We've been robbed!

[Lisa W]

I am so angry right now! :mad:

I went to use my debit card today and I got the "insuff funds" message.... which I though was crazy cuz I just got paid yesterday. I went home, checked my online account and there it is.... four interac withdrawls in a row -- three for $100 and the fourth is $160.

It wasn't either me or my husband..... nobody has our PIN number.... we didn't lose our bank cards...... how can this happen? :confused: :mad:

I know it's not a huge amount of money but when you're living from cheque to cheque sometimes it IS a large amount! I don't know what I'm going to do now..... that money was to go into our mortgage account.

At first I was pretty upset. Now I'm just plain PI$$ED! And to top it off --- we can't do anything with the bank until Monday. I called the police and they have a file open now and all my info..... but they can't really do much until I can get more info from the bank.

[zwieback]

I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully, your bank can figure out what happened and put your money back in your account.

Something similar happened to my neighbors and what their bank figured out was that someone at a few of the restaurants where they used their debit card took their number and used it. They got most of their money back but, the bank wasn't able to give return any debits under a certain amount (maybe $50?). Fortunately, there were only a couple of charges like that.

I hope you get things figured out. Good luck.

[Gumbeaux]

I am sorry to hear this.

There was a story in the news a few weeks ago about thieves that recently stole thousands of PIN numbers and what banks were doing about it.

The story is below.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=7on_your_side&id=3982441

[ClaraB]

Lisa, have you tried calling your bank's customer service #? Your local branch may be closed til Monday, but there might be a national toll free number that provides service on the weekend, assuming your bank is one of the national ones. I'm so sorry this happened to you - what an awful feeling!

[luv2run]

Lisa,

I'm so sorry this happened to you. DH and I had a similar experience a couple of years ago. I went online to check my balance one morning and instead of the expected $2,000, we were overdrawn. Seems that someone had debited our account several times for things like ads to sell items in "trader magazines" and, if I remember correctly, shipping through FedEx. Our bank is a local credit union and they credited our account the same day so we considered ourselves very lucky. The problem seemed to be that the credit union used SSNs as checking account numbers. They changed our account number and we have never had another problem. I still use my debit card liberally--on the internet, at restaurants, etc.

I'm sure your bank will correct the problem but I certainly understand the anxiety until Monday. From a kindred spirit, here's a hug (((Lisa)))

Debbie

[mmbedard]

Lisa, that is such a horrible thing to happen! Take a look at this site:
http://www.cba.ca/en/ViewDocument.asp?fl=3&sl=308&tl=310&docid=546 where it indicates that you are protected under the Canadian Code of Practice..... and that you should get your money back. Good Luck!
Miche

[Kgeria]

About 6 months ago I took my kids to get a haircut at a place that we always go to kind of like a Super Cuts style place. I charged $20 to my debit card. We went out to dinner that evening and when I came home I had a message from Washington Mutual asking me to call them. I called and they asked me if I had charged $500 at a salon. I told them NO. Then, they went online and starting paying there phone bills and all kinds of stuff. It got up to $4000 I have overdraft. I had to file a police report for Washington Mutual was great and took care of everything. I got all my money back. However; the police didn't do anything which made me mad especially since I gave them the name of the place and a description of the lady who scanned my debit card (they were stupid enought to charge an additional $500 to the hair cut place after I left. Depending on your bank they should give your money back to you. I know Washington Mutual did.
Good luck with everything. I know I felt my privacy was violated especially since they were dipping into my bank account where I deposit money. Definately call your cards customer service and see what they will do most of them are pretty reasonable and will work it out with you.

[Curiosity Hears]

Lisa I am sooo sorry to hear of this. Oye the frustration of credit fraud! Like previously suggested, try calling the customer service dept. of your bank. If it is a big bank chain they should be able to help you. Also, they probably will refund your missing monies.

Four years ago my bank mailed my lost atm card to the wrong address and let these people change my pin number!!! Still don't understand how that happened. These crooks spent eight thousand dollars in four days until I noticed. Wells Fargo replaced every dime of it including all overdraft protection charges. Then they changed my account number and gave me free checking for a year (I HAD TO ASK THOUGH).

I share this story in hopes that it will bring you some odd comfort. No doubt your bank will take prompt care of you.

Have a nice glass of wine or a stiff cocktail, call customer service, and try not to let it get your heart racing too much. (easier said then done).

Much luck.

[Lisa W]

So..... update on my bank problem. As I said before I already reported this to the police but I have since left a message at the bank (Credit Union).

But here's the doozy ---- the idiots are STILL using our account. :eek: They've deposited $600 and have taken two more withdrawls -- $200 and $280. I'm sure the deposit is a scam too. Probably not a real cheque or whatever.

I'm going to be at that bank tomorrow morning with my nose pressed up against the glass until they open! ;) It irks me so much that I can't close my account down from here. I figured they were done with us since they took all our money..... no way.... they have to start depositing fake cheques and stuff. I can only imagine the damage they can cause overnight! :(

[Peweh]

Lisa - sorry to hear what you're going through (and surprised there's not a 24/7 help number on the card!) The bank will make it right tomorrow. I had a similar recent scare where Citicorp called me about a CC I have where they were questioning a duplicate charge; I asked who is the vendor and they said, that's the weird thing, they couldn't see that. I hadn't used that CC since my wedding last year and went online and found all kinds of charges for online dating services! They cancelled my card and are sending me a new one with an affidavit to fill out. Your bank will probably do something similar.

Good luck, thoughts are with you from the US.

[funnybone]

Lisa, I'm sorry this has happened to you. Thieves can get hold of the info on your card, via the magnetic strip, without actually having your card. Think back to where you may have used it where you did not swipe the card yourself. Chances are, someone swiped your card using one of those card readers you hear about, and then when you enter a pin # in, they have that as well.

In Canada, do most stores still use the method where the clerk takes your card, credit or debit and swipes it, rather than you swiping it yourself? I could be wrong, but I remember when my sister recently visited, she was surprised at all the stores that have the machines where customers swipe their own cards.

I hope it all works out for you in the end. Let us know.

[Lisa W]

So here's the scoop......

There has been in total, over $1400 taken from our account. Now, only $460 of that is ours. The rest is from bogus cheques deposited and then cash withdrawn.

There are a few ways they could have done this ---- the bank speculates they had a camera set up to record my PIN number and a way to scan my card when I used the ATM. They then make up fake debit cards with the information. All the transactions occurred in Quebec with most being in Montreal. We were in Montreal back in March. Not saying our card was scanned there but more than likely it was.

The bank returned our $460 to our account, handled the bogus cheque deposits and cancelled all our cards and ordered new ones.

Hopefully we're done with that drama......... ;) Thanks to all of you who "listened" to my rants...... and your posts were very helpful. Thank you! :)

[Gumbeaux]

Great news! I'm happy for you.

[funnybone]

That's great that it worked out for you.