My Debit Card Was Stolen
by Justin Lukasavige
It's true; I never thought I would let it happen, but
it happened without me having any knowledge of it. While
you can minimize your risk of having your number stolen,
if it does happen, you need to be on top of it. Just a
few weeks ago, I discovered that I needed to make some
calls.
Normally, I log on to our bank account, just to double-check
our recent activity, about every 2 or 3 days. As I logged
on a few weeks ago, I noticed a charge to Apple iTunes
for $67.33. While I initially thought I did not make a
purchase with Apple, I did recently get an iPod and have
not quite figured out iTunes yet. There was also a pending
charge of $33 made the day prior, so I wanted to get to
the bottom of this. Frankly, I did not even think about
card theft because my card was in my wallet and had not
been out of my sight. I was more worried that I had signed
up for iTunes without knowing it, and they were charging
me on a recurring basis.
My research started with a phone call to the number listed
on my bank's website next to the charge. The recorded
message sent me to a page on Apple's website and that
set off the alarms. The page suggested changing my account
password and calling my bank to cancel the card because
of expected theft. I opened iTunes, and realized that
not only did I not have an account, but I have never given
my card number to them.
A phone call to my bank cleared it up and I began to realize
what had happened. Most of the time when a card number
is stolen, the thief begins with small purchases to see
if they will clear. Once that is apparent, the real purchases
begin. After just a few minutes on the phone with a bank
representative, my card was canceled and I was issued
a new one.
Many people fear theft of a debit card because it is linked
to an account with money in it, as opposed to a credit
card that you pay at the end of the month. If you have
a debit card, you have the exact same protection as a
credit card offers.
My bank issued a refund, which posted to my account within
24 hours. I am not liable for any charges I did not make
myself, regardless of whether my card is designated as
credit or debit.
The only thing that remains to be done is to complete
a few pages of paperwork and return it to the bank. I
already have a new debit card in my possession, and a
daily eye on my bank account shows no more charges that
I do not recognize.
As for how the card got stolen, I really have no idea.
There are a lot of opportunities for thieves to obtain
your data, but I cannot think of how it happened. If you
purchase items online or anytime you give your card for
someone to swipe, your information is out there for someone.
Restaurants really scare me because the card is out of
site when the server takes it to process a meal. That
is just one more reason to pay with cash.
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