Re: Debit Card Fraud Attempts

JoyFilled Warrior · ‎09-02-2022

Sad that happened to you. Sounds scary & traumatic. Would certainly be to me. One of my worst nightmares, in fact.

I have several Accounts with the same bank. Some Bank Tellers think it's crazy, & seem to get confused by them, even tho specifically labeled.

But I have one account for Auto Dep only. And one very active for purchases, and I merely move over money from my other accounts, to the Active, as needed.

My Bank assures me that if electronic thieves penetrate my Actively used Acct, they cant access my other accounts. Lets hope my Bank knows what they're talking about. *fingers crossed*

So far, so good.

"Don’t forget to be kind to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!" TLB

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@aubnwa01 wrote:
I got an email from Bank Of America late last Fri. night that said that they detected suspicious activity on my debit card & needed to speak with me.

I can't even recall the last time I used my debit card, as I used it at a BofA ATM to get cash to have on hand, but I mostly use a credit card. I didn't want to call the number on the email, in case it was a scam of some sort, so i logged into my online banking to check & sure enough, there was a flagged transaction against my checking account (debit card is tied to it).

I called the cust service number & spoke with a young man who told me the charges were for 61¢ for Amazon Prime in Mexico City (?) He told me that whoever had my debit # probably bought it off of the dark web as part of a large package of numbers that folks sell/buy for nefarious purposes. The small amount of the transaction was a "feeler" they put out to see if it would go through before really getting to work using it.

BofA had put a freeze on the debit card at the 1st sign of the 61¢ & the cust service guy cancelled the card & told me they'd send me a new one with different number & exp date, which I got in the mail today.

The person who tried to use my card tried to charge $1 on Amazon. I have no idea what you could buy for $1 anywhere. I am sure it was a feeler transaction.

They also tried to purchase over $700 worth of merchandise at Walmart and over $400 at Target. My credit union sent me an e-mail with this info.

When I called customer service, the rep read off all the transaction the thieves tried. They even had one $9k transaction.

It appeared they were just trying over and over again all over the love to get some money or merchandise.

Through all of this, my card was not lost or stolen. I don't use it at stores, but I did one time.

I think the theives have equiptment that they can run a series of numbers through until they hit on an active account.

No matter how careful we are, if our account number get "guessed" correctly, there isn't much we can do about it.

We just have to watch our accounts. This can also be done with a checking account....there is no need to actually have a debit card.

Your account number and routing numbers are right on the check. Anyone can print up a new check with your info and send a pic to the bank to get it cashed or electronally transferred or just type in your check info.