Warning To Online Bankers

Those of you like me who do online banking. I urge you to check your accounts everyday. A few weeks ago I cam home late from work (it was during Amazon Prime week so we were busy) and my mother asked me to look in the hallway and asked me why I would order that. It was a large box of paper towels from Amazon. My mom keeps us stocked up so there is no way I'd ever order that. I had also gotten other things I didn't order. It turns out this is a common scam by Amazon marketplace and it doesn't hurt you financially, something I didn't find out until later. However, it made me curious. I looked on my Amazon account and there was no record of those orders. Then on a whim I looked at my checking account. What I saw scared me. There were four purchases I did not make. Two small ones (to an Indonesian fast food place-I don't even know what Indonesian food is) and two large ones (to some Travelocity like place in Spain) all four totaling around $900. Not only that there was a transfer of $2000 from my savings to my checking.

I spent the next 2-3 hours on the phone with my bank reporting fraudulent charges, cancelling my debit card, resetting all my passwords, PIN numbers, and security questions, and consulting with the fraud department to make sure all I was doing would keep the hackers out. They traced it to someone hacking into my e-mail account and getting my bank information that way (I changed my e-mail password too). All this was done on that day I discovered the discrepancies which were made on that day. It was just dumb luck that it happened on the day I got those paper towels. I finally have a new card and the fraudulent charges were reimbursed. I now check my account every day and signed up with LifeLock. Beforehand, I would check my account a couple of times a week.

So if it can happen to a guy like me that makes less than $30,000 a year, it can happen to anyone.

My bank is good about alerting me to suspicious activity. I normally get a phone call and asking if I made a purchase in "X" amount of dollars. I first noticed it when we were out of state and we stopped off at a Walmart to get some snacks and my debit card was denied. I had no idea why but before I could run the transaction again my phone rang and it was the automated system from the credit union. It asked if I tried to make a purchase and something like "press 1 for yes, 2 for no" and then I was able to make the purchase.

The next time it happened was last year while I was at work. Got the call about $250 in Kansas City but before I could select yes or no the call dropped. Someone tried to use my debit card at a Sprint store in Kansas City. I immediately called the credit union and reported it and they closed the card. Luckily they make them locally so when I got off work I was able to stop by and pick up a new card. But the $250 did show up missing on my account. After about 48 hours it re-appeared as a credit so no money lost. 

I check the account every morning and evening.

I have a few experiences with fraudulent charges in the past too. One of the last ones was from a gas station card swipe. Somehow they got access from that transaction and made a $80 charge to some store I never heard of. I obviously called my bank and got it sorted out. Another scary scenario is that every place you ever applied for a job and wrote down your SSN, (especially back when they were filed by paper) a bad employee with access could steal your info. Obviously internet hackers can do the same...

Troublezone wrote:

I have a few experiences with fraudulent charges in the past too. One of the last ones was from a gas station card swipe. Somehow they got access from that transaction and made a $80 charge to some store I never heard of. I obviously called my bank and got it sorted out. Another scary scenario is that every place you ever applied for a job and wrote down your SSN, (especially back when they were filed by paper) a bad employee with access could steal your info. Obviously internet hackers can do the same...

Fraud can happen anywhere to anyone. As part of my day job I implement ways to mitigate malicious actors and they are very dedicated to making a buck off of someone else.

Yup, it's scary how easy it is for people to get hold of your bank info. We got hit earlier this week.

My wife checked our bank account on Monday and found two charges on her debit card, for a Pizza Hut in Jersey City (?) and a hamburger place in Boston (?!) -- she called the bank right away, they locked down her card # and are sending her a new one.

The total was only around $60 but my wife sez the bank rep told her that's not unusual - thieves will generally make one or two small charges first to see if they go thru successfully before they try to use the card # on something big. So it's a good thing she caught it, cuz it could've been pizza and burgers one day, then a flat screen TV or a Playstation the next.

I would imagine that activity like this increases as we get closer to the holidays, so be vigilant y'all!

My credit card info was stolen online somehow last year. Someone must have hacked a store (which one? I still don't know), and there were charges made in the UK. It was first used in a pizza place in London, and then what started was a bunch of online transfers. The thief started a Paypal account with my card, and started moving money to other accounts.

I first called Paypal and they were completely useless, and jackasses to boot, saying they can't do anything, they won't even close the account, despite me saying it's MY card. I do have a Paypal account with my other card, so that's the only one they were willing to do anything about. But if someone started an account with their own name and MY card, a card with MY NAME on it, it's apparently not their responsibility. Idiots. They told me to ask the police or my credit card company to do it.

My credit card company was excellent though. They froze the card, and made me good. Paid me back every penny for those unauthorized transactions, and then took the case by themselves to the police etc. I was never told what had happened, or if they caught the criminals, because I was no longer the victim.

What's also odd is that we get calls on the landline every day from "Amazon" about a suspended account. The caller ID shows my area code and same prefix. So they expect me to believe Amazon has a local number? Hahaha. We ne very answer the landline any more so it might be time to dump it. On my cell phone I can screen calls via Google and then block the number it works out well.

Crooks are in full force to take advantage of people that are already down and out. They’re scum.

That's scary but I don't think I should be worried. My card limit for international transactions is now 25 dollars a month.

Not much a hacker can do. Plus I immediately get an sms on my phone notifying me of all banking transactions relating to my account/cards.

mikeinfla wrote:

What's also odd is that we get calls on the landline every day from "Amazon" about a suspended account. The caller ID shows my area code and same prefix. So they expect me to believe Amazon has a local number? Hahaha. We ne very answer the landline any more so it might be time to dump it. On my cell phone I can screen calls via Google and then block the number it works out well.

I ditched my landline because all our calls were spammers for the most part. I love the folks who say that my computer is spreading viruses and they need me to go into my settings to fix it lol!

I love playing dumb and making their life miserable...