FRAUD!

So, I stopped by the convenience store to pick up a refreshment on my way to work, only to find my debt card declined. Baffled, I went to work thirsty, and hopped on my bank account online to see whats up. Before my eyes I see transaction by transaction of large sums of money. First a $300 dollar withdrawal from an ATM!, then another $100, etc. Needless to say, some f***ing scumbag stole my money, and wiped my whole bank account. I am currently left with $4.

Called my bank, and apparently these withdrawals were made with a new card. My wife is due for a new debt card, and they usually send them in the mail, and then send an "PIN" a couple days later. Apparently this a hole stole both the card and pin from my mailbox, and went to MY BANK ATM and activated the card, and proceeded to wipe my bank account.

So now I am home from work early, and the quest to get this solved commences! Called my bank, contacted local police(still waiting for an officer to show up), called the credit company's to report fraud and put a watch on my credit. Have to call United States Postal service inspector to report mail theft, call federal trade commissions identity theft(not sure why, but was told to do so).

So, here I am, $4 dollars to my name, and some GOD DAMN M*therf**cker has $540 dollars that is mine.

Going to take a trip after I give my report to the police to my local bank, where this scumbag withdrew at and ask if any of the cameras caught anything. I want this guy/girl CAUGHT!

Grrrrrrrrr, so angry. I am only 25yrs old, and this is the first time something like this has happened to me.

Who says this purp won't try to break into my house when I am gone or EVEN here? I am now in the market for a handgun for protection, anyone got any suggestions?

Anyhow, I've had a bad day...

Sucks man. I had something similar happen years ago. $600 lost, got about $400 back eventually.

I have several weapons, but the one I keep close at hand for home defense is my Remington 870 12 guage shotgun.

I never understood why they send the card and pin trough the same mail box. PIN by cell phone would be infinitly better.

My cards all had to be activated by calling them from the landline phone they have on record. I'm surprised not all banks are doing this.

Very sorry to hear about your troubles. I'm sure it will get resolved but time is needed. I have my savings account inaccessible through my card because of this. We also don't have a joint account either.

Sad to hear... It's life, what you gonna do.

I never understood why my bank required for me to go personally and activate the card pin and my coordinates card... Now I now, it's just a lot more secure that way.

The thing with weapons is that you can't prevent these kind of things from happening. I would blame it to the bank, but you know, there's nothing you can do about it.

The fraud report might not be necessary, sounds like they just have your card info. They might not have the new card, anyone that's been handed the debit card could have what they need. This is why I never use my debit card AS a debit card. Too easy for people to see you putting in your PIN at a store or gas station. I always run as a credit card. A waiter could have written down the info or taken a pic with cell phone camera. If there was a new tradeline on your credit report, or *hard* inquiries you don't know about, that would be another matter and more serious.
If you put the fraud notice on your credit report, be SURE to document that request and everything about what's going on for the long run and keep it. You'll be asked for it all one day.

We've had this happen twice, but with online purchases just with the card info. In each case the bank put the money and any fees that built up as a result within a few days and got us a new card. Covered any expenditures while waiting too, just had to call them to ok any transactions we needed. No police report, the bank "handles it", which probably means put a stop to it and let it go since it's so rampant. Not worth it for them to follow up.

Kinda leaving the door open by mailing the PIN to you as well don't you think?!?

Over here you must activate your card personally with your ID before they give you a PIN.

The scam over here is card scanners on the ATM and they get your PIN by looking over your shoulder or other visual means.

Credit card fraud where waiters copy your card is much more common. The rule is not to let it leave your sight ever.

Banks must vary in their policy. I've seen a case where the bank's only offer of solution on a debit card fraud required a police report, with a signed statement promising personal prosecution of the perpetrator if caught. The bank noted in that case that many frauds were committed by gangs in South America, and that personal prosecution can be a difficult prospect.

Pretty clear there that the bank was just trying to make the customer choose to bail on the process, leaving the bank refunding zero of the fraud. Which is exactly what happened.

Back when I had a larger savings, I declined the debit cards when I opened the account. The lady at the bank looked at me like I was crazy. No... not quite.

Cylix,

File a report with the big three credit bureaus now:

www.equifax.com

www.experian.com

www.transunion.com

Do. it. now.

Also, good gov'ment reading:
http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/websites/idtheft.html

If they wanted to break into your house I'm pretty sure they would have done so and cleaned you out BEFORE giving you a huge tip-off by clearing your bank account. I'd say you're probably looking at some kind of fraud by bank or post office employees. It's an incredible coincidence that a thief would happen to open your mailbox on the day that you get a new debit card.

