Debit card hacked - What a mess

[boomhauer]

The short of it, I get a call from my bank yesterday asking about some odd charges. I didn't make them. They knew it was odd because they'd been monitoring suspicious activity. So, great - They close my account.

Not a huge deal as the purchase won't go through until today and will be declined since the card was reported closed.

However, the bank can't seem to answer me what will be in my account from this weekend since any purchases made PRIOR to yesterday that aren't showing up yet could potentially be taken out from my account today. Purchases that I made, as well as whatever purchases the scum who stole my information made. So what's the point of even closing the account?

To make matters worse, I put my deposit of $250 down for Disney on Friday. The bank says that wasn't showing up yet and would probably just be delclined when it did show up. I call Disney to let them know - They say it WILL be approved. Not only that, but for some reason, they took out $500 of my account instead of just $250.

I have no idea how much money is in my account, when it will be straightened out, who's got what.

I don't get it - If the account is closed, why can't the bank just refuse any attempt to take money from it? How will I ever find out how much I have in there and if the thief spent more that isn't showing up yet?

 

[robinb]

Bummer . It sounds as if Disney charged your account twice because the first one didn't appear to go through. I would suggest that you go down to your bank and work with a band officer to go through your charges. If your bank is "bouncing" legitamate debits they should take care of any bounce fees. This happened to my mom and the theives drained her account dry of thousands of $$ in just a couple of hours. You may also have to file a police report.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You have to close the account because they have your account #. Also it is standards op's.

Mine was hacked into a couple of years ago...oh what fun!
My account was drained pretty quick. Funny it was drained in Florida and I lived in Missouri.

I think my number's were stolen from a restaurant I went to. They don't even need the card.

However, my bank closed the account and straightened everything out w/o incident.

 

[boomhauer]

I'm incredibly thankful the bank caught this before any money was taken out. It was a $15 purchase and even that won't go through because they closed the account.

Just a major inconvenience.

 

[Sherri]

If I were you I would go directly to the bank and talk to someone there, this way you can get all of your questions directly answered. I find that being a live person infront of somebody, sometimes gives you better service.

 

[mamacatnv]

My Dh's Debit card was re-created about a year ago, $10K was gone in 3 days(Fri-Sun). Since all the fraudulent activity was linked to the card, we did not close our accounts (no trackable link between the cards & the accounts themselves). We just got new cards and had to re-set up the automatic type transactions we had. The bank immediately reversed all NSF funds. I did have to file a police report and present it to the bank.

It is my understanding that when a debit/visa transaction is placed the vendor receives an authorization number. Many vendors will only get an authorization for $1 but the amount does not matter. Once they have the authorization by law the bank has to honor the transaction no matter what the amount and cannot refuse based on NSF. They can at a later date reverse the transaction. If the transaction is refused/declined at point of sale then no authorization is given and thus the bank has no obligation. Regarding your Disney transaction, if they are certain they will be getting their money it is because they already have an authorization number for the transaction.

The banks also have 10 days to give you your $$ back.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

You have to close the account because they have your account #. Also it is standards op's.

Mine was hacked into a couple of years ago...oh what fun!
My account was drained pretty quick. Funny it was drained in Florida and I lived in Missouri.

Yep, happened to me last year. I live in Florida and the charges were from Tennessee. Since one of the debits had been made that morning, I didn't have a very tough time explaining to my bank that it wasn't me. Took about a week to straighten out, but then everything was fine.

 

[Yzerbear19]

My sister's was hacked back in April 2005. We were in Florida at the time and she had just got it before we left so the card company saw a lot of charges in Florida but there were lots online charges for porn sites and such. Also when she went to get money out of her account it said there were insuffient funds available when there should have been more than enough money. When we got back to MI she called the bank and they froze the account or whatever to stop any new charges from being made, but it couldn't stop any that were already authorized. Whoeever got the number didn't have her actual account number, but the numbers on the debit card. The bank had mailed her the debit card because they were switching all the ATM cards to debit cards. Like another poster said, she had to file a police report, file out a million forms for the bank. She had kept track of her spending while we were there and had kept all her receipts which helped the bank figure out which were legitimate charges and which were fraud. I don't know if the police ever made an arrest in the case, but they did track it down to someone in the area. We think that whoever did it probably worked for the bank or the company that created the debit card they must have created a duplicate or took down the numbers. She ended up getting all her money back, but her account was messed up for a while.

Also get a copy of your credit report to make sure whoever hacked the account number isn't trying to get credit in your name.

