My Debit Card was Stolen!

Emerald1

Emerald1

New member
I try to be happy and positive but every once in a while I'm reminded that there are harsh realities.

My husband and I went shopping for things for the house and once we got to the second store he realized he couldn't find his debit card he used to pay at the first store. We immediately checked the shopping bags because he was sure he dropped it in one of them while trying to carry everything to the car. Since I worked at a bank for 4 years in the past I knew we needed to be more urgent about this. So we decided it's best to just call and cancel the card right away (it had been 15 minutes since losing the card by this point). It felt like such a long wait for an operator since everything in the world now is automated.... But we finally spoke to someone who quickly canceled the card at a $20 fee. We checked with him to see if there had been any charges on the card since we last used it (now 25 minutes since we lost the card). He said no and we were so happy to have dodge a bullet there! We would be expecting a new card in the mail in a week in a half. Well, my husband decides, once we got home, to check his card again online. Turns out, hundreds of dollars worth was spent at Sprint right after we canceled. Just under $1000. The operator must not have seen it since it hadn't gone through just yet. *sigh* I just have to say... I'm not even as mad about losing the money as I am disappointed in the person for picking it up and using it. For all they know the cardholder needed that money for rent, or something bigger! (We didn't but what if we did!?) I will never understand thievery. We were so disappointed. So disappointed. We called again, now to make a dispute over the unauthorized charges but Alas! nothing can be done since the charges are still pending. The operator told us that the charges could possibly fall off in a few days. But if it does end up going through completely, to call in a few days and then make a dispute. I looked at my poor husband and felt so helpless. I wanted to reassure him of something better. But I didn't really know what to say. So instead he looked at me and said "it will all work out in the end honey".

It only took 25 minutes. And that's all it takes.

Please, everyone, take even quicker action than we did. I feel so bad and I feel like it's my fault for not calling and canceling sooner. Maybe it's because of my bank experience that I'm taking the blame. I don't know.

But....

I'd like to keep thinking that there are more honest people in the world than dishonest people....
 
Sorry to hear what happened, but I am wondering, how did the thief manage to use the card at all? Usually all cards, credit and debit alike, have a pin number, without which no transactions are possible. Or you have to sign for the transactions. Additionally, most cards I know (especially debit cards) have a limit of transactions and amount of money spent in a certain amount of time.

I don't know what bank you're with, but I see several issues with this.

1) They cancelled the card for a fee? What bank charges you for an emergency procedure that is in their own best interest?

2) Apparently your bank has no safety procedures in place to prevent fraudulent use (as in limiting amounts spent and number of transactions made)

3) I am probably with the crappiest bank in this country, but I still can freeze my account within about a minute through their automated system. ANY actions afterwards, even those which were pending at the time, will be rejected by the bank, meaning, I won't lose money.

So I don't understand how that could happen in the first place. If your bank really has the audacity to charge you with all that money, I'd certainly dispute it, ESPECIALLY since it is their fault that it took you so long to cancel the card. And it might sound petty, but I would insist on getting the $ 20 for the cancellation back as well, and then change to a different bank.
 
It was a debit/credit card. So we can only assume they used a signature. We can only imagine what they did. I can't remember the last time a clerk asked to see my ID to verify my signature unless I was buying something of a large amount. This person, apparently, bought several things all amounting to the ending total... all in 25 minutes... are thieves ninjas????

Also, I agree about the fee. But we were in such a rush at the time to cancel it we just said "yes yes just cancel it"

*Sigh*
It's unfortunate but we'll dispute
 
Well, if they used the signature, at least it should be relatively easy for you to dispute it. Nobody learns to fake a signature within a few minutes, so it should be easy to spot that the signature has been falsified. And it's the shop's problem if they haven't verified the signature, so hopefully you shouldn't have too much trouble disputing those charges.

Fingers crossed that it all works out for you. Despite everything, stuff like that just sucks, and makes me really angry.

On the good side, I lost my bank card a few weeks back when getting into the car. Not only did somebody pick it up and bring it to the little corner shop I'd been to, the owner (who undoubtedly knows my pin number by now) went through some trouble to find my phone number out and let me know where it was. So, there are some good people out there after all.
 
Yes, the store absolutely has a responsibility to check your signature. Don't sweat it. You're such a nice person that I'm sure Karma owes you a few favors!:Angel_anim:
:Angel_anim:
:Angel_anim:
 
Emerald, so sorry to hear of that happening to you. I don't use a debit card or have any credit card linked to my checking account. Here is what I do. I use a credit card and deduct the charges out of my checking account just like it was a debit card than pay the entire balance off when the bill comes in. When I write out my check I don't have to deduct it (I just note I wrote it) because it's already been deducted. It's easier to dispute a credit card if you lose it or someone gets your number and that way someone can't wipe out your checking account. My late husband taught me a lot about protecting myself.
It's scary to think that someone was able to put so many charges on your card in so little time. You should report it to the police as well. Often the banks want a police report. and just maybe they can get a hold of a video from the store to see who used your card.
 
