Credit/Debit card fraud alert!

[Tina]

Everyone listen up....

On Monday I had some strange charges on my debit card for $1.13 each. So, just warning everyone!


check your credit card/debit card usage online OFTEN. Thieves are putting small ($1-ish) charges on your card to see if there is money in your account. If you don't catch it, they will come back and take hundreds! I know of someone who had the same charges on her card as mine, and they ended up taking $1000 from her account! Constant vigilance!

[blkdog70]

Oh my! Thanks for the tip!

[starxlr8]

You should never use a debit card for online purchases. It's just too risky and most banks won't/can't protect you from fraudulent charges, whereas credit card companies will.

You don't need to acquire debt to have a credit card, just use it as a convenience for online purchases and pay it off every month.

[Tina]

Jennifer, Thanks, but I have used a debit card online for over 10 years without an issue. I only use it with reputable companies, and my check card is fully backed/insured by my bank and varied by Visa.

[>>aruaL<<]

You don't have to use your debit card online to be a victim of fraud/theft. I have never in my life used my debit/check card online anywhere, ever. A year ago, over 3600.00 was stolen from us by someone using our debit card online. We believe the number was stolen in Indiana, at a diner or gas station we went to, during our cross country vacation. The bank was able to track it down to the charges originating in Indiana, and that's all I know. I did get my money back from the bank though, but boy was I mad that someone stole from me. Jerks!!

Not all, but most, of the charges were at a place called "yahoo money" or something similar. I had never in my life heard of that, but that is where most of the money went to.

I didn't know until my bank called me and asked if I have been shopping online using my debit card, at a place called "yahoo money".

I believe that if a thief wants to steal from you, they will..... there is no absolute way to guarantee this won't ever happen to you. My father has never in his life used a debit card, and he's never in his life used a credit card online, and he's never in his life viewed his bank accounts or credit card accounts online. He's very old school. But, his card number was stolen, and he too was the victim, to the tune of 6100! He too got it all recovered, but that just shows you that all of us are at risk.

[PQ]

I used a credit card on line to purchase airline tickets. Someone hacked into my computer (got through my firewall) and stole over $10,000. The stupid credit card was on autopay, so after the thief made all his charges, the bank tried to pay for it out of my checking account. Of course there was not enough money in my checking account to cover the charges, so all of my monthly bill payments bounced. It was horrible.

I had deliberately gotten a credit card with a low limit to dedicate to the computer to prevent such a thing, but when the thief made his purchases, Wells Fargo gave me a "curtesy upgrade" to cover the charges. Wasn't that kind of them?

And the plot thickens....when I called Well Fargo to find out why they did not catch the fraudulent activity (his first purchase was over $2,500) they said that they did not catch it because they do not monitor high volume accounts because it was too time consuming. What a mess!

Thanks for the warning Tina.

[Emma]

So you have protection on your debit card? I've never checked to see if I do because the advice of the day is that debit cards do not have the same protection as credit cards, no matter what logo is printed on them. I'll have to check to see if I do, but I just use my CC online rather than debit. But our cards go out of our sight so often at restaurants, etc, and with camera phones they're so easy to steal! I've even heard of it being done with the owner standing right there because it seems like the cashier is just texting rather than taking a photo!

[sammdc]

I have always used my debit card online tho only keep a small amout of cash in it specifically for DSP purchases hehehe

[GailS]

Dang....so sorry to hear all the horror stories...especially yours Fran...I'm always paranoid about people getting thru my firewall.

Thanks for the heads up Tina, I'll be watching mine too.

[Jeanrx]

Thanks for the head's up, Tina. I will be on the lookout.

[Penny M]

The problem with fraud on a debit card is that money is taken from your account, money that you do not have available to you to pay your bills. It does take some time to process the fraud on your checking account, just like it does for the credit card company. The difference is you are without your money while the fraud is investigated on your checking account. On your credit card, while it is being investigated you are not required to
pay back the amount of the fraud charge (with no loss of funds). I work for a
bank and have seen a lot of debit card fraud. I personally would never recommend using a debit card for purchases online unless you can get immediate refund of your money as soon as you report the fraud. I have seen too many people without money until the funds can be returned at the end of the investgation.

[Penny M]

Of course as has been mentioned there are any number of ways in which fraud can happen.

[PQ]

It took almost a year for me to get my money back.