Debit card number has been compromised

Apparently my debit card number was compromised this morning. Some scum bag in France tested the number with a charitable donation to Wateraide America for 2 bucks...then tried to hit it for a little over 200 bucks for some online merchandise store.

Kudos to Chase for stopping this second transaction and contacting me!! I can't say enough good things about Chase since their merger with BankOne. I am always very careful when I am using my debit card for transactions online and only use it on sites that I am confident and comfortable with.

I know that it isn't as big of a deal as having ones identity stolen (I keep a fraud alert on my credit from an incident about 6 years ago)...but what a pain in the a$$.

 

Glad to hear they put a stop to things before they got out of hand.

That happened to me a couple years ago. Ugh.

 

Good stop!


Debit Card? Here's another security tip that will help all; At every ATM machine, when you enter your PIN number, COVER YOUR HAND AND THE KEYPAD with your other hand to prevent some camera from recording the numbers as you push them. Theives who setup crooked ATM machines mount cameras right above the keypad to record you entering your PIN. They already recorded the data on the magnetic strip, all they need is to see you entering your PIN. Use known bank ATM's and stay clear of those private ATM's when you can.

 

wow, I have not heard of crooked ATMs. That's clever.

 

Many of you are very young and that makes you the most vulnerable to fraud. Those are the stats; sorry. Let me give you some tips.

1. Debit cards are dangerous. If fraud is committed, your account is gone.
2. Whenever you transact in person, cover your number while waiting; watch the clerk, read your card before putting it back in your wallet. Make sure it's yours.
3. Know your spending habits.
a. Keep your credit limit low. They can't steal what is not there.
b. Based on your history, put a limit on transaction amounts. If they try to hit you for big bucks, they can't do it. If you need to make a big purchase, call ahead and tell the credit card company. I do that to protect myself as when I charged the deposit on my 575M. I called, gave them approval for the dealer and the amount-no problem. It took all of five minutes.
4. Go on line and check your transaction amounts weekly.
5. Let anyone in line behind you at an ATM or a checkout either talking or appearing to be talking on a cell phone go ahead of you. You can't photograph or punch in what you can't see.
5. While waiting to present your card, keep it turned over so no one can see the number or the name. This goes with no. 2 above.

Little stuff, eh. But, it's your money. Very best.

 

All great points, however with point 'A' debit cards carry a $0 fraud liability. Normal credit cards won't reimburse the first $50 of fradulant activity. I received a fraud dispute form from Chase and will have the $2.00 that they 'donated' to the Wateraid fund reimbursed back into my account probably by Tuesday.

 

Great! Since I've never had a debit card, I didn't know that. Further to my point about low credit limits, my realtor's brother was murdered in the Bahamas and the perps cleaned his account for $23,000. What a mess.

Glad to hear you're being taken care of.

 

Has anyone else noticed that clerks (especially at food markets) lately have a tendency to be hitting keys on the register when you're entering your pin, causing you to have to re-enter it?

Of course, it seems that neither the clerks nor some of the computers expect you to have more than four digits in the pin.

And what's with computers that can't keep up with my key entry speed? (I learned key entry on the old slug computers back in the '60s. How are today's machines slower than that?)