@San: I'm glad it turned out better for you. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. And thanks. You made me feel a little better.

@ Monster: You're so sweet ^_^

@BigLyn: Thank goodness that card was a bit as you said. It isn't connected to our "main" checking account and we put money on this one if we want to. However, since we were intending on buying a lot for the house that night, we put a lot on it for our purchases.
 
wow so sorry to hear about your experiance Emerald! It is sad when we realize that there are bad people out there.

I can't tell you how many times I've used my debit cards/credit cards and not had anyone check my ID or signature line. I can't tell you how many times! That store should be at least somewhat responsible for allowing that to happen.

Do you feel almost like this was a personal attack on you??? Reason I ask is b/c once the week after dale earnheardt died, my #3 jacket was stolen, along with my car keys and cell phone in the pocket. While I know this person didn't know me from adam, I couldn't help but feel the attack was personal. Just wondering if you had the same feeling???

anyways, I hope this mess gets straightened out and they catch the creep!
 
I used to work for mcdonalds (nothing flash haha) and any time someone would sign for their credit/debit card I would ask to see the card. It became a habit for me. One day a lady came in ordered about $15 worth of food and signed with some random looking scribble as usual I asked for a look at her card she sighed extremely frustrated with the request i saw the card had no signature she snatched it away from me and stormed off with her food. I was shocked at how rude she was. But I have always wondered about that incident.

I'm not even sure what you can do in that situation. I asked a manager and he just said not to worry it was "just $15" but it really annoyed me that some people kinda just don't care.

Sorry to hear about your card. I hope everything works out when you dispute it.
 
I used to work at McDonalds for a few years, part of the time as a manager. We had it drilled into our heads to compare signatures. If the card wasn't signed, it wasn't valid, and the customer wouldn't be served. They were pretty strict (but that's about 15 years ago), so in your case, what the woman did would have counted as theft, and fraud (for using an invalid bank card).

The answer 'It was only $15' would have gotten my fired before I could finish the sentence, but it seems they are a bit more lenient everywhere else. Our inspectors and general manager were just totally paranoid. *lol*
 
Emerald said:
It was a debit/credit card. So we can only assume they used a signature. We can only imagine what they did. I can't remember the last time a clerk asked to see my ID to verify my signature unless I was buying something of a large amount. This person, apparently, bought several things all amounting to the ending total... all in 25 minutes... are thieves ninjas????

Also, I agree about the fee. But we were in such a rush at the time to cancel it we just said "yes yes just cancel it"

*Sigh*
It's unfortunate but we'll dispute
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Call your bank manager and get that fee waived. In no way, shape or form is the bank supposed to charge you for canceling a debit card. That is a completely bullshit fee and you need to talk to your bank manager to waive that fee.

Also, contact the Sprint store in which these purchases were made. Yes, disputing the charges with your bank is good, but you also need to contact the Sprint store where the card was used. If it was used online, contact Sprint, give them your bank information and tell them what happened. Tell them you never authorized those charges and request that they track down where and when the purchases were made (and, if possible, WHO made them) so you can inform your bank to dispute the charges.

I was a victim of identity theft a few years ago and I had to go through all of this before. Unfortunately, your bank isn't going to do shit for you. It's not their money that was lost, so they won't do anything for you. All they'll do is prevent any further charges from being authorized on your account (the one that was attached to the stolen/lost debit card).

You have to contact all of the places where purchases were made and talk to them yourself. Personally contact all of those places and put in a formal complaint to dispute the charges. Write down the names of the employees you talk to, what time you called, what was discussed (etc). Every little bit helps. If you can't prove that you didn't make those purchases, you'll never get that money back - I didn't. Why? Because, the purchases made from my stolen debit card information were all made online and I couldn't prove that I wasn't the one sitting in front of the computer on which the debit card was used. And, because I didn't contact all of the stores/sites myself to dispute the charges, I'm still out almost $3,000.

So, just do the grunt work yourself...just in case.

Good luck.

Monster said:
Yes, the store absolutely has a responsibility to check your signature.
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Unfortunately, no they don't. Checking a signature on a debit/credit card is no different than verifying the authenticity of dollar bills. The only reason that stores and companies check the authenticity of large bills ($50, $100, etc) is to check to make sure that the money is real - that the money is actually there. They're not checking to make sure you're authorized to use the money...or the debit/credit card...they're just making sure that they're going to get money.
 
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Hmm...seems that the law is entirely different in the US than in the UK and Germany then. Over here, a card without a signature is invalid. If a customer pays with any kind of card that requires a signature, we are by law required to match the signature on the card to the signature of the customer.

