You don't think it will happen

hyacinth003 · ‎03-12-2010

At least not to you! I got a call yesterday from my bank regarding "suspicious activity" on my debit card. My husband has one also, but it was on my number.

There was a $1.00 charge made at a gas station in a different state. I have had charges like that on my credit cards. A vendor does it to check out the validity of the number you give before accepting the purchase. They take the $1.00 charge away once you have been verified. But I have not had it happen on a debit card.

I did not know they had already shut the card down. My daughter did some shopping for me and had the darn card declined at checkout! We had to go to the bank in order to get me another card, so what a pain. All the other charges seemed legitimate.

Makes you wonder how your number was obtained and tried in another state. My daughter has had my card and she is very careful with cards. I have read some people get them when you use it to fill up your tank at a gas station. They walk around with a card reader while you have it out. She had used it a couple of times at a gas station this week. So I guess those anti-reader devices make sense.

These banks are not taking any chances with these frauds!

Hyacinth

ALRATIBA · ‎07-15-2016

I once had a wallet stolen from my bag ... pick-pocketed I think. I had it at lunch, but by the time I got home and stopped at the grocery store - wallet was gone.

Between lunch time and 6 pm when I called the banks re cards, the thieves ran up several thousand dollars in charges.

I had no loss - the stores and gas stations who accepted the cards ate the loss.

I learned a lesson - credit cards are kept separately from my wallet.

Its Me LuLuBelle2 · ‎10-12-2016

@hyacinth003, Long, long story, so I'll cut it to the quick. I had 3 credit cards stolen, right under my nose (that's how good the really good criminals are) and in less than a 12 hour period those criminals racked up over $30,000 on those cards.

When I was notified by my CC cards about "odd" purchases on my cards and asked to verify if they were mine, I immediately got the police involved. I'm the Walmart kind of gal and when huge charges were made on my cards at Nordstroms, Chanel, Vuitton and assorted electronic stores the cards were shut down.

The charges were made in a very short period of time from NY all the way to Maine. The police told me the game is the first thieves charge the largest amount, sell the cards for X amounts of $$$s, and sell them to the next guy who pays X amount of $$$s who charges less, and again sells the cards for less and the chain goes on until the cards are shut down.

I had to sign, and have notarized, that the charges to my cards were not mine, I would work with law enforcement to find the offenders. Well I picked out photos of the 2 dirtbags who ripped me off, both having long criminal histories, having spent short jail time for the exact crimes. They still have not been prosecuted.

It truly was a sickening experience. I was not on the hook for any of the fraudulent charges - thankfully. But what bothers me is the retailers where my cards were used were made whole and the banks paid them for charges I never made. On the back of all of my credit cards I sign my name and state, "ask for ID." I can assure you, I look NOTHING like the man who racked up these debts on my cards. I think if retailers were held responsible too, and did more not to let thieves use stolen cards, because they too would not be reimbursed, maybe some of this theft would stop. LuLu

hyacinth003 · ‎03-12-2010

No one took my card. We turned it back in to the bank.

So they somehow must have tried to just use the number. I wonder how they do that at a gas station. You have to slide the card into the pump. Or you have to present your card to a cashier. You may also have to punch in your PIN number.

Hope they investigate the transaction at the gas station. Surveillance camera may catch the transaction.

I'm guessing the gas station being in another state was the catch.

Hyacinth

qualitygal · ‎10-04-2010

In this same vein, copy your cards for your own info in case of your wallet or purse being lost or stolen. Front and backs. Backs usually have the 1-800 number to call on them. W/O the card, do you have that number? Probably not...

Pook · ‎03-20-2010

It happens a lot when you use a card to pay for a restaurant bill and give your card to the wait person. I had that happen to me and my bank saw 3 charges that were made to online retailers with my debit card that didn't fit with what I usually charge online. I went online and saw the pending charges and was able to cancel one and the bank cancelled the other 2. The bank took it from there to pursue who did it. It happened after I used my debit card at a restaurant. I rarely if ever do that.

Tribesters · ‎03-10-2010

It’s pretty easy to get a key to open the card readers at gas pumps. Apparently they all use the same key. Once they get in they can get your card info transmitted to them. As soon as you insert your card they have all the info they need. It’s scary because there isn’t anything on the front of the pump that you can watch for. It’s inside so you have no way of checking.

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-card-gas-pump-thieves-key-id/

Harpa · ‎03-10-2010

This happened to me 2x! Now my bank has a fraud alert system. They actually just sent me an alert, which was about a large sum of money, but luckily, it was my own purchase.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

@Pook wrote:
It happens a lot when you use a card to pay for a restaurant bill and give your card to the wait person. I had that happen to me and my bank saw 3 charges that were made to online retailers with my debit card that didn't fit with what I usually charge online. I went online and saw the pending charges and was able to cancel one and the bank cancelled the other 2. The bank took it from there to pursue who did it. It happened after I used my debit card at a restaurant. I rarely if ever do that.

That's what's happened to me twice - but not with a debit card - always with a credit card. I have a VISA debit card but I still only use that at my bank as an ATM bc it has direct access to my checking account. I know they will replace your money in a bank account pretty quickly but I still refuse to use a debit for anything else.