I have been told that debit cards should never leave your possession. That you should be able to stand right there and observe any use of it if you cannot run the machine that deducts from the account. Don't know too much about this as I don't happen to have one.

I'm glad you caught it.

Someone tried to get into our credit card account last week. They didn't have the right password so they got locked out. We got an email from the CC company as part of our security. We had to change passwords. It's scary.

My husband checks our accounts the first thing every morning. The companies are usually pretty helpful in correcting these issues.

It's so convenient to shop on-line, but this makes me leary of doing it very often, or at many sites. Sorry this happened to you.

That would be really upsetting. I'm glad you caught it too. Man, these thieves really burn my butt!

Man, that's horrible, Gwanny! My DH won't let me use the debit card anymore because when a thief accesses it, they can wipe you out even if you notice it the next day. We opened a credit card to USE as a debit card - meaning we pay it off when the bill comes. You are not responsible after the first $50 and it doesn't leave you penniless.

Adellabedella - I hope you called your Credit Card company first. Emails come across looking just like your card company and they are phishing for your password. They have a program that can copy what you type in. Things have become so sad - you just don't feel safe anymore!

Oh but that burns me up!!!
I'm sorry Vikki. Hope it gets resolved fast!!

Where was the purchase supposed to be shipped to? Couldn't they catch the crook by finding out? I mean the thief would have the items shipped to him or someone he knows, right?

Hope everything works out.

Sorry that happened to you!

Just another reason for me to be glad I do everything with credit instead of debit.....

I love my debit card...I feel lost without it now. It is always in my possesion. I think I will move my savings now so that it isn't linked to my checking though. I don't keep a lot in my checking for this reason. Only what I need usually. This is scary though....I wondered the same thing lydia1959. They must have done a bill to ship to thing. I guess they could catch them that way...not sure, but I hope they do! Some of these theives aren't stupid.....I hope this one is!

I was told never to use my debit card as a credit card due to it being easy to steal. I never do so. I hope they catch the bums..

Susie

You know I just now remembered DD#1's debit card information had been "compromised" by someone hacking into her bank somehow?? I have to ask her how it went. She was notified by mail that it was a possibility and nothing had happened yet, but they were sending her a new card immediately. She is like you tho, keeps a close eye on things. She said she hasn't written a check in a very long time and was waiting impatiently for her new debit card to arrive.

Way too many scammers out there. I hope they get it set right quickly for you, Gwanny. I think this is the best reason to have access to your bank account online - so easy to check that all funds are where they should be with the morning coffee.
If you don't have online banking, make sure you go over your bank statements carefully when you get them.
Suzan J

I do have online banking and check it often....at least once a day. I never use my debit card as credit...but one day last week I did hit the credit button by mistake and had to sign the reciept...I remember that now that Susie mentioned that. Not sure if that has anything to do with it or not.

It doesn't matter if it is a credit card or a debit card. If they want the info and they know how to get it, they will. I have a debit card. I never use it...it is never out of my wallet. Someone got the number and charged games online with it. I check our account sometimes 3 or 4 times a day and caught it quickly. No one was ever caught.

I had my wallet stolen and my credit cards were maxed out within a 45 minute time frame. Forty-five minutes was all it took to max out 3 credit cards. Unfortunately, when that happened, we were out of state and had to cancel all of them, which left us with little cash to get home on. No one was ever caught.

Watching your accounts is about the only protection you have. I have one credit card that I only use at Christmas time. When I started using it last Christmas, they put a freeze on it, because the felt it was being "compromised" since it is never used. I do all of my Christmas shoppoing online...so that was a little bit of an inconvenience, but I liked that they called to verify it was me doing the spending.

Some people get a false sense of security because their picture is on their card. But even that can fail in a store.

Yikes! That really stinks! :( I'm glad you caught it as quickly as you did.

Last month my credit union wrote me and called me to tell me that there was a security breach on my debit card. Nothing had been charged yet - I have no idea what that means but I assume they knew what it was all about and it surely didn't sound all that lovely. They issued DH and I new debit cards right away and we were told to cut up the old ones.

There are some real wicked people out there.

Yes your right...they can get it if they want it bad enough and know how to go about it. I got into the habit of checking my account years ago when the bank screwed up a few transactions. I keep a close eye on the money! The lady from the fraud dept told me that it doesn't matter where you use it either..could be online or in the stores. It's so risky.

Don't mean to high-jack this thread, but could someone please explain how to access my cc info online?
(hope you don't mind, Gwannyt2Three)

I only use it to make amazon purchases.

TIA
Cream

I hope that when you folks use your credit or debit cards for online purchases that you use them only for well-known agencies.

Lots of online sellers of dubious repute would just love to get credit/debit card numbers ... one of the major reasons that they run those accounts.

I have an old computer that I suspect may be infected by a virus, Trojan horse, spy scanner, etc. which means that, though I send a messge dealing with, e.g. renewing my financial magazine subscription over the internet ... I call their office to tell them my credit card number.

I don't do my banking over the internet.

Investing, either.

I haven't kept even my friends' email addresses on my hard drive for years, for that very reason.

Good wishes for evading the identity thieves, everyone.

ole joyful

I don't mind at all Cream. I would imagine you could call them and ask what their website is and you'd have to set up a password, etc to access your account. Look on your statement too...the website should be on there.

"Look on your statement too...the website should be on there." Well, duh, why didn't I think of that? (:

Thanks, G2T

Cream

Never use a debit card online. Use only a dedicated credit card that you use for nothing else but online shopping.

Ditto to sushipup -- we have one CC that is only used for online purchases, including PayPal.

No online banking, but I do have online investments with multiple password levels.

I do have some online billing, but they go to the online-only CC.

Never had a problem yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

I don't know if this is still the case, but years ago debit cards did not have the same level of fraud protection that CC cards did.

1,000 customers at our bank have had their debt cards comprimised.....we are one of them as is our neighbor and Sydney....so we get to check all our statements etc...they are sending us new cards new pins eetc.....Stacy

I just called the fraud dept of Overstock.com and they said the person didn't use my name or have the right exp. date on my card so it wouldn't have gone through anyway, it is still in the pending stages. He cancelled it and said I could file a police report along with my bank report. They do have some names and addresses but of course couldn't give them to me. I'll file a police report today also like he suggested. Can't hurt. The address was in San Pedro where we went to see the ships a few week ago, but I didn't use my card all day. I guess it doesn't matter where I used it....I just thought if I had used it at the restaraunt we ate at there it would have made more sense, but I paid cash for lunch.

This happened to me a few months ago too. The banks fraud dept noticed first and put a hold on my account. I tried to get gas and my card was declined and I knew I had $1000.00 in there. Turns out the creeps spent over $800.00 at BevMo (it's a store that sells liquor) in Fresno. I live in Los Angeles and had my card in my posession. The day they used it, I had too so there's no way I could be in two places at once. The bank gave me all of my money back after 3 weeks or so but I was livid. The bank said the WORST place to use your debit card was at the pumps at the gas station. The creeps put card readers in the slot, leave it for a couple of hours and they collect all of the info on the reader. They drive through later and remove the reader.....they now have your info. I still use my card to get gas but I go inside to the clerk to pay. Scary stuff!
I hope you get yours straighted out Vicky....it's so violating.
P