They got my card!!

[Disneymom4ever]

So I went to do my daily check on my checking account this morning, and there are charges like you wouldn't believe! And to places you wouldn't believe! I ran to check my wallet (wanted to make sure I didn't accidentally lose my card) and sure enough, I still have it. Ok, so how do these people get card #'s?!! My bank said to call each company, and they then blocked my card. Well good think I check in the morning! I'm just so mad, I know I'm naive, but I always think the best of the world, and when something like this happens, it just makes me sick. And for the life of me, I can't figure out how they got it! It was my debit card, but I've only used it to pay bills, grocery store, the usual. It makes me wonder what else they have of mine! Just don't get it. There are just some not nice people out there! Sorry, I just had to rant. Thanks for listening!

[IloveDisney71]

In my area there were a couple of restaurants that got busted making copies of people's debit/credit cards and then selling the information to other people.
I've also seen on Dateline (or something like that) that people can sit in a parking lot of a store and using some type of device they can capture card information.
I've had my number stolen before, but thankfully only about $45 was charged before I noticed the problem!

[ncscgirl2005]

Its a good thing you check your account daily. I had a friend that didn't do that and they got her for almost $1,000 before she realized anything. I hope everything goes well for you. I always shop online but this is going to make me think twice about ordering those new pumps I want.

[diz_girl]

I only use my debit card for cash withdrawals and at the grocery store. I use a credit card for anything else. If there are fraudulent charges to your credit card you are better protected than if someone got a hold of your debit card. When a fraudulent charge hits your credit card the credit card company usually takes care of it quickly. If fraudulent charges hit your bank account, then you may be dealing with bounced checks, NSF fees and returned check fees. Then try to clean that mess up, especially with the credit agencies.

[tink179]

I'm sorry for your trouble! I too had stuff happen to me at DW. We were just there last month. I lost my wallet, and it turned up in the centralized lost and found. I had all my cash stolen out of it. A little over $200. Then I had to put a fraud alert in my name, and call a few of the credit cards I had too. My social security number was in there. As well as my kids birth certificates and their social security numbers. I got everything back in my wallet with the exception of my cash and a $25 Red Lobster giftcard. I'd like to say it was a visitor, but you never know it may very well had been a cm. I hope everything works out for you! I'm glad you caught it early on!!!!

[CanadianFan]

Don't know how it works in the USA, but here in Canada, the bank has a fraud department. They can tell when a card has been "skimmed", because it registers differently in the coding. They can then verify that the charges were NOT done using the card in your possession and refund the money to your account. Both DH and I work in the bank, and it has happened to us. Sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are with your card or PIN, they getcha anyway Just be watching -- if ANYONE swipes your card more than once ("oops, it didn't work that time") CANCEL the transaction and ask them to start again -- that double swipe is how they get it!

Isn't it nice to have a Magical place like Disney to look forward to when yucky things happen in RL?

[CanadianFan]

Don't know how it works in the USA, but here in Canada, the bank has a fraud department. They can tell when a card has been "skimmed", because it registers differently in the coding. They can then verify that the charges were NOT done using the card in your possession and refund the money to your account. Both DH and I work in the bank, and it has happened to us. Sometimes it doesn't matter how careful you are with your card or PIN, they getcha anyway Just be watching -- if ANYONE swipes your card more than once ("oops, it didn't work that time") CANCEL the transaction and ask them to start again -- that double swipe is how they get it!

Isn't it nice to have a Magical place like Disney to look forward to when yucky things happen in RL?

[Deesdisney]

I am so sorry this happened. It is not the best thing to deal with. Not only them taking your money but also spending all that time correcting what happened.
In the news last year they caught those people in Gastonia at the restaurant stealing numbers and using them. This really worries me. I think the big guys in the banking system should be able to come up with some kind of a double check. Because signing the receipt does not work. I hope everything works out ok for you.

[Disneymom4ever]

Oh my gosh, so get this. I just called one of the companies (a company that sells calling cards), and he said the email address they used and the phone number was MINE! Ok, so now somebody has that information as well. What in the world? I just don't know how they got this. The only thing I've done lately is used a Paypal account with Ebay, which I assume I can trust, and I've entered a few sweepstakes this week, but never giving them bank information! Wow, what a day!

[Dragongirlx]

I am sorry what happened to you but this happend to me recently too and it was because of Paypal.

I used paypal to buy Christmas Preents on behalf of my older sister. Some one was randomly hacking into the site and managed to get all my paypal details - they then used this to buy things using my account.

Luckily paypal emails you everytime your account is used so I was able to get back to them straight away.

Paypal - got the companies involved to refund my money and changed the security details of my account.

Even so I didn't feel safe after this and closed the account.

[Flower]

I was hit about 2 weeks ago also.

I went to my bank to make a deposit thru the ATM and a message came up to 'see branch for details'. Fortunately I was there as the bank opened and went to see a teller, she directed me elsewhere and asked if I had been notified by the fraud department to come in - NO???!!!

