I had the misfortune of having my bank visa/ debit card numbers being stolen over the weekend. The thieves used the card numbers to order merchandise over several computer internet sites and ran up a substantial debit against my account, close to one thousand dollars. I contacted the bank immediately when I saw charges against my account that I was not familiar with. The fraud division is working with me to catch the thieves. Bank is unsure how they obtained the numbers. I do not receive paper statements, shred my papers, did not lose my card, and shop only on 128 bit secure socket layer encryption. My card was cancelled, so the thieves can't do any damage. Bank has reversed the charges and working with me on my account to secure it again. Just wanted everyone to know, that even when you are careful do everything right to prevent fraud or theft, it still can happen. Just a warning to all of the people here at lyme net to maintain a careful watch on all of your accounts and to act swiftly if there are any irregularities. Mt bank has been very professional, helpful and prompt in thier response for help. Stay vigilent everyone!!!!
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
It's getting really bad!!! They had a news bit last week about thieves putting something on ATM machines which could READ the card numbers!!!!!
I rarely use ATM's...I think that will now be ZERO usage from now on!!
Posted by dmc (Member # 5102) on :
Bummer. Thanks for telling us. Will be vigilant.
Posted by Cobweb (Member # 10053) on :
That happened to my husband.It was the credit card company that alerted us. Meanwhile we made a police report-and contacted the credit bureau-which is essential, so that whenever the thief tried to reapply for a new card-the credit bureau had a flag-and we would be called.
Carol
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i had my identity stolen ON-LINE, supposedly from a secure site.
They charged auto parts a Auto Zone, purses from Dooney Burke, all in all, about 3 grand.
My credit card company, Ciitcorp, worked with me and I didn't have to pay anything.
However, because it was a theft ring in Fort Worth, I had to work with the police. We tracked it down to the HOUSE, and they wouldn't do anything!!! Said it was Interstate commerce and out of their jurisdiction.
So I go to the FBI and ICC. I had to file tons of paperwork and since it was not over 10 grand, they said "out of luck. work with your credit card company."
Thank God for Citicorp. They closed the account, notified the stores, and took care of everyting.
They told me never to use a charge card at restaurants, never to give the card to waiters, waitresses, anybody who takes it and walks off, not to use it at ATM's and ask for the carbon copy of the charge receipt.
They had me put a credit block on my name so that no more credit can be opened. Course this means that if I charged anything, they call my husband and ask if it's ok. Vice versa, if my husband charges anything, they call and ask me. It's a pain in the but, but hey, it works...(now I know exactly what he's doing, HA!!!)
It took about a year to get all straightened out.
What a mess. Now I don't shop on the internet at all, if the company doesn't have a phone number, I don't buy. I shop locally from reputable stores and rarely run up a big balance.
It was a nightmare......
Posted by meg (Member # 22) on :
A family member had an updated credit card stolen out of the mailbox. Wasn't even expecting the card, didn't know it was coming.
The gas station they used the card at had license plate numbers and other info leading directly to the thieves. Washington Mutual required a police report which was done and the police said that Washington Mutual had to prosecute and they refused.
They totalled up around $500 in charges right away.
Washington Mutual was very lax on returning the money to the account, it took about 2 months of nagging.
Even though this didn't happen to me, I'll never deal with that bank.
Posted by just don (Member # 1129) on :
Here is what LITTLE I have 'heard'. With those fake visa,debit cards the bank is NOT required to help you out replacing your money or reversing charges.
There was just a local news article where it said a good local biz uses a third party to process the charges. The PROCESSING company got their puter hacked and all these numbers stolen. Wasnt the biz's fault. BUT they felt real bad. IF some body hacked a processing puter not much can be done tracking wise etc.
On dateline they had a huge series about puters and card theft. Their are sites you can go and they sell and trade numbers of stolen cards etc. Within 'seconds' their is widespread use "AROUND THE WORLD". These theives get people to front as drop spots, suck them into the scam, get them to reship containers of new items,,,usually with a scam of a pretty face and asking some dud of a guy to marry them etc. strike up an fake on-line romance. Take them for thousands,maybe even huge 5 figures and dump them for another person.
This one guy was getting hundreds of deliveries of NEW products bought with stolen credit card numbers online!! They tracked these products,boxes etc. and MOST went to Nigeria or another bordering country,I forget the name. I imagine MOST of the stuff gets then resold on the net,or blackmarket someplace!! HUGE SCAMS!!
If I were doing alot of online or card stuff,I would get a special account and use that,,,not keeping but minimal sums there,maybe depositing to it IF I needed to use it,keep it VERY low otherwise!! Risking 50-100 bucks seems better than an entire account that you DEPENDED on for everyday living.
They say reviewing your account regularly is another good ploy!! ALOT of people never look,never know, never care!!
My daughter had identity theft once,,,was quite a mess before it got right.
You can wake up to police with cuffs knocking on your door too. Guilty till proved innocent,these days!!
Just so MANY scams,how do you sort good from bad these days???
Posted by iceskater (Member # 8655) on :
Thanks for all of the comments and support. My bank is handling everything beautifully.
Posted by Anasazi (Member # 11936) on :
We have been tracking an organized identity theft ring here in Washington. One creep in particular, stole the debit card numbers of three people in one family..experation dates too, but not pin numbers..and get this...one of the three debit card numbers was from a totally different bank...figure that one out!?! We got video of the jerks and video of the stolen car that they were using. On Wednesday, the car was pulled over and the main man was arrested and is sitting in King County Jail. The rental car agency that the guy had stolen the car (new Chrysler 300) from hadn't reported it stolen until we informed him that it was being driven as a getaway car by the theives. Everyone in Washington..and beyond...check your bank statements..They had more than 7 different counterfeit cards with them. My friends alone had been drained of over 10,000 dollars!!!
Posted by Anasazi (Member # 11936) on :
Oh, I forgot to add...The guy and his buddy and hooker girl friends..paid for their T Mobile bills too! And T Mobile has their cell numbers that they paid...Two bills were for 300 each and one was for 250 dollars! Do you think T Mobile would give out any information???? Heck No, even though my friends debit card was used to pay their bill! One Shell station that they hit, was hit 20 different times in two days and over 2,00 dollars were charged in those instances. Here's the deal...the cards are counterfeit..the magnetic strip looks damaged and the merchants have to manually type in the numbers..The theives have fake ID to match the cardholders name..which in this case was a poor fellow who had his license stolen, and who resembled the crook. The counterfeit card stated VISA..mut the receipt printed out Master Card...which was accurate...So all you retailers BEWARE!! If it won't swipe..don't accept the transaction. Unfortunately the retailers are out of not only their money, but the merchandise as well.
Posted by savebabe (Member # 9847) on :
I just found out today that my mother's credit card was being used by a company called Trilegiant without her knowledge. They managed to run up a 1,000 bill. I researced it and found that there is a huge criminal investigation going on in Florida regarding this company.
Everyone has to make sure that you check your statements each month. My mother failed to do that is in down a lot of money.
Posted by iceskater (Member # 8655) on :
The items they charged to my card were electronics and stamps via internet sites. Go figure> I guess I will never know how they did it.
Posted by charlie (Member # 25) on :
We had that happen awhile back and had to change the visa #. It was truly offensive...they charged erotic phone calls and porno sites like 'cc bill' to our card...but the most offensive of all was signing us(them) up with aol.....
