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5/20/2013 4:39 AM  #1


Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Somehow thieves got the number to my wife's debit card which is a joint card with my debit card on the same checking account.  They emptied out our checking account.  My wife set up text notifications each time a transaction is made on the account.  She got a text that she made a purchase in NY when she didn't and immediately checked the account but it was too late.  They took it all. She called the bank and they are going to send us a form to fill out.  They said that someone was "pinging" the account to see if it had any cash in it.  Well me and my wife both got paid on friday and so there was money in there.  After they pinged it, and saw there was cash in it, they emptied it out. 

We all use our debit card for just about everything from groceries to gas, to yes.. ordering mustang parts online from ebay or whomever.  BAnk says this happens more than you know, and they usually never catch them.  They can tell it was identity theft by the pinging of the account.  So somehow thru a wireless hot spot where the cell phone immediately connects to a wireless network, they hacked the samsumg phone and messed with it, and then somehow got a hold of my wife's debit card number to our checking account.

I strongly suggest to all that they 1) set up text alerts to your phone for each transaction that is made to your bank accounts, and make it to a different phone than the one that matches your name on the card   2) turn off wifi on your phones, and only turn it on when you need to,   3)  have several bank accounts, and only use 1 debit card for most things and whenever you accumulate any significant amount of cash transfer the funds immediately to the other bank account to keep loss to a minimum. 

Since i got paid friday, i mailed out a bunch of checks that are going to bounce now.  I think if i set up a faster way to have those bills paid, the money would have came out of the account immediately, and there would have been less for them to steal. 

its always something....

On a side note,  I think they hacked our cell phones first.  My cell phone automatically was set to forward all incoming calls to a fake phone number so I wouldn't receive any incoming calls. ANd the settings were changed to airplane mode so that I couldn't send or receive any text messages.  I guess this was so that I wouldnt get any text alerts of the activity on my account just in case i had lifelock or something.  And the bank couldn't call me because all my calls were being forwarded to a non existent number.


GET HER DONE BULLETBOB!!! ..
 

5/20/2013 4:43 AM  #2


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

thats strange.  that is not the order of the paragraphs as I wrote them.  somehow they got rearranged.  the last thing i wrote was " its always something".  weird.


GET HER DONE BULLETBOB!!! ..
     Thread Starter
 

5/20/2013 5:23 AM  #3


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Sorry to hear the bad news Mark...will the bank reimburse you for the stolen money....jj


"Never put a question mark where God put a period "  Richard Petty
 

5/20/2013 6:20 AM  #4


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Mark I am sorry to hear this happened to you. Hope you get your money back. If you have a Visa debet I think you will but it may take a little time. Hope you have a good bank that will work with you. Two other thing I do to protect myself. I do NOT have a debet card, when I first got a Visa debet card and they told me it ties directly to my account I canceled it. I have a plain Visa card, I use it for everything as you do. The only difference is I can not get cash. The good thing is it is not tied to my checking account. I also go through my local credit union. They stop my card if they suppect froud. It caused me a couple hassels in the last 10 years blocking my card but I feel it is better a few hassles than some low life getting away with free money.


If this forum can't fix it, it isn't broke.
 

5/20/2013 8:59 AM  #5


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

That sucks Mark!

I use my Credit Card for everything because there is protection + 1% cash back.  I use the Debit Card at Aldi and the ATM only.  There is little or no protection.

Steve69

 

5/20/2013 9:56 AM  #6


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

I NEVER use a debit card online.  Credit card is much safer, paypal safer yet (I think)  Sorry to hear that happened.  It can be a real hassle, much less you may not get reimbursed.  Sure hope you do, though.


Money you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted money... unless your wife finds out.
 

5/20/2013 12:51 PM  #7


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Same happened to us.  wife used Debit card at the local Racetrac Gas station,,  Next day the bank called and ask why we were charging Stuff in New York City.  They got about $2500 before the bank stopped it.  The thiefs were putting some kind of card reader on the gas pumps.

 

5/20/2013 3:38 PM  #8


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Last year I attended a PCI (payment card industry)conference and one of the topics was Skimmers (what got you on the gas pump). They were relatively rare except on the West coast not too long ago. But it looks like they are becomming more common across the country. Mostly funded by gangs from Eastern Europe they are getting pretty sophisticated. What's funny is companies like Shell all used the exact same key on the little locking door on the pump. All the bad guys needed to do was snag a key and viola they have access to all the pumps. Pair that with a semi convincing uniform and the gas station attendants had no idea skimmers were being installed... They target ATMs as well, but those are a bit harder obviously.

What's interesting about Mark's situation is the complexity and the lengths they went to.
 

