Ugh!!!

This happened while I was out if state for my grandfathers funeral last week. The jerks that stole my number apparently made a new card with the number on it. Happened to be my debit card. It was used in my home state at 2 different walmarts. Of course. The transactions were for $199 each. The 2nd didn't go through for whatever reason. I happened to use my same debit card with PIN number (another stupid mistake) at the walmart that very morning in the state I was in. I caught the charge the same day, and proceeded to freak out. Fraud bank lady said not to worry, and money would be credited back 3-5 business days after the fraud transaction went through. Seems stupid to me. She tells me I can toss old debit card, and I will be getting new one shortly. Also emails me a affidavit saying it was not me that made walmart $199 charge. I told her I would love to beat the cr&p out of the thug POS. She laughed. I felt a little better.

Now. Today. I call to verify they received my signed affidavit and asked when card would be sent. Guy tells me that the investigation will be nearing a decision on 11/7...and IF they find in my favor, then I will be credited back my stolen money 10 business days after that. Are you effing kidding me? I understand they need to find out if it was or was not me at that stupid walmart (which I never go to), but geez. He said the investigator will contact walmart and try to validate purchase. If they can't then I get money, but if they can I don't. Wtf?! I need my money. Anyone else been through this? I'm never using debit card again.

Oh, and OF COURSE I can't find any receipts from my 3 debit purchases out of state. I did find one for my kohls card. Do they need receipts? Ugh. I've never been through this...obviously...and stressed out.

Thanks for reading!

I am sorry for your loss. I hope the fraud investigators get you some real good news fast. We are entering the season of holidays and the last thing we want is someone else spending our money.

That sucks. They will rule in your favor. Don' t worry. If I had to guest, I would bet money it was and employee. I would contact Wal-mart too.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/01/2013 09:54AM by audrialyn30.

This is why I never use a debit card. It is enough of a hassle when your credit card number gets stolen. That takes about 2 weeks to reissue. They will want to know which transactions are valid, so a receipt would be better for you. They will be checking video at the Wal-Mart in question to see who used the card. This is standard procedure. Can you call the issuer and ask to speak to a supervisor? Plead a hardship situation. If they are not cooperative, do you have a investigative TV news program in your area? In my area, if you say you will be contacting news XXXX, or Contact XXX about this situation, they will be a little more helpful. They don't want the black eye, and the local news is always looking for a case like this around the big shopping season to warn their viewers.
Any idea how they got your number? One of the new scanners where they walk past you, an old receipt, double swipe at a restaurant?
Hope you get resolution and restitution very soon.

under the law they are suppose to credit back the disputed transactions
within 48 hours generally. And if they then later find them to be valid,
they would take the money back. Legally you are liable for the first
50 dollars in fraud but virtually every bank waives the 50 as long as it
is reported within 30 days which you did.

To move things along I would contact the store manager at that walmart,
better in person if it is close enough to drive to and also go to your local
police station and fill out a police report. Just bring a copy of the transactions
with you as they will want that. Then you can call the bank and fax or email
them a copy of the police report.

I am surprised it is going to take that long. When I experienced the same thing with Huntington, the funds were credited the day after I signed and turned in my affidavit form. Although, I went into an actual branch.

I went to my bank and got a new account with a new debit card for shopping only. This way, those thieves won't get much from me since I keep a small amount in that account.

What an ordeal. I hope it all gets resolved.
I've only had my credit card compromised. The CC company caught it and cancelled my card.
So, those charges never got applied to me to begin with.

On another note, I let the CC company know that DH making a large purchase out of town. They said, it was good I told them, that would have been a flag.

When he got there, the card had been canceled. Luckily the bank gave him a bank draft. And the CC company gave us more Air Miles than we would have received if they hadn't canceled the card.

According to Dave Ramsey, if you use your bank debit card as a credit card, meaning you do not enter the PIN, then the transactions are covered as if the debit card was a credit card. This is because they are being approved through the Visa/MasterCard system, therefore you have those protections. If you use a debit card as a debit card, meaning you enter the PIN, then you are SOL because a debit card does not have the same protections as a credit card.

