Identity theft question

[COcheesehead]

Considering how many of your posts I've read this makes me laugh out loud..how about this one, there is no point in closing the barn door after the horse is gone... or to misquote Nike....just say no....

I really don’t understand this post. Care to explain?
You are hard to follow my friend.

 

[Morgan22]

Just cancel the meeting. No good will come out of it.

I just picture DH ranting, getting poor marks on his evaluation that they ARE going to perform, and the outcome being like parts of the movie, I Care A Lot.

 

[ivinsfan]

I really don’t understand this post. Care to explain?
You are hard to follow my friend.

I meant the catching more flies with honey comment...you can be, when you want to very very direct!!! Just a little joke on my part.


I'm sticking with just don't even go to the appt..

 

[vafoodie]

It was the bank. Wells Fargo. Without telling us explicitly, they told us the report was sent by fax then launched into why banks do this. I asked why social services had never visited us before when we had called about credit card issues, they said, "Were you 60?" So 60 is the magic number, folks.
My husband was prepared and professional, and all of his many other questions were answered. If they were doing some kind of competency testing, I hope we passed.
Yes, we did call the bank when we first learned of the reporting, and they told us they had not reported it. Perhaps it is as someone here surmised and some person within the chain reported it. My husband is stewing about this now.

CoCheesehead--what are some of these many ways to monitor suspected credit card fraud without calling the bank? I think it is a lot of people's first instinct to err on the side of caution and call the bank whenever they think they may have a credit card issue.

 

[braumeister]

Wells Fargo.

I think I figured out the problem.

 

[Aerides]

CoCheesehead--what are some of these many ways to monitor suspected credit card fraud without calling the bank? I think it is a lot of people's first instinct to err on the side of caution and call the bank whenever they think they may have a credit card issue.

I have monitoring via Credit Karma, and Capitalone. Most major credit cards do this. You'll get an email or alert for any inquiry or new account being opened, or any real change in your score.

Most credit cards allow you to get a notice on any charge so you can always be aware the second something comes through on a card.

It is insane that the trigger for a bank to call social services is 60... that rule must have been made by someone well under 40! Banks do tend to err on the side of caution on these things, but it is abysmal that they didn't tell you they had when you asked. Could have saved you a lot of worry these past few days.

I'd move away from them immediately and tell them why.

 

[COcheesehead]

It was the bank. Wells Fargo. Without telling us explicitly, they told us the report was sent by fax then launched into why banks do this. I asked why social services had never visited us before when we had called about credit card issues, they said, "Were you 60?" So 60 is the magic number, folks.
My husband was prepared and professional, and all of his many other questions were answered. If they were doing some kind of competency testing, I hope we passed.
Yes, we did call the bank when we first learned of the reporting, and they told us they had not reported it. Perhaps it is as someone here surmised and some person within the chain reported it. My husband is stewing about this now.

CoCheesehead--what are some of these many ways to monitor suspected credit card fraud without calling the bank? I think it is a lot of people's first instinct to err on the side of caution and call the bank whenever they think they may have a credit card issue.

I have transaction notices (text or email) set up on my card. I know the moment my number is used. I can go online and see up to the minute transactions as well on all my cards.

I have three different monitoring services - all free - that will notify me if my credit is accessed. I have all my accounts on transfer lock down. Everything financial is on 2FA security. I even have a freeze feature that locks the card.

 

[ivinsfan]

This bullsh$%. I'd sue em...get a class action lawyer and let it rip. WF is getting the crap sued out of them constantly and apparently for good reason

 

[Koolau]

This bullsh$%. I'd sue em...get a class action lawyer and let it rip. WF is getting the crap sued out of them constantly and apparently for good reason

They may well be reacting to some sort of gummint requirement and would therefore have full immunity - even it they did it all very poorly.



Change banks.

 

[Sunset]

I don't blame the bank, they have gotten government directions to ensure old people are scammed less.
Banks for example have been told to encourage/ask old customers to appoint a younger person as a contact person who would know their situation and the bank could talk to the contact person to say: "your Aunt Mae just came in the bank to send a wire to Nigeria in the amount of $4,000"

Without that, banks have to follow the old person's wishes and send the $4,000 to Nigeria and then we all get to read another story in the news of some old person scammed out of a lot of money..

