Debit card fraud

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by exnavynuke While true, this doesn't give a complete picture. If you're one of the people that doesn't use credit and only uses your bank account, a thief can empty your account (potentially) with a debit card and the money is gone until you report it AND the bank gets around to giving you your money back.

Took my bank less than an hour. I walked into my bank, told them of the fraudulent transaction on my debit Mastercard, and she restored the money to my account right then and there. Check the contract that you signed when you got or renewed your debit card. Honestly this is a non-issue, at least for me.

One thing that was nice is that I didn't have to pay the $50 that I think is required for credit card fraud. But then I have not had my CC long enough to have fraud on it yet, so I don't know if they still charge that or not.

[Corporateburnout]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Skimmers steal numbers from credit cards just as easily as they do from debit cards.

My point was the bank should have had better security in place not to allow crooks to install skimmers on their ATM. When I use my credit card at the gas pump I'm taking a risk but I expect a very tight security at my bank.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corporateburnout My point was the bank should have had better security in place not to allow crooks to install skimmers on their ATM. When I use my credit card at the gas pump I'm taking a risk but I expect a very tight security at my bank.

Oh, I see your point now. Yes, I agree completely. Security at a bank really ought to be better than at a gas pump.

[Bestwifeever]

The funny thing about the theft of my debit card number and PIN in the bank lobby was that almost all the victims were bank customers, and also all the stolen numbers were used at a single little drugstore and used in the same way--three withdrawals for $501. I worry more about a wholescale hack on a bank's system but this seems very inefficient and withdrawing the same odd amounts is what got them caught.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by exnavynuke While true, this doesn't give a complete picture. If you're one of the people that doesn't use credit and only uses your bank account, a thief can empty your account (potentially) with a debit card and the money is gone until you report it AND the bank gets around to giving you your money back. In the meantime, the money is effectively gone. It happened to me years ago and it was 3 days before the money was returned even though I reported the fraud the day it happened. If I were counting on that cash for anything in the meantime, it would not have been available. With credit card fraud, I get the added safety of "they can't take my actual money".

Bingo.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead Bingo.

Absolutely not. This became kind of a non-problem, in recent years. See my responses in posts #39 and 41 as to why.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Absolutely not. This became kind of a non-problem, in recent years. See my response in post #39 as to why.

Kind of is a problem. Read my post #4. If I am overseas and out of cash. That's an issue.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead Kind of is a problem. Read my post #4. If I am overseas and out of cash. That's an issue.

Yes, I suppose that waiting an hour overseas to get your money back might be a drag? But not really a problem. Or if you weren't able to handle reporting a debit card fraud (or CC fraud) over there, then you would have to wait until you got home, whether debit or credit card.

I can't even BEGIN to imagine traveling overseas without sufficient funds available in checking over and above your usual debit card maximum, in any case. That's... well, I won't say it.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Yes, I suppose that waiting an hour overseas to get your money back might be a drag? But not really a problem. Or if you weren't able to handle reporting a debit card fraud (or CC fraud) over there, then you would have to wait until you got home, whether debit or credit card. I can't even BEGIN to imagine traveling overseas without sufficient funds available in checking over and above your usual debit card maximum, in any case. That's... well, I won't say it.

Sad.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead Sad.

Yep. Really a non problem, IF you know what your debit card contract says and make decisions accordingly.

[COcheesehead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Yep. Really a non problem, IF you know what your debit card contract says and make decisions accordingly.

I've sat in a hotel room in Italy that I could not pay for on a collect call to the US trying to resolve debit card issues. Never again. Debit cards will be used only for ATM transactions.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead I've sat in a hotel room in Italy that I could not pay for on a collect call to the US trying to resolve debit card issues. Never again. Debit cards will be used only for ATM transactions.

Good idea. It's always best to plan ahead when going overseas, in case your debit card or credit card should go over its limit due to fraudulent transactions.

[youbet]

Since there is NO security advantage to a debit card over a credit card, there seems to be no reason to have one.

[Alan]

<mod hat on> If we are going to continue to debate the credit v debit card issue please let's do so in an agreeable manner<mod hat off>

[jazz4cash]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever The funny thing about the theft of my debit card number and PIN in the bank lobby was that almost all the victims were bank customers, and also all the stolen numbers were used at a single little drugstore and used in the same way--three withdrawals for $501. I worry more about a wholescale hack on a bank's system but this seems very inefficient and withdrawing the same odd amounts is what got them caught.

Just curious.....how does that work?.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan How does someone copy a debit card and a pin number so that they can use an ATM machine? could it have been a mis-posting problem on the banks end? Or perhaps some internal fraud?

That's what I want to know!

I'm always careful to cover the pin entry using my hand at the ATM.

I used the card at a few train ticket machines in Europe*, but most of those didn't even require a PIN!

*This was a scenario where US debit cards were accepted but not US credit cards.

[ShokWaveRider]

Credit Cards seem way Safer than Debit cards, we do not use Debit cards at all. While credit cards do get used fraudulently, I seem to hear more stories about Debit card fraud.

Why not use credit cards and pay them off, to me it sounds like 30 days of free money. We have way more credit that we need.

[Bestwifeever]

Pretty sure the little drugstore was in cahoots with the thieves--not the brightest bulbs--to make cash withdrawals.

Not a debit/credit card issue but way back in the day (pre-online banking and bill-paying) our mortgage co took three payments from our checking account one month instead of one. We had several checks bounce as a result since our balance was always hovering around between "just enough" and "how many days til payday?" and we never had an extra two mortgage payments on hand back then. The mortgage co of course made us whole by refunding all the overdraft fees etc., and at least we were in town when it happened and could get it resolved, but it was quite unsettling.

[mpeirce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Since there is NO security advantage to a debit card over a credit card, there seems to be no reason to have one.

I know we're all perfect users of credit cards here and never get into trouble with them, but it's not true of everyone.

I have a "relative" who thought he was getting the best of the credit card companies. Played games to get 0% interest on balances. Etc. He was fine, except that roughly every other year he'd get tripped up. Forget to transfer a balance or run up the balance when life got "hard".

After tracking his transactions for a few years using mint.com I convinced him to stop using credit cards. They were costing him a bundle and beyond that made it just too easy to spend more money that he could afford.

He's now using a debt card and each month spends only the amount of money that gets put into his checking account (basically his SS check). This inconveniences him once in a while, but has made a big difference on his spending. And he hasn't paid a penny in interest since!

BTW, he had someone get his debit card number earlier this year and the bank called him up to tell him about it, quickly got him a new card, and he was made whole. Good bank.

[ShokWaveRider]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet Since there is NO security advantage to a debit card over a credit card, there seems to be no reason to have one.

+ 2, May as well use a check. No value to even owning one in our household. If you cannot manage your CC debt you do not deserve to be FIREd. Sort of a contradiction in itself.