My Debit Card Got Scammed
I never truly acknowledged the threats of identity theft until now, as I became a victim to it. Here’s what happened on Saturday night.
I went to the ATM to get some cash. Saturday nights are the guys’ night out at the bar etc., so I need cash obviously. I couldn’t take the money out - it said transaction limit exceeded. I usually don’t even use my debit card let alone take cash out - I’m the credit card swiper at all times. So anyhow I went to check my balance, and there was another $500 extra. I was completely lost on where that came from, so I called my bank.
They explained that, somebody in Lancaster Ontario, which is on the other side of the country from me, had deposited $500, and then took out $500 right away. I have cashback so I can deposit money at the ATM at off-hours and still have instant access to it. But my limit for daily withdrawals is set to $500 a day. So when the bastard made another $500 deposit, he couldn’t take it out anymore, so he had to give up.
The irony of all this? I got a letter on Friday explaining that they have reduced my daily/weekly withdrawal limit for security measures, so I guess they figured the debit card scams were on the rise. With my previous limit it would have been $1000 gone, not just $500.
Anyhow, they couldn’t give me too much detail over the phone and I need to go into the bank tomorrow to sort this out.
I can’t believe this happened to me. My PIN is a top secret - I never give it to anybody. But then, it’s not that hard to catch somebody’s PIN while they type it in. As for how they duplicated my debit card, which I still have in my wallet - well I figure they scanned it as I was taking money out or whatever, and they created a duplicate.
Everybody should watch for identity theft - they are coming up with more creative and high-tech measures to do it, and everyone should be vigilant. Don’t ever think “Naw that wouldn’t happen to me.” It can.
It’s called “skimming” and happens all the time now. Watch the clerk when they swipe your card to ensure that they do not make a second swipe in another reader.
Some guy in our area placed a second reader over an ATM slot and used the zoom on his camera to catch the PIN.
dude sorry to hear that! i hate hearing these stories, i know how much of a headache it is to get bank stuff straightened out. my good friend michelle had her purse stolen from a house party and some girl went in and was able to withdraw money from her account (talk about ghetto!). of course, this was in long beach… anyway i agree with Leo, and was also going to mention skimming, for anyone else out there who doesn’t know about it. for example, some restaurant servers keep a little “swiper” in their pockets and skim your card for the info. it happens a lot here in LA. not surprisingly…
That sucks, Jeff. I’m sorry to hear it. It sucks when it’s your debit card because 99% of the time, you need to close your existing account and open a new one.
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I’m sorry to hear about what happened to you. Scammers nowadays are becoming more and more sophisticated in their way of getting other people’s heard-earned money. I think they are becoming more brazen what with the current financial crisis that all countries seem to be having.