Debit Card Fraud

[Mars4Dude]

Nebraska,
I am a victim of debit card fraud. There were 26 unauthorized charges to my debit card. Fortunately, I keep close watch on my account and caught the charges within a few days. All of the charges were made on-line. While I am not sure how they got my debit card information, I think it was obtained when I made a contribution to a non-profit organization. I have two questions. One, am I responsible for all of the unauthorized charges if my bank doesn’t accept the protests I filed? And secondly, 20 of the unauthorized charges were in excess of my account balance therefore, I was charge $30 fee for each of the charges amounting to $300. Am I responsible for the $30 fee over draft fee for each of the unauthorized charges if the protests are approved?

 

[eerelations]

How did the other party get your PIN?

 

[Zigner]

How did the other party get your PIN?

PIN is not needed. OP is referring the CC usage of the Debit Card online.

 

[Country Living]

I'm assuming you had the card cancelled and replaced? What did the bank say when you asked these questions?

 

[ecmst12]

You will need to file a police report for the theft if you haven't already.

 

[Mars4Dude]

The Bank Wasn't Much Help

My bank treated me as if I couldn’t manage my account with statements like “aren’t you the one…” I was quick to inform them that in the seven years of having my account with them my statement balanced to the penny every month.

When the bank noticed there were seven more charges to my account while I was at the bank, then, they became more helpful. They had me fill out the disputes, and I asked about notifying law enforcement. Clearly, the manager didn’t know what she was doing as she told me notifying law enforcement wasn’t necessary as the bank fraud division would handle it.

That just didn’t seem right to me so, the next day I went to U.S. Secret Service web site, and found out there was many things I had to do to protect myself:

1. Filing a report with the police.
2. Contacting all three credit agencies and had them place a fraud alert on my credit report.
3. Contacting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
4. And, the only thing my bank did to protect me was change my account number, and ordered me a new debit card.

I received the new debit card but, I haven’t activated it until I am confident there are not going to be any more unauthorized charges to my account. My bank recently was purchased by another bank and I keep getting the run around when I seek answers. The police told me that it was up to the bank’s discretion weather or not I would be responsible for the overdrafts and my deposits. I am so dumb. I always thought one would only be liable for the first $50 if one debit card was fraudulently used. I think that I’m going to start stuffing my bed with money in the future.

 

[Antigone*]

My bank treated me as if I couldn’t manage my account with statements like “aren’t you the one…” I was quick to inform them that in the seven years of having my account with them my statement balanced to the penny every month.

When the bank noticed there were seven more charges to my account while I was at the bank, then, they became more helpful. They had me fill out the disputes, and I asked about notifying law enforcement. Clearly, the manager didn’t know what she was doing as she told me notifying law enforcement wasn’t necessary as the bank fraud division would handle it.

That just didn’t seem right to me so, the next day I went to U.S. Secret Service web site, and found out there was many things I had to do to protect myself:

1. Filing a report with the police.
2. Contacting all three credit agencies and had them place a fraud alert on my credit report.
3. Contacting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),
4. And, the only thing my bank did to protect me was change my account number, and ordered me a new debit card.

I received the new debit card but, I haven’t activated it until I am confident there are not going to be any more unauthorized charges to my account. My bank recently was purchased by another bank and I keep getting the run around when I seek answers. The police told me that it was up to the bank’s discretion weather or not I would be responsible for the overdrafts and my deposits. I am so dumb. I always thought one would only be liable for the first $50 if one debit card was fraudulently used. I think that I’m going to start stuffing my bed with money in the future.

Regulation E offers consumers protection when it comes to electronic fraud against their bank accounts. You can quote the bank this section if they give you any more grief.

Section 205.11 Procedures for resolving errors
States that if a consumer notifies an institution that an error involving an EFT has occurred, the institution must investigate and resolve the claim within specified deadlines. Errors covered by this requirement include unauthorized EFTs, incorrect EFTs, and the omission from an account statement of an EFT that should have been included.

Now that we are passed that we can move onto other things.

1 ~ Filing a police report is good. Keep it for your records. In your case the bank did not require it. After the fraudulent items have been credited back to your account, the bank becomes the victim and their own internal investigations will decide how to proceed (if they are to proceed) with any criminal prosecution.

2 ~ Contacting the credit agencies for a fraud alers is also a good thing, but remember that in your case it seems like all they had access to was your debit card number. Many banks & insurance companies offer credit monitoring. I pay 12.99 a month and it is the best few bucks I can spend all month.

The bank was correct in issuing you a new debit card. So "all they did" was only the first step in what they are required to do. You do need to know that detecting fraud is your job. You are your money's best defender. It is not the bank's fault the fraud happened, but the bank is responsible to work with you to get the issue resolved. Again, you did the right thing by informing your bank early on about the fraudulent activity. You do have two statement periods in which to let the bank know about fraudulent activity. If you allow it to go passed the 60 days, the bank does not have to credit you back the funds.

One last thing. Ask your bank to reverse the OD fees, which they should in a heart beat.