identity theft/credit card fraud....help please

[ladyamos]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? I live in WV the crime happened in IN

I feel so lost and am not getting any help anywhere; I would greatly appreciate any advice someone can offer me. My story is kind of confusing so I will try to stay on topic and to the point. I have a prepaid debit card through HR Block that my tax return has been going on for years and I started having my pay checks deposited to it awhile back. On Friday I received a text notification that $541.78 had been deducted from my account. I immediately called HR Block (I was at home with my card in hand, no one had access to my card) and told them what was going on. We determined that the transaction took place at Bed, Bath and Beyond in Hobart, Indiana. HR Block spent about an hour telling that it could have been a hold released from a purchase that I had made previously. I start getting frustrated and explain to them that I never made any purchase at Bed, Bath and Beyond and had never been to Hobart, Indiana for that matter.

They place me on hold and transfer me from department to department; meanwhile I receive another text notification saying that $60.71 was removed from my card (cleared my balance, wiped it out to 0). Further investigation reveals this charge was generated at a Office Depot in the same shopping plaza as Bed, Bath and Beyond in Hobart, IN. So at this point I’m speaking with a “manager” whose totally clueless but starts to believe me and he stopped my card. He told me I’d need to file a report with the police and call back Monday to speak with the fraud department. So, I called the police in Hobart, IN to file a police report (4 times) wasn’t able to get past dispatch, they kept saying go through your local police department.

So, Saturday I call my local police department and explain the situation—they had a state trooper call me back and file a report. I get a call on Monday letting me know that the report was denied because there was no crime committed here in West Virginia and that I need to call the Indiana police. So, I call and speak with several people at the Indiana State Police and finally got through to a guy that listened to me; he sent me and email and told me to reply to the email with my complaint, and I did. So, um, I get a call from a Indiana trooper today telling me the same thing…I have to file a police report in WV…

HR Block is requiring that I file a police report to proceed with the fraud claim. I need this money… I know it’s stupid to have a prepaid account I just thought it was more secure than this…how do I get a police report filled? What do I do? I feel so hopeless.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Get in your car and drive down to your local police station. Tell them that you are the victim of a theft, and that your bank requires a copy of a police report. Don't leave until you get one.

 

[swalsh411]

Prepaid debit cards have substantially less protection against fraud then real credit and debit cards and you are learning that now the hard way. Essentially they are cash. They should be used for gifts, NOT as your primary financial instrument. Get a real bank account. You will probably never see that money again.

 

[LdiJ]

Prepaid debit cards have substantially less protection against fraud then real credit and debit cards and you are learning that now the hard way. Essentially they are cash. They should be used for gifts, NOT as your primary financial instrument. Get a real bank account. You will probably never see that money again.

Prepaid debit cards are all some people can get Swalsh.

If you have no choice but to use a prepaid debit card, then you should change the card every couple of years and be extremely careful how and where you use it.

 

[BigMouthWino]

Prepaid debit cards are all some people can get Swalsh.

And the reasons for this is of their own making.

If you have no choice but to use a prepaid debit card, then you should change the card every couple of years and be extremely careful how and where you use it.

More like every couple of months and if you need to purchase something over the internet or in a location where the card is out of your sight (like a restaurant - no matter how "nice") use a separate card for that and dispose of it after the purchase.

 

[LdiJ]

And the reasons for this is of their own making.

Obviously from someone who does not understand the concept of poverty...life going astray...bad things happening to decent people. All it takes is one thing going wrong to make it nearly impossible to get a regular bank account.


Grow up...there are millions of people in this country who are decent and law abiding who are struggling to handle everyday life. Yeah, some of them make mistakes but often those mistakes are made out of a lack of understanding, or desperation, not out of an attempt to evade responsibilities.

 

[BigMouthWino]

Obviously from someone who does not understand the concept of poverty...life going astray...bad things happening to decent people. All it takes is one thing going wrong to make it nearly impossible to get a regular bank account.

ABSOLUTELY untrue. The only thing that keeps an adult in this country from obtaining a bank account is writing checks in excess of their account balance at another bank. This is never due to "life going astray" this is either intentional theft or failure to keep track of one's own funds and financial situation. Writing bad checks is a crime. If you can open a checking account you can keep a check register current period.

 

[Who's Liable?]

ABSOLUTELY untrue. The only thing that keeps an adult in this country from obtaining a bank account is writing checks in excess of their account balance at another bank. This is never due to "life going astray" this is either intentional theft or failure to keep track of one's own funds and financial situation. Writing bad checks is a crime. If you can open a checking account you can keep a check register current period.

Is that what you tell a person who's just had their bank account cleaned out by their former spouse, causing all their checks to bounce? You're saying that person "intentionally" stole, and that they are now a "criminal"?

Life DOES go astray, and the unexpected DOES happen.

 

[LdiJ]

ABSOLUTELY untrue. The only thing that keeps an adult in this country from obtaining a bank account is writing checks in excess of their account balance at another bank. This is never due to "life going astray" this is either intentional theft or failure to keep track of one's own funds and financial situation. Writing bad checks is a crime. If you can open a checking account you can keep a check register current period.

Not true at all.

I will give you an example....real life....

Car breaks down...get a payday loan...company closes doors before the next payday happens and the payday loan company puts the loan through 20 times in one month. It goes from a 100.00 payday loan with a 20.00 overdraft fee to hundreds of dollars of overdraft fees. You eventually get your paycheck but no help on the overdrafts. You are on the no account list from that point on. That kind of thing has happened to hundrends of thousands of people.

 

[BigMouthWino]

Car breaks down...get a payday loan...company closes doors before the next payday happens and the payday loan company puts the loan through 20 times in one month. It goes from a 100.00 payday loan with a 20.00 overdraft fee to hundreds of dollars of overdraft fees. You eventually get your paycheck but no help on the overdrafts. You are on the no account list from that point on. That kind of thing has happened to hundrends of thousands of people.

This is again the fault of the check-writer, nobody else. If you write a check to a payday lender KNOWING when you write it that funds aren't in the account to cover it, that is YOUR fault. It's a risky loan created for just the type of stupid consumer you describe, who thinks there will always be another paycheck, home prices will always go up, etc etc.