Electronic Theft with debit cards

This is just a word of warning to anyone who uses a bank debit card. Monday of this week, the day before a bank holiday, my husband and I both happened to use our debit cards around the same time of day in two different locations. Both were declined. Knowing we had enough money in the account to make our purchases, we called the bank. No red flags went up, they checked the cards, and said it was just a fluke. “Everything seems to be fine,” they told us.

Tuesday evening we stopped to pick up some Chinese food on the way home, but the card was declined again. Still not suspecting anything other than a computer glitch, we made a note to be sure and call the bank on Wednesday when they opened back up after the holiday.

To our horror, when we called them on Wednesday, we found out the account was empty and the cards were being declined because someone in California was enjoying a fun day of spending at various Target stores and gas stations in different towns….all on us!

After talking to the bank, the police, and the credit reporting agencies, we have learned that there’s the possibility that we were targeted because our current debit cards are due to expire at the end of this month. New ones have been ordered and are probably in the mail. We believe that our account was targeted because of this. The police officer who took our report offered the idea that its possible that the company that processes the cards as new ones are made has been infiltrated by a ring of thieves who can create an extra magnetic strip and create a card with out account information on it. We may never know for sure, but this guess is as good as any. We also wonder if that much spending would have gone unchecked if it had been a credit card rather than a debit card.

To the tune of over $2000.00 someone had used a debit card (yes, an actual card, not just the number) with our account information on it to make more than 15 purchases. Yep…they cleaned us out, including the allotted overdraft protection that our bank allows us to use.

Now let me brag on our bank just a little. Small town banks know how to look out for their customers. They were very gracious and are helping us to take care of the problem. A provisional credit is being offered so that we can continue to carry on our daily business and they are covering all checks, NSF charges, overdraft fees, and other purchases we had made prior to finding out we had been robbed…they have been so gracious and so helpful, but we are not surprised. We use a local bank, not one of those big monster banks.

If you’re wondering what this has to do with you, I’ll tell you. If you use a bank debit card and your card is due to be renewed, keep a close watch on your account. We believe they chose Monday to clean us out because the next day was a bank holiday and it gave them an extra day to get away. So check your account daily. Use your online activity summary if you have one, but if not, call the bank every day and ask them what activity is scheduled to go through your account that night. In our case the damage was done before we knew anything about it, but now that you’ve read this, you’ve been warned.

Chances are we will get every penny back and life will go on for us. Our bank has been very good to us and we are extremely grateful for their help. But I won’t forget November 10, 2008…just an ordinary day that turned into a nightmare.

© [Janet Sikes Anderson] and [Kitchen Sink Thoughts], [2009]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Janet Sikes Anderson] and [Kitchen Sink Thoughts] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.