At least that's what I'm guessing at the moment.

Happened to notice last week there was three charges pending on my checking account that were not mine. Two identical from "inmate payment" in Texas, $212.95 each, and one from U.S. Cellular for $217.98.

I do have US cell and did call to confirm they did not charge me that being my bill is only $50. Nope, wasn't them or my account.

Called the bank right away, they canceled my debit card and are working on whatever "paperwork" they do for things, I have a new card on the way sometime this week.

Here is the REALLY annoying part, I just checked my account again a half hour ago.... and the SAME THREE charges are there again, and THEY WENT THROUGH????
The original three from last week are still showing as pending, but the same three again for the same amounts today??? What the fuck...

I couldn't get into my account for most of the day today as they were apparently having issues with things on there end so I just noticed it now, at 11pm.
So now I need to call again tomorrow and figure out whats up with this. I don't even have my new card yet, I know the old one was canceled as I have a couple auto payments that I had to change last week.So how the hell did these get charged today??

I have been using one of my other cards that I try not to use, looks like I will be using that for a bit longer.

About once per year for us. Unauthorized charges to an account, notify the company, card is cancelled, new card issued, no further explanation. Always takes a few hours to connect all the dots and keep everything humming along. Seems to be the new normal.

I see it a lot but this is the first one for me.... at least as far as I can remember anyway lol.

What gets me is how the exact same three charges went through again today even tho the card was canceled? Somehow someone managed to get my checking account number???

Don't know how tho as I don't use checks or my account number for anything anywhere except for tax returns once a year.

quote:

Originally posted by PakRatJR:
I see it a lot but this is the first one for me.... at least as far as I can remember anyway lol.

What gets me is how the exact same three charges went through again today even tho the card was canceled? Somehow someone managed to get my checking account number???

Don't know how tho as I don't use checks or my account number for anything anywhere except for tax returns once a year.

Having been retired from law enforcement since 1995 (pre-internet days) this is pure speculation on my part, but it is possible that the investigative staff are tracking patterns of activity and accounts as a means of identifying the links in the chain. Given the sophistication of these transactions (and the bad actors involved) I suspect there are algorithms involved rather than human investigators.

During my time as a fraud and forgery investigator the rule was pretty simple, follow the money and find the bad guys. Today everything happens with key strokes and electronic transfers, and international boundaries mean nothing. One company's records are breached by hackers, results sold to scammers all over the planet, and a nefarious computer code takes over to do the dirty deeds.

All we can do is watch our accounts closely and report anything unusual or suspicious promptly. We will never hear the end results, all we get will be a new card, new PIN, new password.

In the old days retail stores kept track of "shrinkage", the total of shoplifting and employee thievery. Today, financial institutions have their own versions of shrinkage as part of doing business.

quote:

Originally posted by PakRatJR:...I couldn't get into my account for most of the day today as they were apparently having issues with things on there end ...

Time to find another bank, and if you have a credit union you can join, that would likely be a much better choice.

Do you ever write paper checks to pay a bill or for any other purchase? Think about it, you have just handed an unknown person your account number, routing number, name, and address.

quote:

Time to find another bank, and if you have a credit union you can join, that would likely be a much better choice.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Best option. This thing can go on for some time with a bank.

I just had to activate a new card the other day for similar issues. This will be my third bank card in less than a year.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Time to find another bank, and if you have a credit union you can join, that would likely be a much better choice.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Best option. This thing can go on for some time with a bank.

Don't leave the bank you have now until the situation is resolved to your satisfaction and you have all your money back.

Credit Unions can have problems as well. I have been with my CU for over 63 years and lived all over the US and never had a problem until the last two years. They changed the accounting software and did away the account ledger.

Someone got into my cousins account and scammed $8700.

I only use my debit card when it is necessary, like at an ATM at a bank or a reputable store when I need cash back in addition to a purchase. And so many places today checks are optional. But even then. Having to get my primary credit card replaced because over the weekend someone tried to make an unauthorized charge on it. Looking forward to going through my auto pays and swapping card info there.

PakRatJr, are you in the habit of using a debit card with POS (Point Of Sale) terminals, such as at stores and gas stations?

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I only use my debit card when it is necessary, like at an ATM at a bank or a reputable store when I need cash back in addition to a purchase.

This ^^^^^

And rarely, very, very rarely, at stores. So rarely I cannot recall when I last used mine at a store.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
But even then. Having to get my primary credit card replaced because over the weekend someone tried to make an unauthorized charge on it.

This is the main reason I broke down and, despite wanting to decouple myself from Apple to the extent possible, put my Apple Watch back on and started using Apple Pay again.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I only use my debit card when it is necessary, like at an ATM at a bank or a reputable store when I need cash back in addition to a purchase.

This is the way.

Credit cards offer more robust protection and much less hassle when dealing with fraud.