 

[boomhauer]

What concerns me is I'm getting 2 different stories from the bank and Disney.

The bank is telling me, the account is closed, the money will not be received by Disney.

Disney is telling me everything on there end looks fine and when this happens, they always just get the money.

Honestly, I hope Disney DOES get the money. That's fine. What concerns me is, if the card was used by the thief on Friday or Saturday, and the bank does have to honor the sale, what happens to my money? How long does it take to get back?

 

[mamacatnv]

What concerns me is I'm getting 2 different stories from the bank and Disney.

The bank is telling me, the account is closed, the money will not be received by Disney.

Disney is telling me everything on there end looks fine and when this happens, they always just get the money.

Honestly, I hope Disney DOES get the money. That's fine. What concerns me is, if the card was used by the thief on Friday or Saturday, and the bank does have to honor the sale, what happens to my money? How long does it take to get back?

If Disney received an authorization number then your bank must pay them.

It can take up to 10 days to get your money back.

Go visit the bank and speak to someone in person (preferably a manager) get some good hard answers.

 

[boomhauer]

If Disney received an authorization number then your bank must pay them.

It can take up to 10 days to get your money back.

Go visit the bank and speak to someone in person (preferably a manager) get some good hard answers.

I went down this morning and spoke with the senior CS rep. She claims that Disney WON'T get their money.

She said to call back tomorrow morning and see what happened today. Any activity done this weekend, won't show up until tonight.

She just told me that anything that was charged but not posted prior to yesterday would get declined as the card would come up lost or stolen.

Great - Sounds like she had no idea what she was talking about.

I should have just withdrawn all the money from my account this morning and let the bank straighten it out.

 

[chager]

I would suggest that you go down to your bank and work with a band officer to go through your charges.

OK, I am so sure a band officer wouldn't help you much Someone is typing the way I have all day!! Hmm, what the person told you doesn't sound quite right. I may have missed it, but has a police report been filed? You will want to do that. They should have your account flagged. If you know of certain charges that you expect they can clear them manually. I am trying to remember what all we have people do, but our loss control department gets involved and we are then out of the loop. Because we are not a big (as in employee wise) place the LC person comes over and deals directly with the customer. I would speak with a manager concerning it. To be honest we will block a card but only close the account if the customer requests it. (Most do) Good luck!

 

[DisneyfeverTN]

About 9 yrs ago someone stole my debit/credit card number. Luckily, I got my bank statement very soon after the first charges. Someone was ordering things online and then having them delivered at an address in our city. I called each of the online companies, my bank, and the postmaster. I went to the bank and went over every charge on my account. It took almost a month to clear up the entire problem, but I was not any money.

 

[momrek06]

I am confused, BOOM, you said your DEBIT card???

How did the bank catch this??? YIKES, I have a debit card and with all this TJMaxx crap talk of late with hacking into people's acct's., talk about a mess for allot of people here in New England!!!

DH & I keep the bulk of our money on a bank debit card/MasterCard (tied into the acct)! If someone ever hacked into that, we would be so doomed. This crap scares me so much!! And I am hearing it more and more. I never ever use that card as a CREDIT CARD, only as a DEBIT card!!

Now last week, I received a call from Bank of America VISA saying they had to cancel my card as someone attempted to use it!! Now I am freaking and angry at the same time...WHATTT...yes, they attempted to buy thousands of dollars of camera equipment online. I asked "how did you know it was not me"...simple, they tried too many times with the expiry #! They had your right cc #, it was the expiry that we caught!

Card was canceled and YES, I am thrilled Bank of America caught it, but sheesh what if they had not....AND now you are saying your DEBIT card????? OMG!!! How did the bank KNOW to stop this while it was your DEBIT card...because with my debit I only put in my PIN, no expiry#!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AUPr8Hd]

I am confused, BOOM, you said your DEBIT card???

How did the bank catch this??? YIKES, I have a debit card and with all this TJMaxx crap talk of late with hacking into people's acct's., talk about a mess for allot of people here in New England!!!

DH & I keep the bulk of our money on a bank debit card/MasterCard (tied into the acct)! If someone ever hacked into that, we would be so doomed. This crap scares me so much!! And I am hearing it more and more. I never ever use that card as a CREDIT CARD, only as a DEBIT card!!

Now last week, I received a call from Bank of America VISA saying they had to cancel my card as someone attempted to use it!! Now I am freaking and angry at the same time...WHATTT...yes, they attempted to buy thousands of dollars of camera equipment online. I asked "how did you know it was not me"...simple, they tried too many times with the expiry #! They had your right cc #, it was the expiry that we caught!

