Check your bank accounts

[EDG]

My checking account was cleaned out New Year's Day including the $25 credit union minimum balance.
The card they used was my wife's debit card which was sitting on the dresser since she died in May.
It appears the crooks used the holiday because everyone was off and many people get new funds deposited on the first of the month. The credit union replaced the money the next day. The crooks made it appear they were in New Zealand.

[dragon813gt]

Debit card = your money even if it has a Visa/MC logo on it
Credit Card = Bank’s money

You will eventually get the money back for a fraudulent charge on a debit card. But you’re out the money until the bank clears it all up. I prefer to use the bank’s money so this doesn’t happen to me. Learned my lesson when the first startling offering Visa debut cards. Double charge at a restaurant took weeks to clear up. Ever since then it’s only used in an ATM.

I don’t like giving PayPal access to my account but it’s sort of a necessary evil. Been debating using Zelle but it’s hooked directly to your account. And it can be compromised just like everything else. Nothing is really secure anymore.

[MaryB]

My bank will put the money back in my account in 24 hours. Then if it turns out not to be fraud(aka the customer lied, a family member made a purchase they didn't know about etc) they take the money back + a $50 fee for the "loan".

I have only had fraud twice on my card, small amounts, I caught it right away and canceled the card. Plus my bank puts a $300 daily limit on it unless I call and have it temporarily lifted. Since I check my account every day that is the max they would get via fraud.

These days it is a MUST to check your account daily, preferably from a home computer and NOT a cell phone app because those apps are bad news for fraud.

[osteodoc08]

I hate theifs. Morally corrupt and there’s no changing that.

[RogerDat]

If my information was being used fraudulently more than once and even after a new card or account was issued I would start thinking that my system was compromised or that I was doing business with a company that was compromised where my number was being stolen. That isn't random activity.

This is different than identity theft where the thieves have enough personal information to get credit in your name. Different problem and can be a case of the information being reused by the same perpetrator or resold to be used by a different perpetrator.

I do not know the policy for fraud with my account but then since the balance is only increased when I'm making a purchase the typical risk exposure it around $30 and the opportunity to hit the account when it has more in it for a purchase is pretty small. The person that was ripped off between making transfer and making purchase I think there is something really foul going on. That is NOT a very likely coincidence. Something or someone is monitoring activity. Could they have put an alert on the account with the bank? If not then track through all steps of the process and actions because someone has infiltrated it someplace. Do you use your computer to load the card? Gaining access to personal computer would allow them to intercept the activity. A personal computer is the most useful target and easiest to attack in an automated way.

I recall a story on the radio of someone finding their bank account / debit card had been used to take most of their money. They were able to track it back to a pizza store they ordered pizza from one day before the theft. Happy ending. The person was in a Chinese restaurant where the card had been used waiting to talk to the manager when he heard his card number being read back over the phone. It was a pick-up order. He got the details, photo, vehicle, license plate number. That person worked at the pizza place where he had used his debit card. Police made arrest, prosecutor got a conviction.

That sort of outcome is not that common. I think the businesses often just write off the reversed charges. I know when I was able to get a clerk to provide positive photo identification of the person that attempted to use my stolen new issue of credit card from my mail and I called Discover with that information they were not willing to pursue it. Too small of an amount at a two or three hundred dollars. They just canceled the card and left it there. I knew the person, wanted to see them arrested and charged. Would have been good for them to face consequences now rather than continue being an idiot and face them for something later.

[Daveco]

Several times Discover has called to ask if we authorized a transaction that was just made in unusual circumstances. When we say that no, we didn't just order from a corner grocery in Brazil or whatever they always freeze the card and have us new cards in just a couple of days. Three years ago, someone from California filed an income tax return with my name and S.S. number. That screwed up things for us for quite a while and our tax return finally arrived sometime towards the end of September that year. Also, our Daughter was notified by her bank last week about a charge made on her bank card in San Francisco for an "Uber Meals" delivery. That's a long way from Kentucky too. They are still working on getting that straightened out.

[MrWolf]

Discover card is the best in my opinion for guarding against theft. I use them as my primary card for the 2% cash back plus other cash back programs. I refuse to pay an annual fee for a credit card. They are great to use if you pay off the balance every month. If you are not that disciplined then don't use them. The interest rates they charge are robbery.

[jonp]

My CC was stolen when I bought some stuff at a gas station in FL. Got a call from the credit card company asking if I recently bought something in PA. Took me a minute since I drive a truck to remember if I was up that way. Nope. Turns out a crook printed a card with my numbers then walked into a Home Depot and bought several snowblowers. The thing is the clerk saw that the signature didn't match the card but let the charge go through anyways. It was taken off the card immediately but I've switched since then to 2 new cards.

Both won't let any out of state charge go through unless I notify them that I'm traveling through that state ahead of time. A travel alert and it works as I forgot to notify them I was going on vacation and tried to buy gas several states away and the card was declined. Won't even let me call someone and order stuff with them running the card. I ordered some powder from Jeff Bartlett and the card wouldn't work since he was charging it. He called me and we used another one instead. Jeff is a great guy to deal with, btw.

Don't use your debit card online for any reason. Ever.