 

5/20/2013 3:47 PM  #9


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

jerseyjoe wrote:

Sorry to hear the bad news Mark...will the bank reimburse you for the stolen money....jj

My wife went to bank today to fill out forms, but I don't know about reimbursement.


GET HER DONE BULLETBOB!!! ..
     Thread Starter
 

5/20/2013 3:47 PM  #10


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

That's horrible..same thing happened to me. I bought something through a vendor on a website and all of a sudden I started getting charges of 9.95 from my bank account. LA Fitness did that to my card too, charged me $250 for a month TWICE. I had to dispute the charges everytime. the bank is always on your side. You'll need to be patient but hopefully you'll get your money back and you'll be able to find out who those a**holes are. Sorry this happened to you.

 

5/20/2013 3:50 PM  #11


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

wsinsle wrote:

Mark I am sorry to hear this happened to you. Hope you get your money back. If you have a Visa debet I think you will but it may take a little time. Hope you have a good bank that will work with you. Two other thing I do to protect myself. I do NOT have a debet card, when I first got a Visa debet card and they told me it ties directly to my account I canceled it. I have a plain Visa card, I use it for everything as you do. The only difference is I can not get cash. The good thing is it is not tied to my checking account. I also go through my local credit union. They stop my card if they suppect froud. It caused me a couple hassels in the last 10 years blocking my card but I feel it is better a few hassles than some low life getting away with free money.

Well the thing that always worried me about using the credit card all the time, is that even though they may not be able to get cash, they can charge up to your credit limit, which is usually more than I keep in my debit/checking account.   and sometimes cc companies will let you charge more than your limit, and just charge you a fee for it. I also  dont want to get in deep with cc debt so i try not use them.  


GET HER DONE BULLETBOB!!! ..
     Thread Starter
 

5/20/2013 4:03 PM  #12


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

sorry to read this Mark.   The scammers are getting more and more sophisticated all the time.   They nailed thousands upon thousands of people here recently at a local Supermarket chain, by getting some code into their actual system, that went undected for months.


The only true way to ever deal with these kind of crimes is going to have to be, swift, severe, and permanent punishment.   Nothing short of that is ever going to work.  

Edit:  You will find that you can only be held responsible for the first $50.   However, the time, and any bounced check fees are going to be openly debateable.   Hopefully, your bank will take care of you.  

Last edited by Greg B (5/20/2013 4:06 PM)


If multiple things can go wrong, the one that will go wrong will be the one that causes the most damage.
 

5/20/2013 4:13 PM  #13


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Has happened to me too. Someone spent about $900 of my dollars in Paris France several years ago. --I've been to Paris, Texas and Paris, Arkansas but never been to Paris France.

The bank put the money back into my account. I had to have new checks, debit cards and PIN numbers reissued. 

I don't believe the banks really try to persue who's stealing the money so you will probably never know who did it. 

Currently, my debit account has a $400 dollar daily limit on it. If I was going to buy something with the debit that's over the $400 dollar amount, I would have to notify my bank first before they would raise the limit (for the day).

In the case of local transactions, cash is a lot safer. Can't steal the PIN from the use of greenbacks and merchants and marketers can't target you, and track who you are and what you've purchased, when dealing with paper dollars.

 

5/20/2013 8:26 PM  #14


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

happened to me earlier this year except is was someone of the "head wrapped in a large piece of fabric persuasion" who got into my account.........cleaned out my checking.  My CU had me fill out a form, fax it and the next morning my funds were restored.  Next day, i got another "charge" .... a 1% charge due to the fact the "mr gift wrapped head" made the charge overseas....i got that returned too.....

When asked, the CU rep said many of their accounts were tapped........only common theme was the accounts at one time had used their debt cards at Walgreens............

there's a special place for people like that..............

 

5/21/2013 11:01 PM  #15


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

MarkinSC wrote:

wsinsle wrote:

Mark I am sorry to hear this happened to you. Hope you get your money back. If you have a Visa debet I think you will but it may take a little time. Hope you have a good bank that will work with you. Two other thing I do to protect myself. I do NOT have a debet card, when I first got a Visa debet card and they told me it ties directly to my account I canceled it. I have a plain Visa card, I use it for everything as you do. The only difference is I can not get cash. The good thing is it is not tied to my checking account. I also go through my local credit union. They stop my card if they suppect froud. It caused me a couple hassels in the last 10 years blocking my card but I feel it is better a few hassles than some low life getting away with free money.

Well the thing that always worried me about using the credit card all the time, is that even though they may not be able to get cash, they can charge up to your credit limit, which is usually more than I keep in my debit/checking account.   and sometimes cc companies will let you charge more than your limit, and just charge you a fee for it. I also  dont want to get in deep with cc debt so i try not use them.  

by law, your max liability is $50 if a credit card is involved.  Banks are pretty good at catching it because its their money.  