Card was canceled and YES, I am thrilled Bank of America caught it, but sheesh what if they had not....AND now you are saying your DEBIT card????? OMG!!! How did the bank KNOW to stop this while it was your DEBIT card...because with my debit I only put in my PIN, no expiry#!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most banks have software and departments that handle what they consider suspicious activity. It can be multiple attempts on a card using different expiry dates, different mailing address from the billing address, etc.

It does sound like the bank CS rep is mistaken on her explanation. Once a card has been authorized, the bank is required (by their agreement with VISA or the card maker) to honor the transaction. They can block the transactions they intercepted that were being attempted and they will not post. I would follow up with someone in the bank DAILY for a few days as it can take 3 to 5 days for debit/check card transactions to post to the account. Once everything has posted, you should be able to file a police report on the charges which are fraudulent, if any. The bank then has a set amount of time to refund the disputed charge and any resulting fees.

It isn't as bad as it sounds; mainly a major inconvenience.

My words of wisdom as a former consumer banking employee: Be careful with your information and ALWAYS check your bank statement at a minimum of once per month.

Good Luck.

 

[AUPr8Hd]

I am confused, BOOM, you said your DEBIT card???

How did the bank catch this??? YIKES, I have a debit card and with all this TJMaxx crap talk of late with hacking into people's acct's., talk about a mess for allot of people here in New England!!!

DH & I keep the bulk of our money on a bank debit card/MasterCard (tied into the acct)! If someone ever hacked into that, we would be so doomed. This crap scares me so much!! And I am hearing it more and more. I never ever use that card as a CREDIT CARD, only as a DEBIT card!!

Oh, Momrek06. If someone gets your debit card number, then it doesn't matter what your PIN is. It still has an expiration date and a typical card number. A debit card is just like a credit card except for the fact it is tied directly to your checking account.

Crooks nowadays are more advanced than ever and the banks are always trying to implement things to lessen crime. Every time it seems things have been evened out, the crooks get a leg up.

Being in banking it is weird to say, but it almost seems to be safer to go back to using cash.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DH & I keep the bulk of our money on a bank debit card/MasterCard (tied into the acct)! If someone ever hacked into that, we would be so doomed. This crap scares me so much!! And I am hearing it more and more. I never ever use that card as a CREDIT CARD, only as a DEBIT card!!

Move your money!!!!
You need a debit card that you trickle money into as needed.
Thank God we already had that in place. We only lost about 700.00 but we were protected due to our bank. Make sure you check your protection!
I know in my gut a worker at a restaurant nabbed my numbers and whatever the crooks do and was able to drain my account.
They do not need a PIN, YOUR CARD, nothing but your numbers.

 

[momrek06]

Move your money!!!!
You need a debit card that you trickle money into as needed.
Thank God we already had that in place. We only lost about 700.00 but we were protected due to our bank. Make sure you check your protection!
I know in my gut a worker at a restaurant nabbed my numbers and whatever the crooks do and was able to drain my account.
They do not need a PIN, YOUR CARD, nothing but your numbers.

OK, OMG, now I am so freaking out!!!!!! Where should I put it?? Sounds dumb for me to ask this at 52yo BUT sheesh, I am freaking and to think anyone can just get this info and wreck havoc with YOUR life and your hard earned money!!!!!!!!

ETA: HELPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Yzerbear19]

Most banks have software and departments that handle what they consider suspicious activity. It can be multiple attempts on a card using different expiry dates, different mailing address from the billing address, etc.

They noticed my sister's because there were charges made in MI to online sites as well as the legitimate charges she was making in Florida. They called our home and my parents left us a message to call the credit card company which she told them that she was in Florida. We thought at the time that it was just that she was using her card out of MI. It wasn't until we got home that we saw what they were suspicious of. Its a good idea to call your credit card company before you leave for a trip to let them know that you are going to be using it out of state so that they will know that it is in fact you using the card in an area outside of your normal area. Our bank can't place a note in their system, but my other credit card companies were able to do so.

 

[dreamcometrue]

this happened to us about 2 years ago. It was right before Christmas. I didn't even know something was wrong until we get a call from our mortgage company saying our mortgage check had bounced! I went online and sure enough, our bank account was out THOUSANDS of dollars! My bank never caught it! I immediatly went to our bank and they were able to reverse the charges and I got a full refund of everything. They issued us a new Visa Debit since that's what the charges were made with, but never closed our bank account!