We even have self-checkouts where you can pay with your card and sign if you want cash-back - the reader scans your card, you sign, and the machine matches the signatures.

I've worked both in Germany and here in the UK, and in both places comparing signatures is NOT optional. If an employee doesn't compare, and the card turns out to be stolen, that employee can wave goodbye to their job. In addition, the employee will have to reimburse the business they work in for any kind of financial damage resulting from their behaviour.

In other words, you give 1000 quid worth of stuff to a customer without checking the signature and the person turns out to have stolen the card? Bye-bye next paycheck....

If checking the signature is optional in the US, what's the point? No need to sign anything if it doesn't matter anyway, is there?
 
San said:
Hmm...seems that the law is entirely different in the US than in the UK and Germany then. Over here, a card without a signature is invalid. If a customer pays with any kind of card that requires a signature, we are by law required to match the signature on the card to the signature of the customer.

We even have self-checkouts where you can pay with your card and sign if you want cash-back - the reader scans your card, you sign, and the machine matches the signatures.

I've worked both in Germany and here in the UK, and in both places comparing signatures is NOT optional. If an employee doesn't compare, and the card turns out to be stolen, that employee can wave goodbye to their job. In addition, the employee will have to reimburse the business they work in for any kind of financial damage resulting from their behaviour.

In other words, you give 1000 quid worth of stuff to a customer without checking the signature and the person turns out to have stolen the card? Bye-bye next paycheck....

If checking the signature is optional in the US, what's the point? No need to sign anything if it doesn't matter anyway, is there?
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A card without a signature on the back is invalid here in the United States too and isn't supposed to be used for purchases. If a card doesn't have a signature, than a store isn't supposed to accept it, because the signature on the back of a debit/credit card is the cardholders way of saying, "This is my card, it's activated and allowed to be used for purchases." But, it's not a store's responsibility to check the validity of a card. Meaning, a store doesn't have to verify that the card they are given by a customer actually belongs to the customer in question. SHOULD they? Yeah, HAHAHAHA, absolutely. But, they don't have to.

I've used my mom's credit card before, which clearly does not have my name on it, but I've never been questioned. It has my mom's name on the front and her signature on the back. All I have to say if I get a weird look is, "This is my mom's card" and they'll take it. They don't check my ID or call my mom to verify that she gave me permission to use her card - they just take it. Why? Because, all they need to know is that it's a real card and that they're going to get paid.

I worked in retail for a while and we would always check the signatures of a debit card, but we hardly ever asked for ID. Only if it was suspicious would we ask for ID. Like, if a 6' 3" 450 lb grizzly man gave me a card with the name of "Martha Smith" on it, then I'd deeeeefinitely ask for ID. But, other than that, I wouldn't care. It's not the store's responsibility to take care of other people's money. Morally, you should check, but legally you don't have to.
 
A card here in the Us is supposed to be signed. But people in stores are more relaxed than in the UK. For example, sometimes a person will give someone else their card to make a purchase and that second person will sign their own name. This is not considered unusual (but is shocking to me, being from the UK). For example we had lunch on our manager today and he handed over his card (company card) and one of the senior people signed the reciept. No-one considered it unusual.

I can't imagine that would happen in England.
 
I want to first talk about the "signing the back of the card" thing. While I was working at the bank, we were told several times by higher up managers to not sign our cards. This way a thief wouldn't get our signature if it was stolen. So that's interesting...

The card stolen recently was not signed on the back by my husband either. So if they signed for the charge it should show that it wasn't his signature. They couldn't have used it as debit obviously. But if they used it online... well... i don't know...

Not one clerk has ever asked to see my card.

We've put in a dispute today. I'm taking the advice to also call the Sprint store.
I think the bank may see the circumstances. We lost our card. Called to cancel when there still hadn't been any charges that went through. Then charges came through after the cancellation. Once again... I don't know.

I also wanted to say that this bank doesn't have a physical location. It's an online bank that was given to us when we started college. So it's also not our main bank with anything connected with our main accounts for our family.

I thought when we put in the dispute today, they would give us a courtesy temporary refund of the charges like other banks do. Some banks give you your money back on a temporary basis while the dispute is active. If they find that you will get your money back then they let you keep it. If they find that you are liable for the lost, then they take it back. But they didn't at all. They also said that it may take 90 days to hear anything regarding the dispute decision.

Up to 3 months.

Meanwhile the thief is walking around with paid bills, new sprint contract, new phones (or whatever s/he did with the money).
 
Emerald said:
I want to first talk about the "signing the back of the card" thing. While I was working at the bank, we were told several times by higher up managers to not sign our cards. This way a thief wouldn't get our signature if it was stolen. So that's interesting...

