Unauthorized debit card transactions

[junebugmm]

So my debit card information has ended up in the wrong hands and been used in places both close to and far from where I live. I called my bank (BoA) and they told me to ask the merchants to cancel the transactions since they are still "pending." However, I cannot get a hold of the customer service departments.

Is it safe to just wait for the unauthorized transactions to go through and then ask my bank to get my money back or should I try and cancel the transactions while they're still pending?

 

[ter1413]

Try to cancel.....Go online and select "contact us" and call!

 

[rjmaiorano]

The retailer may be able to cancel the transaction, but a lot of retailers are difficult to deal with when it comes to this, particularly smaller retailers.

I don't know what BoA policy is on disputing charges, but usually a bank will put a claim on the charge(s), reverse them and give you a preliminary credit, then allow the retailer a 45 day period to counter the dispute.

 

[Bexhill]

Freeze your card and all your assets, change all passwords and confidential info, order a new card from your bank. Voila!

 

[Joffrey]

wow. when this happened to me a few years ago, BoA did all the dirty work in cancelling transactions and investigating who the culprits were. The charges on my card amounted to about $3k which were all voided (i had to sign affadavits swearing the charges were fraudulent). Be sure to report you card stolen and request to have the charges voided - i dont see why you need to wait until they're no longer pending before they act.

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by Jodum5

wow. when this happened to me a few years ago, BoA did all the dirty work in cancelling transactions and investigating who the culprits were. The charges on my card amounted to about $3k which were all voided (i had to sign affadavits swearing the charges were fraudulent). Be sure to report you card stolen and request to have the charges voided - i dont see why you need to wait until they're no longer pending before they act.

When this happened to me a few years ago, my bank did all the work, too. The only thing I had to do was to identify the legitimate charges. Once I did that, the bank did the rest. They canceled my card and sent a new one pronto.

 

[KJT]

Similar thing happened to me 2 years ago. You have to wait for the charges to clear and the money to be deducted from your account, then the bank can void them and return your money. Seems fairly backwards to me, but that appears to be the system.

Good luck.

 

[junebugmm]

I don't know whether to be happy or worried right now. Long story short, whoever stole my card info used it to purchase things that amounted to a little more than $200 at Macy's about 40 minutes from where I live. The claims representative I was speaking with was very suspicious that it was in fact me who made the purchase and told me that this was not a typical fraud crime because the idiot could have stolen my entire money (since it was a debit card) and overdrawn by several hundreds but he only spent $200.

Man, I hope BoA doesn't screw me over on this. And should I be mad at the person for not recklessly spending money to make the fraud look more obvious?

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by junebugmm

I don't know whether to be happy or worried right now. Long story short, whoever stole my card info used it to purchase things that amounted to a little more than $200 at Macy's about 40 minutes from where I live. The claims representative I was speaking with was very suspicious that it was in fact me who made the purchase and told me that this was not a typical fraud crime because the idiot could have stolen my entire money (since it was a debit card) and overdrawn by several hundreds but he only spent $200.

Man, I hope BoA doesn't screw me over on this. And should I be mad at the person for not recklessly spending money to make the fraud look more obvious?

Good luck, I hope BoA takes care of this for you.

 

[whiteslashasian]

I had a $1 charge on my BoA debit card for an iTunes purchase. I don't have an iTunes account so I knew this was some kind of "feeler charge" to my account to see if they could draw more once it went through. Usually they will make large iTunes gift card purchases and then sell them on eBay or somesuch.

http://credit.about.com/b/2010/03/06...rom-itunes.htm

I called BoA immediately and they said they will void the charge as soon as it clears (it seems they can't cancel it while in pending, only once it's gone through) and cancel the debit card. I then went to the local BoA branch to request a new one and get a Temporary card at the same time (can only do this at the branch).

I was never charged anything else and the $1 was voided. I did however receive a couple of emails saying "Thank you for your purchase" but I checked all my cards and was never charged...I guess the orders were canceled when the old card number was rejected. I also got a call to confirm my Billing and Shipping address for the "Swivel Sweeper G2" (seriously? who steals someones card info and buys that?!) and told them that my info was stolen, I had canceled my card, and they should cancel that order.

Things have been quiet since.

tl:dr Call