I was hoping to be able to blog about something light and airy today, but my morning sickness has decided to last into the evening and things here have been, well, interesting. The icing on the cake was last night as I was getting ready for bed, Tim calling me downstairs in his most serious of voices. Some creep in Chicago, Illinois got a copy of our check card and went to town at Wal-mart and McDonald’s (this screams “classy”, doesn’t it?). My heart dropped into my stomach as I stared at our online statement of all the money that was drained, plus more. We immediately called the bank, had the account frozen, and this morning began the steps of rectifying this.
Once the dust settled a bit, we found that they were somehow using Tim’s card number. The thought of the bank, somehow, authorizing another card and mailing it to another state without our knowledge infuriated me. But once Tim spoke with our local branch manager, she let us in on some information that is making this particular issue a growing problem. Employees who are running credit cards and debit cards (particularly at restaurants) are hooking machines into the back of the credit card machines that makes a clone of your credit or debit card electronically. This then allows them to use this number very easily online, or in this case, make a physical clone of the card and use it in a store. A couple months back I read an article in one of my chick magazines about this very issue and how you should be using cash as much as possible, esp. in restaurants. I hate having cash on-hand, but after this incident, it’s something we are going to really start using more and begin to retire our debit cards.
Luckily for us, b/c it was a debit card, the transactions were declined, and this butt-face kept trying over and over, and with each try our account was authorized that amount (meaning it was still holding that amount on our card, showing each as a separate transaction). So chances are, 80% of the total amount will be put right back into our account after 2 pm today. But it’s still extremely unsettling that we were victims of this kind of fraud.
A couple things worth noting here: 1) We had signed up for a daily notification of our account balance, so when Tim received that and it said we were in the red, that caused him to check things out. If you use online banking at all, I highly recommend this feature, esp. if you don’t check your account daily, like we do. And 2) We did nothing wrong. This happened not of our negligence or carelessness. We didn’t lose our wallet, or give out our information to anyone - it was done that quickly and that easily, and it happens every day. I do not share this to scare you or make you afraid of anything. I only wish to spread awareness that this is a growing problem and it really can happen to anyone.
Christie says:
ohmygosh! wow…your last two posts I’m sure left you emotionally drained after writing! that’s so awful but i’m so glad it’s getting fixed so easily. and you’re so right, this happens to quick and to anyone, even people who are aware. thanks for sharing your story.
November 13th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Kim says:
Douchebag is putting it nicely
It was good seeing you guys this morning and I’m glad to hear that most of the money will be back in the account so quickly. No more debit card usage for me!
November 13th, 2007 at 11:34 am
Melany says:
Oh my goodness Candace!!!! That’s horrible and scary! I’m glad you will be able to rectify it.
November 13th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Randi says:
SO sorry to hear about this!! It really is a growing problem that most people are unaware of. Whew, can my husband tell you some stories about all this kind of stuff, boy! It’s amazing what these jerks can do. Glad that the bank is working it all out!
November 13th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Amy says:
UGH!!! This makes me so disgusted. It’s awful, but unfortunately, becoming much more common. Sorry it happened to you
November 13th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Heather H says:
Candace - this SUCKS. So sorry you have to go through this. It’s such a creepy feeling I’m sure. Thanks for the advice about the cash thing - and checking the bank statements often. When I was in NYC last year, I carried cash everywhere, and I actually liked it a lot; and I didnt spend as much as I thought I would if I had cash- it’s just something we have to get used to again. I’ll remember this for restaurants, especially - that always creeps me out giving them my card and they disappear somewhere into the bowls of the restaurant. i hope it gets resolved quickly.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Elizabeth (formerly devriesthree) says:
sick!! I’m so hoping that all winds up in the black for you!!
November 13th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
oh amanda says:
WOW, Candace. How creepy. I hate it happened to you, though! Thanks for the heads up!
November 13th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
bee says:
I’m so sorry this happened to you guys. It’s just awful! Thank you for sharing & warning us.
We’ve already started making our transition to cash!
November 13th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Rachel says:
OMG…Candace this totally sucks…I just can’t believe it…Thanks for sharing your story with us..I am going to look into getting the daily notifications your were talking about as I do use my online banking for everything…Hope it gets better soon!
November 13th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Natalie says:
Oh, what a blessing that you caught it early. I’m pay very close attention to my bank account - almost daily - but i’m going to sign up for alerts as well. I would recommend that for all your accounts as well.
Sorry for you having to go through this! Hope you get 100% back!
November 14th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Sara says:
I’m glad you caught it early and I hope you get everything back!
Thank you for posting about it. We always pay with a check card, everywhere. We’re going to pay with cash more often when we eat out now.
November 17th, 2007 at 1:38 am