If you ever need to let the card out of your sight, or transmit the card information online, use a credit card not a debit card.

quote:

Time to find another bank, and if you have a credit union you can join, that would likely be a much better choice.

my thought as well

Thanks all

A update on things. Just got off the phone with the bank. Apparently the three charges are actually the same ones from last week, not new ones. For some reason the are not actually able to stop pending charges from posting?

I didn't really understand it completely the way they explained it but because I caught them while they were still pending and had the card shut down, it ended up taking a extra couple days for the fraud bit to work it's way through the system. Supposedly I should be seeing the money back in my account by end of day today or early tomorrow as the fraud department does have the paperwork as of yesterday.

The only two places I use my debit card locally with a POS is Walgreens and Meijer for food shopping. Both I considered "reputable". Meijer was a couple weeks ago and Walgreens was last weekend and I always run them as a credit transaction and never use my pin except for the rare occasion I need cash back at Walgreens. I do have a couple auto payments set up on the card but those are "normal bills" related, electric and whatnot.
I don't use checks at all. I actually had to do some head scratching to remember where my checkbook was in case they needed the account number. Had to blow some dust off it after I found it lol.

I have been at this bank for 14 years and so far this is the only time I had a issue.... actually technically the second issue....but the first one was shortly after I opened the account, and it wasn't really a issue with the bank itself, but actually a post office issue lol. I don't really have a lot of options around me for different banks or credit unions and this place has been good to me otherwise. The next closest option is BMO Harris. My HSA from work was through there but not my choice.

The up side tho I guess, as I was fully expecting to be on the phone for a while today between the bank and possibly a few other places as well, and was basically expecting to be needing to have a whole new account set up and whatnot, I actually called in to work shortly after I woke up today and took a vacation day. So I now have a entire "extra" day at home to get some stuff done lol.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I only use my debit card when it is necessary, like at an ATM at a bank or a reputable store when I need cash back in addition to a purchase.

This is the way.

Credit cards offer more robust protection and much less hassle when dealing with fraud.

If you ever need to let the card out of your sight, or transmit the card information online, use a credit card not a debit card.

(In unison)
This is the way.

I'd even add the caveat to use your bank's online/mobile app that allows you to lock/unlock the card, or find a bank that offers it.

Unless you religiously use banking apps that allow you to lock/unlock certain transactions with a debit card, you're literally playing with fire in today's society.
It's when, not if, it will get hit.

I'd much rather fight fraudulent transactions and deal with getting a new credit card than sweating how I'm going to pay the bills when money is missing out of my checking account.

I know some people don't like or want credit cards, or they may not be a viable option. But the protection they offer outweighs the cons, IMHO.

Personally, I got a credit card through the same bank my checking account is with. All transactions go on the credit card, and at the end of the month I pay it off with two mouse clicks.
My debit card is locked so that only ATM transactions will go through.

Hell, years ago I had a credit card that I used for a zero interest balance transfer. It literally went from the mail box into the safe - yet a year later I get a statement with a $300 charge on it.

Mine got hit last week. Fraud section of the bank called to confirm a charge. There were several others as well. Seems like it’s nice or twice a year. Maybe I should go back to cash.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
Do you ever write paper checks to pay a bill or for any other purchase? Think about it, you have just handed an unknown person your account number, routing number, name, and address.

All of my life I have paid bills with checks, and I still do. My bank accounts have never been compromised. But my credit card has a few times in the past 10 years.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
I only use my debit card when it is necessary, like at an ATM

This is why I think my accounts haven't been hacked. I have never in my life used a ATM debit card for a retail purchase. I only use it for ATM access. If a merchant will not take a credit card, but only debit, I will not buy the item.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
Do you ever write paper checks to pay a bill or for any other purchase? Think about it, you have just handed an unknown person your account number, routing number, name, and address.

I'll take it one step further...

Now criminals are raiding blue mailboxes or hitting mail box clusters for checks.
In the more affluent areas, they're simply hitting residential mailboxes at night.
They will get info off of checks and either make fraudulent checks with real routing and account info, or alter the payee.
The post office down the road from my office was hit, and I have clients who have had checks intercepted and altered. Quite a few actually.
One customer sent a check to a vendor for $3k. A few weeks later the vendor calls asking where there money is. Customer checks and finds out the $3k was altered to $36k and made out to someone else.

It's to the point I stopped writing paper checks. All my bills are paid online now.
Yes, that's just as susceptible thanks to data breaches and hacks, but not quite as easy as good old robbery/theft.

https://www.news5cleveland.com...and-mail-on-the-rise
https://www.wbrc.com/2022/02/2...efts-vestavia-hills/

quote:

I'd even add the caveat to use your bank's online/mobile app that allows you to lock/unlock the card, or find a bank that offers it.

Didn't even know this was an option with debit cards. Of course my bank doesn't offer, but I'm going to have to hope they do eventually rather than go through the immense pain of changing.