When it's your money, not so much.

Sorry to hear about your situation.  I have not had an ATM card with a Visa/MC logo since 1997 for that very reason - happened to somebody else I knew back then and apparently it's still going on.
 

 

5/22/2013 4:41 AM  #16


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

CraigMBA wrote:

MarkinSC wrote:

wsinsle wrote:

Mark I am sorry to hear this happened to you. Hope you get your money back. If you have a Visa debet I think you will but it may take a little time. Hope you have a good bank that will work with you. Two other thing I do to protect myself. I do NOT have a debet card, when I first got a Visa debet card and they told me it ties directly to my account I canceled it. I have a plain Visa card, I use it for everything as you do. The only difference is I can not get cash. The good thing is it is not tied to my checking account. I also go through my local credit union. They stop my card if they suppect froud. It caused me a couple hassels in the last 10 years blocking my card but I feel it is better a few hassles than some low life getting away with free money.

Well the thing that always worried me about using the credit card all the time, is that even though they may not be able to get cash, they can charge up to your credit limit, which is usually more than I keep in my debit/checking account.   and sometimes cc companies will let you charge more than your limit, and just charge you a fee for it. I also  dont want to get in deep with cc debt so i try not use them.  

by law, your max liability is $50 if a credit card is involved.  Banks are pretty good at catching it because its their money.  

When it's your money, not so much.

Sorry to hear about your situation.  I have not had an ATM card with a Visa/MC logo since 1997 for that very reason - happened to somebody else I knew back then and apparently it's still going on.
 

I'm not sure about this... but i thought the atm card even with the visa logo is not really a visa card so its not really a credit card.  its just accepted anywhere that accepts visa.   if its just an atm debit card, you could only get cash at an atm machine from your bank without a fee.  ex  a tdbank card could only be used for free at an tdbank atm with a pin.  OR  an atm machine that accepts any atm card but charges a fee if its not with a certain bank, ex  if I use the tdbank atm card at a wells fargo atm they will charge a fee but still give me money at the atm with using the pin.  But an atm card with a visa logo, is still not a credit card, but it just can be used like one and it will be accepted any where a visa is accepted so that the person doesnt need to go to atm machine and get cash first, they can just use the card without the pin number.  So i don't think its covered under the visa protection and limited liability policy of 50 bucks. 


GET HER DONE BULLETBOB!!! ..
     Thread Starter
 

5/22/2013 5:20 AM  #17


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

That's correct.

a visa branded credit card has a $50 max liability to the holder by law (they never collect it).

a visa branded ATM card does not - it's a "fake visa" so the processor can fleece another 2% out of the retailer under the guise of "covienence" for the customer.  They can clean you out and who knows if they will take care of you or not.  There have been some changes over the years, but it's no where as good as the credit card protections for the consumer.

When the bank would issue me an ATM with no visa/mc logo, I'd carry one.  At some point they stopped so I stopped carrying one and switched to cash or credit cards only.  If I need cash, I walk in the bank and cash a check with the teller.

 

5/22/2013 6:45 AM  #18


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Anytime I order stuff on line I like to use a "gift card". That way.....some jackwad steals the numbers and stuff all he gets is the amount on that card........not my entire account!
6sal6


Get busy Liv'in or get busy Die'n....Host of the 2020 Bash at the Beach/The only Bash that got cancelled  )8
 

5/22/2013 7:06 AM  #19


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

CraigMBA wrote:

That's correct.

a visa branded credit card has a $50 max liability to the holder by law (they never collect it).

a visa branded ATM card does not - it's a "fake visa" so the processor can fleece another 2% out of the retailer under the guise of "covienence" for the customer.  They can clean you out and who knows if they will take care of you or not.  There have been some changes over the years, but it's no where as good as the credit card protections for the consumer.

When the bank would issue me an ATM with no visa/mc logo, I'd carry one.  At some point they stopped so I stopped carrying one and switched to cash or credit cards only.  If I need cash, I walk in the bank and cash a check with the teller.

 I haven't been to my bank...ever !!!  I know it is in San Antonio, but I have no idea where!


Money you enjoy wasting is NOT wasted money... unless your wife finds out.
 

5/22/2013 9:11 AM  #20


Re: Was a victim of Identity Theft this weekend. I got emptied out.

Mark, I admire your self restraint on staying away from credit cards. However the trash in society ruins that by making credit cards the safest way to make transactions. A while back I had a PayPal credit card, it was linked to my PayPal account. Maybe you could do something like that, and when you need to make an online purchase move the money in to the Pay Pal account?

Just thinking out loud.

 

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