[ale] OT: I AM paranoid!...Debit Card Fraud

[Ernie]

Debit Card Fraud
I had this happen to me on Christmas eve this past year.  Just under $2600
got drained from my checking account.  All of the activity took place in or
around Orange county, CA.  None of the transactions were on the internet but
appeared to be in person.  They even bought a bed and mattress along with
some high fashio items at Louis Vuiton.  All in all, there were 5 separate
stores that were visited.

I promptly reported it to Bank of America who to their credit returned the
money to my account within 24 hours.  This was temporary pending the
completion of their investigation.  They sent me a legal document which I
signed which said that I had not purchased the items.  I never contacted law
enforcement directly.

I never lost my card..my best guess is that someone stole it from the
records at the GA toll authority.  Now, I ONLY use the debit card in grocery
stores, gas stations and other places where I am always in control and
possession of the card.  The clerks at the grocery store never see the
number...all they see is that it was approved.

Ernie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Hubbs" <hbbs at comcast.net>
To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2003 10:25 PM
Subject: Re: [ale] OT: I AM paranoid!


> For one thing, NEVER use a debit card for these kinds of remote
> transactions!  You have FAR fewer protections associated with debit
> cards than credit card carriers give.
>
> - Jeff
>
> On Thu, 2003-10-09 at 16:53, Jim Philips wrote:
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> > The previous thread gets awfully close to an issue I've been dealing
with the
> > last two weeks. Some goon got my debit card number (how, I don't know)
and
> > bought a bunch of stuff on the Internet. They bought $378.83 worth of
stuff
> > at Walmart.com and spent another $59.95 at USSearch.com. The latter site
does
> > public records searches, so I guess they were looking for a new victim.
By
> > reporting it all quickly, I got Walmart to stop the shipment of
merchandise
> > and USSearch quickly reimbursed me. But there are some scary things that
came
> > out of this.
> >
> > The DeKalb County cops gave me some resistance when I reported this as a
> > crime, saying it had to be investigated in the jurisdiction where it
> > occurred. They took this to mean the city where the servers live. Never
mind
> > that this is utterly stupid, I set out to call the police in
Bentonville, AR
> > (home of Walmart). And--wonder of wonders!--they simply turned over all
of
> > the information they got from Walmart. Now here is what was weird about
that.
> > I was already doing business with Walmart.com for their DVD rental
service.
> > So, they already had my debit card number. The fraudster used that same
card
> > number with them, but gave them the wrong e-mail address, the wrong
phone
> > number and also misspelled my name. So, what this tells me is that they
do
> > absolutely no checking on the identity of the person presenting the
card. If
> > they communicated with the card issuer, they could get the spelling for
my
> > name and my home phone number. Or, barring that, all they would have to
do is
> > check to see if someone else has tried to use the same card number with
> > different information. But they don't do either thing. Now given the
fact
> > that Walmart is the biggest retail operation in the world, you would
think
> > they could afford this kind of diligence. But apparently, it's too much
> > trouble for them. I sent them an e-mail asking about all of this and
what I
> > got back was their stock answer to all security questions: SSL, your
> > information is encrypted and all of that crap.
> >
> > Side note: Last Saturday, I got e-mail from Amazon.com saying that my
debit
> > card might have been compromised in some way. I wrote back and explained
that
> > I had no suspect transactions from their site, but that my card had
indeed
> > been compromised. I asked them to tell me what might have happened. They
sent
> > me back a tersely worded reply, saying that information could only be
turned
> > over to law enforcement. So, something happened, but I don't deserve to
know.
> > Amazon.com is now my most likely suspect for the place where my
information
> > got stolen. I hadn't used them in a couple of years. But just a few days
> > before I got ripped off, I registered my debit card with them and
ordered a
> > DVD.
> >
> > Just so you'll all know how concerned the major e-commerce sites are
about
> > your money.
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> -- 
> Jeff Hubbs <hbbs at comcast.net>
>
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