 yrs. ago. They bought merchandise at two different stores using checks with my bank account numbers, and someone else’s name & address. They were successful with that phase, but when they tried to return the merchandise for cash, that sent up the red flags.
Thankfully, I didn’t lose any money over it, but it was a nightmare straightening it out with the credit reporting companies, as well as having to open new accounts.
Hope you can get it resolved without too much of a headache, Missy.