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stolen debit card, bank problem

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Rvela

Member
What is the name of your state? Texas.

recently our debit card was stolen. the theive managed to get $400.00 from the account, before we could report it stolen. The bank did give us the money back, how ever, 3 weeks later, the bank debited our account for the $400.00. I feel that this can not be right. If this is not right, what should we do?

thanks in advance
 


JemSkate

Junior Member
The same thing happened to my ex bf a few years back. Did you call the bank and ask them why the took the $400????
Like I said, This happened a few years ago but what the bank told us then was that they would credit the account once they verified that it was not him. Im not sure exactly how they did this but one of the ways was through the idea of regular purchases, if it was not a "regular" purchase of his it made it easier to assume it wasnt him.
I would call the bank and possible look into what purchases were made??
 

JETX

Senior Member
"If this is not right, what should we do?"
*** What you can do depends ENTIRELY on the FULL facts of the situation. What EXACTLY did the bank say when you asked them why they debited the funds again??
 

Rvela

Member
When I called the bank there wasn't anyone available who could answer my questions. I am still waiting for the certain person to call me back. How ever the young girl I did speak to said that is looked like a "returned item". I didn't understand what she meant by "returned item", and she explained it like this: it has some thing to do with the credit the bank gave back to us, she said it was returned, showing as a debit, putting our account balance into the negative.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Again, before you can determine your next steps, you need to get the FACTS first. Get a FACTUAL response from the bank and get the NAME of the person you need to talk to.
Keep records.
Get the FACTS.
Then and only then can you decide what to do.
 

Rvela

Member
Ok, here is the facts I recieved yesterday:
Upon investigation of the stolen debit card and the transaction that took place, the bank found that they were not at fault since the transaction was an ATM. The only way a person could get the money from an ATM is with a PIN number. The Bank flat out accused us of haveing the PIN number in the stolen wallet there fore it was a valid transaction. The icing on the cake is when the bank debited the account again for 400, it put our account in the negative, Then they wanted to charge us a 25.00 returned check fee. I was livid!!!! I have not ever had a situation like this before and was under the impression that if your check card was stolen then you would not be liable for the moneys taken. Also, I find it hard to believe that an experienced thiefe needs us to provide him with the pin number. I think that they have ways of getting that info.
 

JETX

Senior Member
The theft of ATM funds is covered under the EFTA (Electronic Funds Transfer Act) and would depend largely on your notice to the bank.

"It's important to be aware of the potential risk in using an EFT card, which differs from the risk on a credit card.

On lost or stolen credit cards, your loss is limited to $50 per card. On an EFT card, your liability for an unauthorized withdrawal can vary:
- Your loss is limited to $50 if you notify the financial institution within two business days after learning of loss or theft of your card or code.
- But, you could lose as much as $500 if you do not tell the card issuer within two business days after learning of the loss or theft.
- If you do not report an unauthorized transfer that appears on your statement within 60 days after the statement is mailed to you, you risk unlimited loss on transfers made after the 60-day period. That means you could lose all the money in your account plus your maximum overdraft line of credit."

The actual USC section can be found at:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/15/1693g.html

For more:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/elbank.htm
http://www.in.gov/dfi/consumer/pdfs/ATM_Cards.pdf
 

Rvela

Member
Please excuse my ingorance and inability to understand what you have written. I have understood it like this:
If an EFT card =debit card, has been stolen along with the PIN no# , AND I report it the same day, we are not liable for the money stolen and the bank should refund us the money. providing all the police reports were filed an affidavits are signed.

Also, allow me to reiterate: the bank did refund the money, then upon conclusion of their investigation, they took the money back.
Their explanation was that the theif had access to the pin no# then it is our fault; not the fault of the bank. My husband is sure his pin number was not in his wallet when it was stolen. The papers you get with your card understandably advise not to do so. Thank you for the links, I will follow up with the links you provided and try to figure this stuff out. However, givin my inability to follow all the legal ramble, I may need further explaination. Thank you for you time in this matter.
 

JETX

Senior Member
Okay, lets try this with a simple question....
How many hours/days/weeks passed between the time of the unauthorized ATM withdrawal and the report to the bank that it was not authorized??
 

Rvela

Member
Approx. 3 hours.
The major complaint we had with the bank is the lack of emergency numbers available to report the card stolen.
Then numbers givin to us with the debit cards were no longer handling our bank as a client, and the other numbers we found were all closed (as it was a sunday).
 

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