Bank card security

[jazzmonkey]

So I'm outside on this nice Sunday smoking a nice 2010 Anejo 50 with an espresso, when I get an automated call from my bank. The message says I need to go to an ATM to change my PIN on my card. My card has a chip, so I figure it's a security message because it's been a while since I changed it. And I'm always careful to hide my PIN when using it.

I get to the ATM, change my PIN and just to be safe I ask for an account balance. Yep, you guessed it my account is empty!!! I ask for the last transactions and see some withdrawals made and exchange rates. So I call customer service. I talk to the reprensatative and then I get the news.

Yes security suspects some fraud in my account, but she goes on and tell me that even if they called me and they "suspect" I've had fraud my my account, I still need to go to the branch to contest the transactions and it's going to take about 10 business days or more to get my money back. In the mean time account is empty and all the payments won't go through.

[Hypersomniac]

And to think I was annoyed when my bank kept freezing my account the first few times I ordered from the czar...

Hopefully you can get everything back without too much more trouble. It's a pretty terrible situation to be in.

[investandprosper]

That's terrible! There was just a big bust here in Chicago where a network of restaurant employees were running cards through a "skimmer" which recorded the card's information. People are crazy.

[jazzmonkey]

Thanks guys. What bugs me the most, is I've just checked and those withdrawals are made from an ATM with a Malaysian exchange rate and I had made a purchase last night right here in Montreal. So it's pretty obvious, I'm not the one who made those transactions. Plus the security department suspects fraud, why do I need to take time to go to the branch? Of course she couldn't answer on the phone, other than repeating it's the procedure... Nice!

[Wil]

That sucks. I had close to 3k fraud on my credit card a few weeks ago. Bank is good about it, but it can take up to 60 days to have it credited!

[oliverdst]

I have the same credit card since I was 18 years old. It NEVER was cloned.

In the last 60 days it was used in Hawai and Honduras.

[Eltoasto]

10 days to credit or decision your claim according to Regulation E if you bank with a US bank. Standard verbiage when initially filing your claim. Not sure why they are insisting on you going to the branch though. Very not standard. If they don't credit you sooner I'd suggest banking elsewhere.

[Natedog]

THAT REALLY SUCKS!!!! I hope it gets resolved soon. Yesterday I was going around shopping for my wife`s bday. First store Im at card declined. I called the bank I new I had plenty of money in the acct. They froze it because of suspicious activity. I go thought a weeks worth of transactions with them and everything is accurate. They remove the block and all is good. This repeated itself four more times. I was so frustrated the last time I called and was worried it would happen again while out at dinner with friends and family so I took cash instead. After reading your post I guess I should be relieved and not aggravated. Better annoyed than broke for ten days. Good luck with that!

[El Presidente]

My Amex card gets frozen every time it is used in central or south america. I always call the card companies before I leave, letting them know where I will be and where the cards will be used. Makes no difference

I have been lucky. No fraud in 25 years.

[frenchkiwi]

i once had a credit card used 19000kms away to buy a train ticket. the bank phoned me up quick enough which was good.

then again, i once bought some cigars overseas and the bank called me 4 months later to alert me to this suspicious activity. efficient!

[BENN]

I have both Swedish and Norwegian CCs, I can just use the app on my phone or my pc and open/close my cards for purchasing abroad and/or online. So it does not matter if you have my card cause you can't use it unless you are in my country and have the chip and my online security code. opening the cards takes few seconds.

So the system for being safer exists, but it seems us and some others country's banks don't want their customers to be safe.

[cigcars]

I HATE hearing that happened to you, Jazz. It's bad being robbed, and now robbed of your entire bank account!?? Again - ooooohh (slow burn) My own bank won't let me use my credit/debit card online for purchases in Spain and the UK anymore due to constant fraudulent activities in those countries. It matters not when I tell my bank that I've been a customer of companies in those countries for 16 years without incident. I sure hope your bank gets that straightened out for you. And as far as everybody complaining here about your having to go in - in person - try keeping me AWAY during something like that! I'll BE there...I'll pull out a cot and blanket and LIVE there until that was resolved. Like the saying goes ...when it comes to money, MAMA can get funny!

[Bolismoker]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune brother. This happened to me also not two weeks ago. Thankfully our bank set everything right but it did take a week and was a major hassle. .

