This may come to you as a shock (hope you're sitting down), but banks are not perfect

[tpypr]

On 17 February I made a sizable fudge sale to a local minimart/gas station and immediately deposited the check in my checking account, my mind abuzz with which and what quantity of needed fudge ingredients I would be purchasing on this day's spontaneous shopping trip I now was going to embark upon to Redding, a town 30 miles away.

I was jarred out of my organizing mode by the teller exclaiming "Good! You got the money into your account in time and won't get any check charges." I could see by the change in her demeanor that she had correctly read the stupid expression on my face. Without my having to say a word, she turned the computer screen toward me and showed me a listing of internet purchases made the evening before. Nine transactions occurred between 6:12:58 pm and 6:20:46, eight of them occurring between 6:19:41 and 6:20:46!!!

No one but me has handled my debit card and the only internet presence I use a debit card for is a different checking account. I use the card telephonically, but that would probably be a case of someone on the other end passing on my information illegally and I trust those I do business with to have employees above that level.

. . . Which leaves the banking institution's system. I'm sure the teller didn't realize the announcement she was making (is this where they get the job title from?) when she spoke in a not-quite-yell across the room to one of the bank officers "We have another one, and this one is bigger!" Sure made ME feel more secure!

She did a computer spit-out and there were phone numbers for all except one item that had been authorized. Four items had been declined, but that was only because my by-then negative balance would have exceeded the 'allowable' negative balance (if that makes any sense to anyone). She called the number of the largest amount, found out it was a yearly subscription to an adult website, explained to the representative what was going on, and the rep thankfully reversed the billing. She also gave a name and email to us.

Well, since the entire check now was covering someone else's expenses (twill take about a week to - hopefully - get my money back), the trip to Redding became a little more localized. The only trip I took was to the police department just around the corner and up one block. Upside was I saved quite a bit gas-wise. After that, I just went home and vegetated until time for church. Actually, God was good to me. If I had waited one more day to make that deposit, my account would have REALLY been a mess!

I called about the three $1.00 purchases the next day and found they were trial subscriptions to monthly adult magazines and regular pricing would have kicked in 30 days later. There is one more for $1.00 w/o a phone number, so will have to wait for that one to post in the bank before anything can be done. All of the subscriptions were to the same person as the website subscription and I asked hopefully if there was any additional contact information about this person. And yes, there was!!! I found out that he lives in zip code 21209 and was given his computer's ip address. You can bet your bottom dollar that I was on the phone to the police department immediately with that information!

Hopefully this guy will get nabbed. It would end up being an interesting trip for me if I was needed to testify at his trial. He is in the Baltimore-Towson area, which is only about forty miles away from where I spent 19 (not sure how to describe them) years of my life. I would probably take the time to visit a few old acquaintances but, for the most part, there is not much there for me anymore.

The moral to this story is: CHECK YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS ONLINE A MINIMUM OF ONCE A WEEK TO ENSURE YOU DON'T END UP BEING CAUGHT UP IN SECURITY BREACHES THIS NATION'S BANKING SYSTEM GLIBLY REFERS TO AS "ONLY A GLITCH"!!!

[shezz]

I often check my bank account online once a month, since it got fleezed i now check it more often, ok i got all the money back, but if i had not bothered checking at all, it could of gone un noticed for ages as it was small amounts

[e_nviable]

My bank account was robbed too of approx. £400 ! I have to say though, that Customer Service were brilliant and it was all dealt with very efficiently, professionally and in a charming manner.......... and I got my money back

e

[kengillam]

The very reason I don't do online banking!

[SalusLibrorum]

The very reason I don't do online banking!

Sorry Ken, it doesn't matter if you "do" online banking or not. Your account is vulnerable to fraud whether you think it can be accessed from the net or not. All bank systems are linked up to the net nowadays, and it only takes a phone call to set up online access. I did it for my parents' current accounts, it took one phone call, a letter interception, and I had complete control and online access to them. They were with the Alliance and Leicester. My husband set up his, it isn't an "online" account he's had it for the best part of 30 years, but it was still accessible online.