Was that a debit card or ATM? A debit card with visa or mastercard logo still gets protection about like a credit card. Our bank required an affidavit, we went over the transactions and it was pretty simple, taken care of in one sitting other than calling in each day to have transactions logged to clear until our money was redeposited a few days later. Obviously the card in question was destroyed and cancelled, another sent right out though. The first time, they had a rash of similar transactions going on. The second they weren't aware of anything large scale. Could be the advantages of living in a suburban area rather than a city though.

Our PIN doesn't change, so getting a new card in the mail doesn't matter much as far as the ATM goes. As debit functions go though, I think it was a 2 step process, the notice and activation info one day, the card about a week later (or vice versa, can't remember).

I had someone swipe my card and copy the data when I was working in one of the big name casinos here in Vegas. Luckily my bank contacted me several large transaction went through in the early morning hours. Someone was at a theme park in Spain on my dime. I'm sure they had a great time and I hope they enjoyed it. My bank cancelled the card and refunded my money the next day. It happened a really bad time as I was already low on funds due to job changes.

Good luck with your adventure. Some banks are a pain to the customer during these situations.

I just have a suspicion that its someone who has been stealing mail in the neighborhood recently. The police told me they have had many reports as of late of mail theft. The purp probably went through the mail on one day, and noticed the brand new ATM/Debit card, and inside it clearly states a pin will arrive in mail a few days, so most likely they waited everyday for the mailman and just came behind him and took the mail until they had the PIN letter.

It's not just this fact that I want a gun, this incident has opened my eyes to where I live, and how much of a crappy neighborhood it really is.

I filed reports with both my bank and police department, postal service, and all three credit agency's. Next I need to head down to the bank at which the person used the card at, and ask if I can obtain the exact time when they activated the card and withdrew money. The police told me to do so, so they can pin point in the video tapes at the bank of the individual. Will also need to probably visit the gas station they went to and see if I can obtain similar information. Also going to talk to my bank about there craptastic procedure of acquiring new bank cards, and how it should be fixed.

Once the bank finishes the investigation, I will hopefully be able to have my money giving back to me, not to mention hopefully the guy will be caught(but it's probably a long shot).

I'm pretty sure it was a debit card. It's been years ago, can't recall if there was a Visa or Mastercard logo.

Print your transaction report from the website, and brign the police report with your, they should be able to match the transaction time/amount to the timestamp/logs of the ATM and CCTV camera.

also check your bank account insurance/coverage. depending on what you set the account up with you would get either 100% back or nothing.

the card is now flagged so if its swiped anywhere it will notify via security system alert, or if its inserted into an ATM it will be withheld and a code sent to police via security system alert.

anything over $500 is a felony, so he's gonna go to jail for at least 5-7 for theft, however he's also gonna get time for Identity theft since he claimed he was you by using your card and forgery since he signed with your pin #.

Well, I took a trip to my bank, and they gave me the timestamps for each transaction. Apparently this guy is a night-owl as all of the transactions were after 00:00.

Had another officer come to my house to pick up the transaction history and timestamps, and I asked if the report would have been done already, because over the phone my bank said I probably want one. He said yes, but also mentioned the bank's investigation will probably be done and said with before they even start their investigation!? I didn't expect much thou, considering the state I currently live in..

Also, I checked my mail today, and got a plain looking business envelope. Opened it, and guess what? ANOTHER GOD DAMN DEBIT CARD!? Really Bank? That soon?? It's MY new one, cause mine expires next month. It says inside the ways to activate it.....

[*]Go to blabhblah.com/activate
[*]Call us toll-free at 800-blahblahblah
[*]Make a deposit or withdrawal at any blahblah Bank ATM
[*]Visit any blahblah Bank branch

But under the card, it says:

"To activate a new check card you will need your account number and your PIN. Your PIN will arrive in the next few days. For security reasons, your card and PIN are not sent together(Bullsh*t...)"

But I am baffled, because the first transaction the perpetrator made was at the gas station. He couldn't have done the above ways. He had to of had the other piece of mail that had the PIN in it I assume.

But another thing it says with the letter and card is this:

"With blahblah bank's zero fraud liability you won't be responsible for unauthorized purchases if your card or it's number is ever lost or stolen."

Good sign eh?

It's not so much that he's a night owl. It's less likely that you would catch the transaction at night when you are asleep.