As it turns out, I had used my card 'somewhere' that they had caught someone skimming the debit machines in a store and once the bank was notified of it they 'froze' every bank clients card that had shopped there within the past month and were re-issuing cards to all of those people and we had to type in a new PIN code.

Fortunately nothing was taken from my account. The bank would not advise which store this took place at, which bugs me. I set up an appointment with my personal banker as I was leaving and she said herself and several other girls from the branch were 'frozen' as well, from that we think it was either a local grocery store or drug store that was hit.

When I got home the message was there from the fraud department.

[Disneymom4ever]

I am so sorry to all of us that this has happened to! I went to the bank today, the woman said she took a fraud class, and was amazed at all the different techniques and tools they use now. Who knows how it happened, I was just the unlucky one today that it happened to. I'm SO glad I caught it early. So.....my lesson for the day is: check your account often!

[Magic Smiles]

Since we are on the topic of fraud, my 85 year old mother was the victim of a $3000.00 VISA card fraud. VISA did refund her the money after investigation, however it certainly opened both my eyes and the bank teller who helped me eyes. The bank teller had to assist with the phone call as VISA would not talk to me as I was not the card holder, but my Mother at the time was incapable of dealing with the problem. This is what VISA told us. Once you have used your VISA card with a company, they have pretty much free reign on using your card again. It was a local company that had put the $3000.00 charge through. A company that had re-located and were no longer a member of the better business bureau. What VISA did was send a request to the company, for proof of authorization for the purchase. They were given 2 weeks to get back to VISA. I am guessing that VISA never got back to them, as the $3000.00 charge was reversed along with all credit charges.
It really is scary at just how easy it is for an unethical business to get your money.
My MORAL of the story: VISA won't discuss a problem with you unless your name is on the account, but anyone can put a charge onto your account, no questions asked.

[Dakota Rose]

Oye. I hate this kind of thing. When I lived in CA, I lived in the county that has the highest rate of identity theft in the country, and unfortunately it happened to our family many times.

Make sure you ask each merchant what they need to clear your name. They may ask for a police report and also for an affidavit of fraud from your bank. It's a paperwork nightmare at first and takes a little while to clear up, but it will get cleared up. Just ask lots of questions and unfortunately, be prepared to be treated like the crook not the victim.

Hang in there and if you need advice, PM me.

[Dsnygirl]

I'm so sorry this happened to you... it is SO frustrating and maddening!! We got hit in December... luckily, I, like you, check things online every day and I noticed a few charges that made no sense. (Companies we'd never contact, times of purchase in the middle of the night... which could happen, as I'm a night-shift nurse, but not to the websites registered...) I called the bank right away, and the only really frustrating part of the whole thing was that I had to wait until the charges "cleared" my account before the bank could (would??) do anything. When I caught them, they were still in "pending" status, and the bank said that if a mistake was made by the vendor, they could realize it and "pull" the charge back, and thus, we wouldn't have to pursue it. But I disagreed - I still wanted someone to look into it, b/c somehow these charges showed up on my account, and I wanted to figure out how!! But anyway... the charges cleared and we got our money back... but boy was it frustrating waiting!! Good luck to you -- I sure hope things get worked out!!

[crazeedizneefinatic]

This actually happened around Christmas to my Husband. A CC we have never even taken off the paper it came on had some charges on it that Chase interrupted and called us. One was for $1 and another for over $1000! They blocked the charges since they did not have the expiration date. It's amazing how thieves can get your info.

One word of advice. To be on the safe side put a fraud alert on your credit report. It's free and any new accounts or activity that will tried to be open will not be unless authorized by you. They will call you. Gives you some piece of mind. It's one phone number for all 3 reporting agencies. I don't have the number anymore but your bank should be able to get it for you. Chase CC gave it to us.

Good luck straightening everything out, it's such a nightmare and so worrisome to think someone has your info and how they got it. Wishing you the best!

[BrerGnat]

I had $65 taken from my checking account from my supposed paypal account. They had my email, password, and charged stuff. Paypal admitted the error, the merchant refunded the money, and I changed my paypal details.

That was the second time I've been "taken". The other time was from the CM at DISNEYLAND who sold us our first AP's back in 2001. That was the only person who handled our card and she must have written down the numbers. Lucky for her, we were buying our first AP, so we had to give her our name, address, phone number, etc. She then proceeded to mail order $475 worth of cell phone accessories...

It's actually more likely that a PERSON will be responsible than it happening from doing business online. Most https:// sites have enough "anti-hacker" technology that a human never even sees your information. It's when you have to physically hand over your card to someone that you need to worry. They have card readers the size of your palm (could fit in a pocket) and one swipe is all it takes and the person has ALL the encrypted info from the card at their disposal.

Everyone using credit cards should enroll in a Credit Monitoring system. I use Equifax Gold Credit Monitoring. It's about $100/year, but it's worth it to have someone keeping an eye on all your accounts for you.