For all we know, the OP may have sounded rather excited/confused when phoning the bank and certainly it could have been a scam in progress on them.
The bank was looking out for them, and maybe OP doesn't have a designated younger person appointed to talk to the bank.

 

[imnontrad]

Let your medical insurance company know about this. Although someone charging items to your account is bad, mixing their medical information with yours is even worse.

 

[ivinsfan]

Sunset you know this how? More likely that the bank is trying to cover its a$$ by involving the government...

 

[Act2]

I don't blame the bank, they have gotten government directions to ensure old people are scammed less.
Banks for example have been told to encourage/ask old customers to appoint a younger person as a contact person who would know their situation and the bank could talk to the contact person to say: "your Aunt Mae just came in the bank to send a wire to Nigeria in the amount of $4,000"

. . .

The bank was looking out for them, and maybe OP doesn't have a designated younger person appointed to talk to the bank.

That may be what happened. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency, has put out this linked guidance for financial institutions, which includes discussion about trusted contacts and mentions that financial institutions need to know how to contact Adult Protective Services if they suspect an older person is being scammed:

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_trusted-contacts-fis_2021-11.pdf

 

[ERD50]

Sunset you know this how? More likely that the bank is trying to cover its a$$ by involving the government...

Nobody knows nuttin' from a post made from one side and some of it second/third hand.

But Sunset's post is a reasonable possibility, IMO. It may or may not be what happened, we don't know.

-ERD50

 

[ivinsfan]

Nobody knows nuttin' from a post made from one side and some of it second/third hand.

But Sunset's post is a reasonable possibility, IMO. It may or may not be what happened, we don't know.

-ERD50

Agree however in this case no one was scammed, they were confused about the veracity of an app..so they were alert enough to stop the transaction, call the bank to verify it was stopped and as an added precaution ask for a new card number...but now we all know something we didn't know about calling your bank and talking to someone in person.

 

[Sunset]

That may be what happened. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a government agency, has put out this linked guidance for financial institutions, which includes discussion about trusted contacts and mentions that financial institutions need to know how to contact Adult Protective Services if they suspect an older person is being scammed:

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_trusted-contacts-fis_2021-11.pdf

Yes, that is gov dept that has encouraged banks to care what happens to old folks who are targets of scammers.

 

[Sunset]

Agree however in this case no one was scammed, they were confused about the veracity of an app..so they were alert enough to stop the transaction, call the bank to verify it was stopped and as an added precaution ask for a new card number...but now we all know something we didn't know about calling your bank and talking to someone in person.

Someone talking to me, wondering about some financial app they downloaded (did they download the correct one) and wondering if their money has disappeared or not, would to me sound pretty unsure of the situation and may be in the process of being scammed.

Someone else who downloads an app and says they paid a bill with it, doesn't sound like they are being scammed.

The difference is how the phone call goes and how confident the person is of their actions and the effect.

 

[Koolau]

I don't blame the bank, they have gotten government directions to ensure old people are scammed less.
Banks for example have been told to encourage/ask old customers to appoint a younger person as a contact person who would know their situation and the bank could talk to the contact person to say: "your Aunt Mae just came in the bank to send a wire to Nigeria in the amount of $4,000"

Without that, banks have to follow the old person's wishes and send the $4,000 to Nigeria and then we all get to read another story in the news of some old person scammed out of a lot of money..

For all we know, the OP may have sounded rather excited/confused when phoning the bank and certainly it could have been a scam in progress on them.
The bank was looking out for them, and maybe OP doesn't have a designated younger person appointed to talk to the bank.

Heaven protect us from our new protectors. I can see this all going sideways. A bank "turns in" an "old guy" who has no idea why Protective Services suddenly shows up on his door step a couple of days later. Choice words are exchanged and next thing you know, there's a SWAT team outside believing someone has "barricaded" themselves inside.

I know it's not a likely scenario based on any one bank interaction, but hammers being hammers and nails being nails, I wouldn't bet against things going south occasionally.

At minimum, the bank should be required to inform the customer that they are filing a report on the original interaction. Protective services should be required to inform the "victim" as to why they are hassling them. Look at the issues vafoodie has gone through.