All you are doing by not setting it up, is preventing yourself from having a quick and convenient way of checking it. Even worse, if you haven't set it up for yourself and securely passworded it, someone else could set up direct access for themselves instead, like I did, it's really not difficult.

[TiasTreasures]

I have an online bank, just as secure as any other.

I do NOT have a debit card. Here in the U.S. we're protected from credit card fraud over $50. There is no such protection for debit cards. Since I pay my credit card balances every month, there are no fees and it's much safer.

[kengillam]

My bank was told when I opened the account I just wanted straightforward branch banking if their systems aren't secure enough to prevent any tom dick or harry accessing a branch account that is their problem not mine.

[SalusLibrorum]

Well it's their problem no matter what, if fraud takes place. Unfortunately the inconvenience, annoyance, frustration and lack of money until things are sorted out post fraud discovery (assuming the customer can prove that it wasn't them that took out and spent the money), all belongs to the customer . That's why it's a good idea to check what's going on in there more often than the once a month statement, a large amount can go missing in a month.

[harold69]

Tellem Ken, you are a poor starving artist, and have your money buried in a jar in the back yard.

[harold69]

On 17 February I made a sizable fudge sale to a local minimart/gas station and immediately deposited the check in my checking account, my mind abuzz with which and what quantity of needed fudge ingredients I would be purchasing on this day's spontaneous shopping trip I now was going to embark upon to Redding, a town 30 miles away.

I was jarred out of my organizing mode by the teller exclaiming "Good! You got the money into your account in time and won't get any check charges." I could see by the change in her demeanor that she had correctly read the stupid expression on my face. Without my having to say a word, she turned the computer screen toward me and showed me a listing of internet purchases made the evening before. Nine transactions occurred between 6:12:58 pm and 6:20:46, eight of them occurring between 6:19:41 and 6:20:46!!!

No one but me has handled my debit card and the only internet presence I use a debit card for is a different checking account. I use the card telephonically, but that would probably be a case of someone on the other end passing on my information illegally and I trust those I do business with to have employees above that level.


. . . Which leaves the banking institution's system. I'm sure the teller didn't realize the announcement she was making (is this where they get the job title from?) when she spoke in a not-quite-yell across the room to one of the bank officers "We have another one, and this one is bigger!" Sure made ME feel more secure!

She did a computer spit-out and there were phone numbers for all except one item that had been authorized. Four items had been declined, but that was only because my by-then negative balance would have exceeded the 'allowable' negative balance (if that makes any sense to anyone). She called the number of the largest amount, found out it was a yearly subscription to an adult website, explained to the representative what was going on, and the rep thankfully reversed the billing. She also gave a name and email to us.

Well, since the entire check now was covering someone else's expenses (twill take about a week to - hopefully - get my money back), the trip to Redding became a little more localized. The only trip I took was to the police department just around the corner and up one block. Upside was I saved quite a bit gas-wise. After that, I just went home and vegetated until time for church. Actually, God was good to me. If I had waited one more day to make that deposit, my account would have REALLY been a mess!

I called about the three $1.00 purchases the next day and found they were trial subscriptions to monthly adult magazines and regular pricing would have kicked in 30 days later. There is one more for $1.00 w/o a phone number, so will have to wait for that one to post in the bank before anything can be done. All of the subscriptions were to the same person as the website subscription and I asked hopefully if there was any additional contact information about this person. And yes, there was!!! I found out that he lives in zip code 21209 and was given his computer's ip address. You can bet your bottom dollar that I was on the phone to the police department immediately with that information!

Hopefully this guy will get nabbed. It would end up being an interesting trip for me if I was needed to testify at his trial. He is in the Baltimore-Towson area, which is only about forty miles away from where I spent 19 (not sure how to describe them) years of my life. I would probably take the time to visit a few old acquaintances but, for the most part, there is not much there for me anymore.

The moral to this story is: CHECK YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS ONLINE A MINIMUM OF ONCE A WEEK TO ENSURE YOU DON'T END UP BEING CAUGHT UP IN SECURITY BREACHES THIS NATION'S BANKING SYSTEM GLIBLY REFERS TO AS "ONLY A GLITCH"!!!

Sounds like they have more than one problem at that bank. Must be an inside job for the bank not sending the law after the culprit them selves.