Thanks for all the advice. I used my card as a debit card win PIN when it was in my possession. The POS thugs used it as a credit card at Walmart with no PIN.

I called again, and the lady told me it would be pretty much pointless to file police report. She said I should get a preliminary credit by Monday (we'll see), but I've done all I can do on my end.

Hard lesson to learn for me. I saw many around me getting numbers stolen, and always thought I was careful. Not so much.

Even if you don't have receipts for your out of town purchases, they will still show up on your bank statement as proof you were no where near the Wal-Mart.

Good advice here.

I use my debit card usually as a credit. especially at gas station.

When my handbag was stolen at Walmart (I was sick that day and not paying as much attention as I should have been.), I did not find Walmart helpful. I called the police immediately. When the officer arrived, I walked into the video room with him and the staff. No one thought to challenge me. It was a point of consternation for a manager later to discover that I had seen the thief, a local shoplifter, on their video. The police lost their copy of the video, making a friend of mine wonder if the thief is related to anyone in the department or at Walmart. When I asked Walmart for a copy (Reps from Bentonville happened to be present when I asked.), I was informed that the video had been erased. I asked why they would erase a record of a crime. The Bentonville rep response was, "Because we own it." The police officer I dealt with did his best. Reportedly, the thief is hiding out in California. I pressed a charge because if she ever comes back to visit relatives here, maybe she will get drunk or drive recklessly and be stopped.

In another story, a bank employee at Walmart, who recognizes me on sight, looked on my account when I was standing there, only to inform me that someone had made an unauthorized use of my account. She closed the account, preparing to open another one for me, when she discovered her mistake. There is another account holder of the same name in another state. I asked her the person's location, and to my surprise she told me. As she was calling her corporate office about how to make the correction, she read off the other person's social security number right in front of me. I debated for a few days about whether to report that about an experienced employee, but decided that she would probably never make that mistake again because she is otherwise competent.

Geaux--So sorry to hear all of this. It's bad enough that you had the funeral, but this on top of that.
My condolences.

We never use the debit cards and we don't have PINs on our checking accounts. I always have to show my ID at my bank even though they know me. I've heard too many stories about debit cards and can live without them using cash and credit cards.

I am under the impression that those scanners that are used to get card numbers only work if the card has a chip in it (RFID?). It that true? Or are all cards vulnerable?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2013 04:15PM by SandiAigo.

geauxcj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for all the advice. I used my card as a
> debit card win PIN when it was in my possession.
> The POS thugs used it as a credit card at Walmart
> with no PIN.
>
> I called again, and the lady told me it would be
> pretty much pointless to file police report. She
> said I should get a preliminary credit by Monday
> (we'll see), but I've done all I can do on my end.
>
>
> Hard lesson to learn for me. I saw many around me
> getting numbers stolen, and always thought I was
> careful. Not so much.

So what happened? I need closure!

Nothing yet. Ugh. Tomorrow the case will apparently be done, so we will see. :-/

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

I had this happen to me at Walmart as well and it took two weeks. I don't even think VISA really conducted an investigation. Unfortunately though, that may not be helpful to you because it was solely a VISA card, not the American VISA debit. I enjoy the benefit of having these fancy debit cards because here in Canada, the card does not act like a credit card in a lot of places. It is pretty nerve-racking though to lose your card that is linked to your bank account.

Sorry this happened to you. I am sure once whoever sees the footage from the store, you will be reimbursed. Not to be a damper but be weary - I have heard banks try to get out of this by saying that the person looks like you or blame you for some other ridiculous reason. Just be strong - I'd fill out a police report either way.

Can't look like me unless I can be in 2 states at once using the same card. Lol if they tried that, I would engage "B" mode.

Soooo...

They said the credit was set to be applied tonight, and since a fraudulent card was used...then there has to be further investigation. I should hear by mid November. This is insane. If my credit is not there by tomorrow, I'll call again.

Stupid thug should be slapped hard with karma!

this is why I said to file a police report. Doesn't matter what the
bank told you...do it anyway...if you run into to problems
later on it will make things much easier.