[Smooth]

I had one a few years ago where my Amex was used for a $1600 dinner here in Brisbane while I was in Singapore using the same card.

Turns out it was skimmed from a very reputable restaurant a week prior. Took about two to three weeks after my return to be resolved. Very annoying to say the least!

[SMQQKIN]

Sorry to hear that.

Someone fraudulently purchased a used car and birth control using my credit card numbers once.

Yes - birth control...

Ignorant people never cease to amaze me!

[AussieCanuck]

Sorry to hear that.

Someone fraudulently purchased a used car and birth control using my credit card numbers once.

Yes - birth control...

Ignorant people never cease to amaze me!

Makes sense....she obviously figured her new ride would get her laid ?

[Orion21]

A credit card is one thing, your bank account is another. I'm sorry to hear this has happened. I too have been a victim of CC fraud. Over $6k in charges within a 2 day period. All online - the CC company corrected it within a few days. The sad thing is, it was because I bought cigars from a place in SW I will never use again. I e-mailed and gave them a piece of my mind. The silence was deafening from the other end, which only proved their guilt to me.

Thank God it's only CC's - identity theft is the real horrible situation. A friend of mine had half a dozen credit cards taken out in his name. they were maxed out and never paid. When he went to buy a new car he was declined because he had a credit score in the low 500's. When he asked for a copy of the credit report he found the fraud. Poor guy has spent over a year fighting with the credit agencies to clear his name. . .

[jazzmonkey]

So I went to the bank and signed the form. The delay is 10 business days like the reprensatative told me on the phone and there's no way to recover the funds until then. The clerk changed my card and he asked me if I had any questions. I asked him, with all the security measures with bank cards chips, pins etc, how can this still happen?

His answer: just like I'm paid to do my job., they're paid to do theirs! Awesome answer I feel more secure leaving my money at your institution than ever, I said.

Lucky I had just came back from the gym, doing 30 minutes running, a session with my private trainer and 8 rounds of boxing, so I didn't felt like arguing or would change anything, but it will bring me motivation for my next sparring session on Wednesday.

[finecigar]

Sorry about your troubles- hopefully all of your money is recovered. I have had similar problems over the years, especially when ordering abroad. I get so tired of it. One time a person across the country somehow stole my dc info and spent close to $10,000 on Walmart online. The idiot was so dumb they put their address, name and everything- they were jailed and my money was given back but it did take a few months for it to be all squared away. That was probably the strangest I've experienced..

[Random]

Jazz,

its really disappointing how they handle customer service level in this situation. Hope this will be resolved soon.

As I previously said, please don't hesitate and let me know if you need any help.

[Colt45]

If they don't credit you sooner I'd suggest banking elsewhere.

My thought as well. I obviously don't know JM's situation, but I've had great service with credit unions.

[jazzmonkey]

Jazz,

its really disappointing how they handle customer service level in this situation. Hope this will be resolved soon.

As I previously said, please don't hesitate and let me know if you need any help.

Thanks bro. I'm good. I've had this before a while back, but with a cc. Somehow my bank account feels a lot more scary than a cc. Especially since they offered no words of being sorry or even some bull about working on those type of situations. Just bad IMO.

So yes as others have suggested once this gets solved, I'll be bringing everything I have there to another institution. You'd think that a customer with his bank account, investments and a line of credit would have gotten a little empathy. I've been banking there for some time. But that apparently doesn't mean a thing to them.

I guess you don't notice it until something like this happens. Just bad business.

Thanks to all the support guys really appreciate it.

[BrotherBear]

Mind if I ask which Bank?

My wife just went through this two months ago on our RBC accounts (fair disclosure, I work for RBC).

Took us for close to $30,000. The good news is that we got it all back (took a little over a week to resolve).

The better news, they caught them it's before the courts now.

[LLC]

Just a week ago I had $2000 EMT'd out of a bank account. No Idea how it could happen as I am the only one on the planet that knew that password and it isn't written down anywhere. The bank saw it right away as fraud and the funds were returned the next day. I've had credit cards compromised in the past and looked at that as an annoyance but having someone take money out of a bank account was a totally different feeling.

[jazzmonkey]

Mind if I ask which Bank?

My wife just went through this two months ago on our RBC accounts (fair disclosure, I work for RBC).

Took us for close to $30,000. The good news is that we got it all back (took a little over a week to resolve).

The better news, they caught them it's before the courts now.

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