Today I received a phone call from my credit union. Someone used my debit card for an online purchase of $1,200. at a beauty supply shop, and it was declined. I felt a sense of relief. I confirmed that I hadn't made the purchase. This is the second time this has happened. The first time it was a customer buying Christmas gifts online at Walmart. (in another state.) I caught it on the same day, and reported it.
The woman on the phone told me that she was canceling the card, and that I should cut it up into pieces. She instructed me to go down to my local branch and have them issue me a new card. I did that this afternoon.
I think what happened this time had to do with my new Amazon Prime account. I received a suspiciou email from them a couple of days ago. It said that my payment had been declined. (which wasn't true.) It contained a form to click on that asked me all kinds of personal questions. When is your birthday, what is you email password, etc...I immediately knew it was not a legitimate email from Amazon, even though it looked just like their logo and correspondence.
I deleted everything that I had typed in, and didn't reply, There was still some phishing happening. From now on I will just use one debit card that I have specifically for online purchases, and only deposit the money in that checking account right before I place the order. I also changed my password on Amazon.
Have you ever experienced fraud with your debit card?
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That must have been such a worry for you. It's a good job it was declined. Thankfully I haven't experienced anything like this - yet, although I keep a close watch on my finances just to be sure. X
ReplyDeleteHi Jules, Yes, it's important to check daily, I think. As you said, I am thankful that the charge was declined.
DeleteMy goodness thankfully you had the sense not to give them your information. There are some cruel or very desperate people in this World which saddens me.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of fraud and you have to be careful. The emails look so much like the real thing. Amazon says to only change things from their website.
DeleteI'm glad they are vigilant and caught it before the charges went through! I never use my debit card...I feel it is too risky connected to my money. I only use credit cards. Andrea
ReplyDeleteI don't keep that much money in that account, Andrea. The lady at the credit union suggested using credit cards. I like cash, too.
DeleteOh Stephenie that sounds very stressful. I’m glad that the credit union had good security checks.
ReplyDeleteOnce I had a credit card charge, not much - about $10 - from CA. I called the credit card company and they said they would take care of it.
Now I have set up notifications, both text and email, for all my credit cards. I don’t use debit cards.
Even when I make a foreign transaction, within a minute or so I receive a text.
Oh, it was pretty simple to fix, Nil. I have notifications set up, too.
Deleteit's happening a lot around here, i've been lucky so far & haven't had one yet but neighbours have, usually little amounts here & there nothing quite as big as yours. glad you caught it in time
ReplyDeletethanx for sharing
Thanks selina. I'm so glad that they were unsuccessful.
DeleteWhat a scary story. I have never gotten a debit card and I really don't know why I never bothered to do it. Just an old lady who is set in her ways I guess. I use a charge card or cash/check for everything and pay all the bills completely when due. A few years ago I received a phone call on my answering machine claiming that my credit card had been used suspiciously and I must return the call to an 800 number given. I called the number on the back of my card instead and was told it was NOT a call from them. Lesson learned-always call back directly to the card issuer when in doubt.
ReplyDeleteYes, they have developed some sneaky techniques. I generally pay my bills online with bill pay. No fraud problems there. My credit union fixed the situation very quickly.
DeleteOy! Dishonesty makes me grumpy. I'm glad they weren't able to get to your funds. It seems strange to me that they can tell who has been on Facebook recently or find your location via your phone's GPS, but they can't seem to find these criminals. Sounds like you've done the smart thing in having a separate acct./card.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad, too, Lady Locust. I don't have a smart phone. It gives out too much information for my taste. I also don't post where I am when I am not home. (or on vacation.)
DeleteI don't use a debit card for this very reason. I only use credit cards because according to everything I've read, they are much safer. I pay mine off every month and then pay my bill in full. I have a cashback credit card so I make a little money on the deal too. Glad you have a vigilant bank. Bobi
ReplyDeleteHo! You were really unlucky to be targeted again but so fortunate your credit union was onto it.
ReplyDeleteI have a debit card so out of curiosity just checked my account and lo and behold, for the first time ever an unidentifiable transaction for $1.44 went through this morning! As it looks like it's a test transaction, I have just rang the bank to dispute it and cancel my card. Last week I had to pay a technical serviceman through his online invoice produced by an Apple app called Invoice2Go, which is who this random transaction is supposedly from. It didn't offer PayPal, which is extremely secure so I just crossed by fingers when I put in my card details. Never again!!