Hahah I hear ya.. we all know that but banks seem to find ways to screw people over wherever they can. A friend of mine was told that same line and a year later, he was able to prove that it wasn't him when the real culprit got arrested (and had his card in their possession). The bank previous said that the person who did it was either him or his friend because they were white with brown eyes and dark hair :/

Man - is there an ombudsman where you are for your bank? That's ridiculous. I'd be making notes and uttering threats to take my business elsewhere.. that's ridiculous. Banks finish investigations in a very short period of time.

geauxcj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can't look like me unless I can be in 2 states at
> once using the same card. Lol if they tried that,
> I would engage "B" mode.
>
> Soooo...
>
> They said the credit was set to be applied
> tonight, and since a fraudulent card was
> used...then there has to be further investigation.
> I should hear by mid November. This is insane. If
> my credit is not there by tomorrow, I'll call
> again.
>
> Stupid thug should be slapped hard with karma!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/07/2013 08:39PM by dixiewhiskey.

It's 11:55 PM my time, and no credit yet. I want to slap someone. Mainly that stupid POS thug.

Who do I file the police report with if I end up doing it (which looks like I will)? The county police or city police?

Call your local police, on the non emergency number, and explain the situation. They can give you the best guidance. They may direct you to the local law enforcement where the actual crime took place. Still keeping my fingers crossed for you.
I had a bank account frozen because of an ex husband's shenanigans, and the bank was, let us say, less than helpful. They let him open a joint account several years after we were divorced! Forgery, identity theft, it was like a soap opera. It took a lawyer and a judge to get my own money back. Now I only use Credit Unions.

go to whichever police station serves where you live.
They will take your report and then they will
ask you if you want them to launch an investigation or
if you are filling it out as proof for the bank.

OMG!!!!!!!

My CREDIT CARD NUMBER WAS STOLEN! Idiots tried to use it in Home improvement store like 5 states away. Same bank, but this was the CC I have...not the debit card. The transaction was declined, and the bank called me immediately. This is beyond BS. I asked if I should change my darn account number (bank), but they said no. I wonder how many other things these POS thugs have. Wow...

geauxcj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OMG!!!!!!!
>
> My CREDIT CARD NUMBER WAS STOLEN! Idiots tried to
> use it in Home improvement store like 5 states
> away. Same bank, but this was the CC I have...not
> the debit card. The transaction was declined, and
> the bank called me immediately. This is beyond BS.
> I asked if I should change my darn account number
> (bank), but they said no. I wonder how many other
> things these POS thugs have. Wow...


Once again I am sorry for your loss. Take TECHMAN01 advise and file a police report. This time don't take NO from the bank. It sounds like the bank is in cahoots with the thugs. Cancel the card and let your bill collectors know you will be paying cash for awhile.

Holy crap! Sounds like you will be canceling some CC's. Were they caught? Is the bank going to help you? They may have a customer account associate that can tell you about putting a credit fraud alert or even a freeze in your credit report. The bad thing is that you won't be able to just apply for credit anytime. You have to lift the freeze so the report can be accessed. But, no one else can use your report to get credit either. Every state has their own rules, so you have to talk to someone in the banking sector in your state. It's free here to put a freeze on, but, in my state, it costs $15 to lift it.
So sorry this is happening to you.

About the using of your Visa or MasterCard debit card as a credit card...

Some places I go just run it as a credit card without asking, and some ask "credit or debit?"

So I guess when you run it, you can ask them to run it as credit to get the credit protections James and others mentioned? I probably never would've thought of that. I used to listen to Dave Ramsey all the time, but my local station quit carrying him a while back for some reason. :/

No idea if they were caught. Bank finally credited my account for 1st fraud incident. So I've had to cancel 2 cards now. Since the transaction was declined with the recent CC, I doubt there will be investigation or anything. She just cancelled my card and sending new one. Debit card case is still going on. Ugh. At least the CC wasn't tied to my bank account.

geauxyj, You are a whole education on this topic



Hey Stormcloud, you can listen on line. He has great advice

[www.daveramsey.com]