Freaking out... checking acct missing money!

[jfoofj]

Ok..... so I am NOT the best check book balancer. Ok, I don't balance to the penny, I kind of balance to the $100. I always know approx. how much is in there and since I pay 99% of my bills online and use my debit card all the time, it is all right there online. I check it almost daily, just to see where I'm at and what got paid etc. I just looked online and there is a transaction posted that reads like this "DDA PURCH VISANET TERMINAL SAN MATEO". Ok, I am in Massachusetts, no where near San Mateo and I don't recall a purchase for this amount at all (I know sometimes businesses post on your checking acct under funny names). SO, I called my card in as lost/stolen just now and am going to call the bank in the morning and see what's up. Has anyone ever had this happen? I googled what I put in quotations to see if it is a common fraud that is happening but didn't get much.

TIA

 

[JR6ooo4]

can you click on that transaction in the online statement through your bank to get more info?

Mikeeee

 

[BelleWDW]

Probably can clear up in morning

My son once had several hundreds taken out his account-someone with his same name but in another city in our state got the bank to look up his account and took the $$ out wrong (my son's) account. It was cleared up in a few hours -but my DS was sick with worry .

 

[agnes!]

DDA is apparently a Demand Deposit Account or a checking account.

Take a look at this:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/?search=VISANET TERMINAL TRACESAN MATEO US

Do you have some kind of account with NetSpend?

Good luck,
agnes!

 

[jfoofj]

Thanks for the advice... I did try clicking on it on my online statement but there was no more info available. Agnes!, you are good detective because I couldn't find any info when I searched. It is for a weird amt, hopefully it isn't fraud, but if it is I'm sure my bank will handle it... they are pretty good. It stinks, though, it takes 10 business days to get a new debit card and I use that thing for EVERTHING (I even debit my Dunkin Donuts coffee). I never have cash anymore.

 

[LuvOrlando]

That sounds terrible and is why my debit is not hooked up to a credit card. I like the bank only because in order to access my money the person would need a PIN, which is more complicated but not impossible. A few months ago the Lehigh Valley was hit by some men who went around installing bogus ATM's. They were gone before the victims realized what was wrong and notified authorities.

I'm sure it will all be worked out tomorrow, the banks are pros at this sort of thing.

 

[Disney Doll]

Someone got a hold of your # somehow. Happened to us a few years ago with one of those debit crads attached to a credit card. The bank eventually refunded the stolen amount...it took about 2 weeks I think.

We don't have a debit/credit card. We just have a regular ATM.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Keeping my fingers crossed this gets resolved fast and that there are no more transactions!

Since this is a checking acct your bank may give you a 'provisional' deposit for the amount taken. Once they investigate it they will then keep the money there or take it back.

I was in Paris and an ATM machine said it 'could not process my transaction at this time' so I went to machine a block away. Of course I was hit for 2 ATM transactions, 5 minutes apart! My bank gave me a provisional deposit while it was researched (took much longer than normal since it was in Paris!)

This also happened to a co-worker of mine in MA, she used her ATM card at a lot of 'no-name' ATM machines and someone got her card/pin# and made a blank card and used it in CA for ATM withdrawls. They have her a provisional deposit while it was investigated.

 

[wdwfan16]

We have had two CCs number stolen in the past year. We never use our debit card for anything but bank withdrawls. They can "clean out" the CC or my debit card. The later is my money and may prevent me from paying a blls.

 

[clutter]

I use my cc (Disney Visa) for everything and write it in my checkbook like I'm paying cash. I don't have Visa/MC on my debit card and won't use it except at the ATM and Costco!

 

[pixiewings71]

I'm not sure you needed to cancel the account just yet but I hope you were able to get into contact with your bank this morning. They will be able to help you with that. If you purchase something online then it's possible they are located in San Mateo, that happened once with me, I made a Target purchase on my way home from work, got home and ordered some clothing from BodyCentral.com, they are based in FL, I got a call from my bank asking if I recognized the purchase city, I didn't so it transferred me to a live person, after speaking to them I knew what the purchase was and it was approved and cleared but yes, it was unexpected to hear I'd purchased something in FL when I live in CA. Good luck OP, I hope this works out well for you!

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

The bank will most likely have you fill out a dispute form and you'll get provisional credit while they research the transaction. You probably should cancel that debit card and get a new one. Sounds like someone has you debit card number.

 

[2binak]

OP - I hope it was just a mix-up on the part of your bank. Good thing you check your account everyday.

We only use one credit card for all of our purchases because if someone steals our cc #, they're spending the cc company's money, not mine and I can dispute the charges and not be out any money until the case is resolved and only then will I be out money if the cc company finds that I did make the charges. However, if someone steals my debit card #, they're spending my money and it could take months to get it back and I'll only get it back if I prove that I did not make the purchases. CC's really are the most secure way to go.

 

[keenercam]

Any update on this? I have been worried about you since I read this, OP. I hope you got to the bottom of this and can prevent any unauthorized access to your account.

 

[C.Ann]

Were you able to find out what this charge was for? Hopefully it was just something you forgot about..

 

[jfoofj]

Hi again... thanks for the concern! The bank is investigating. I admit it COULD be something I forgot about, I have done some Christmas shopping online recently, but I was using a different debit card (I have an everyday checking and a vacation/gift/extras checking acct that I'm using to Christmas shop, but maybe I grabbed the wrong card one time). I haven't heard back from them as of yet, but they said that while it is being investigated the money stays in my account. I have overdraft protection too, but my big fear was that if this is a scam and they got money the first time, they would try again and completely wipe me out. That debit card is canceled now too.

SO, I am pretty confident it will be solved soon. I have to say, my bank is really good about this stuff. It is a small local bank, not a huge conglomerate, and I really feel like that makes a difference.

Thanks again!

J

 

[2binak]

J - so glad your bank is working with you and keeping your money in the accuont for now. You are very fortunate to have a bank like that. Hope this all turns out well for you!

 

[Chicago526]

Glad it's being worked out, OP!

This is exactly why I use a CC for everything except ATMs and Costco. If a CC number is stolen it's the banks money, if it's my debit card it's MY money. And while banks are getting better at helping debit card victims, I'd still rather risk the banks money, thanks! And since I pay off my CC each month, there is no interest either (and I even get airline miles. I'm flying first class to Hawaii some day thanks to Visa! ).

But this is a good reminder for those that do use debit cards, to frequently check your accounts online, it's much better to catch this stuff early, BEFORE they get a chance to wipe you out.

 

[kuaitzudog]

I traced my entry like this back to the car wash..but it also charged me twice so be careful.

 

[snapppyd]

I traced my entry like this back to the car wash..but it also charged me twice so be care
ful.

Your first post is to bump up this old thread??