The card stolen recently was not signed on the back by my husband either. So if they signed for the charge it should show that it wasn't his signature. They couldn't have used it as debit obviously. But if they used it online... well... i don't know...

Not one clerk has ever asked to see my card.

We've put in a dispute today. I'm taking the advice to also call the Sprint store.
I think the bank may see the circumstances. We lost our card. Called to cancel when there still hadn't been any charges that went through. Then charges came through after the cancellation. Once again... I don't know.

I also wanted to say that this bank doesn't have a physical location. It's an online bank that was given to us when we started college. So it's also not our main bank with anything connected with our main accounts for our family.

I thought when we put in the dispute today, they would give us a courtesy temporary refund of the charges like other banks do. Some banks give you your money back on a temporary basis while the dispute is active. If they find that you will get your money back then they let you keep it. If they find that you are liable for the lost, then they take it back. But they didn't at all. They also said that it may take 90 days to hear anything regarding the dispute decision.

Up to 3 months.

Meanwhile the thief is walking around with paid bills, new sprint contract, new phones (or whatever s/he did with the money).
Click to expand...

I don't know how that bank would operate (considering it's some sort of online bank), but when I had my account information stolen, I used National City Bank (which is now PNC Bank) and this is what I had to do...

I had to sign forms at my local National City branch which gave the bank permission to investigate the fraudulent activity on my account. Legally, they aren't allowed to investigate anything until they have permission from the account holder. So, I had to go into the bank and sign a few forms (I forget what they were called - there's a name for them) and I also had to write down the exact transactions which I wanted investigated. I had to list the date of the purchases (and time, if available), the places of business where the purchases were made and the amount of each purchase. So, pull up your bank records, print out a copy of your statement and highlight all of the transactions that you didn't authorize. Give that information to your bank. Since your bank doesn't have a physical location, you might just have to fax a copy of that information to them. I'm not positive - you'll have to check with the bank, obviously.

After my forms were filled out, my accounts were frozen. Nobody had access to my accounts, not even me. My accounts were frozen, but all attempted transactions were recorded by the bank (since I gave them permission to investigate the activity on my account by signing the forms) and the information obtained during that process was used to catch the thief. Unfortunately, my thief was never caught, so I was stuck with a huge loss of money. In your case, since your card was immediately canceled, I'm fairly certain you'll get your money back...as long as your bank is insured.

Anyway, I never heard from my bank until about 3 or 4 months later, so the estimation you have of 90 days is just about right. After they contacted me, I was told that they couldn't do anything, because they couldn't trace the transactions to anybody in particular. Apparently, my thief belonged to a crime ring that dealt in credit card and bank account fraud, so no suspect was ever caught. The bank informed me that there was nothing they could do at the time, but my information would be kept on record in case the criminal who stole my information was caught and prosecuted in the future. Then, my account would be reimbursed. But, since I couldn't prove that I wasn't the one who made the purchases in question (the ones I didn't authorize), my money was never replaced. The burden of proof was on me...not the bank. That's why it's good to contact the Sprint store and any other vendors that took your debit card that night. Get all the information you can - employees who worked that night, any description of the thief (if the employees can remember), the amount of the purchases, what they bought, serial numbers of the products, etc. If they can fax it to you or provide you with a printed copy, that would be even better. But, get all the information you can and give a copy of it to your bank. It might help them during their investigation. And, it might prove that you and your husband, in fact, did NOT authorize those transactions.

Once they investigate and find that you didn't authorize those transactions, I'm sure your money will be reimbursed in a timely manner.

Hopefully everything works out. It's a pain in the ass and it causes a lot of headaches, but as long as you get your money back, it'll be worth it.

Good luck.
 
Still totally baffles me.

I've got 4 cards right in front of me. Two debit, two credit cards. Two of them Visa, one Maestro, one Mastercard.

All four of them say in clear letters on the back, right under the strip for the signature 'not valid without authorised signature'. I truly had no idea that it was different somewhere else.

I'd never have any dealings with any bank that cares so little about security. True, they are a bit anal about it over here - they froze my husband's account because he paid our WoW subscriptions with it, and they thought it was an unauthorised transaction. But hearing stuff like that, I will never, ever, complain about them being too careful. Better safe than sorry.
 
San said:
Still totally baffles me.

I've got 4 cards right in front of me. Two debit, two credit cards. Two of them Visa, one Maestro, one Mastercard.

All four of them say in clear letters on the back, right under the strip for the signature 'not valid without authorised signature'. I truly had no idea that it was different somewhere else.
Click to expand...

That's exactly how it is here. Businesses aren't supposed to accept a debit/credit card unless it has a signature on the back. But, a lot of businesses don't check.
 
Chef is right. It's my experience that they don't really check it.
...and then some only check if you are spending a really large amount.
 
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