As you can probably tell from the title, I woke up to some not-so-great news this morning. I got a call from my bank and they asked me about a suspicious transaction that happened with my bank card (yes, bank card, I don’t own a credit card). I went to check my bank account online and I saw there was a purchase of over 570 euros which I definitely didn’t make. Apart from paying my rent I haven’t paid any amounts similar to that.
So I told them it definitely wasn’t me so it was confirmed someone got my bank card information online or somewhere else. Probably online but it makes me wonder how, I can’t even remember the last time I made a purchase online with my bank card without using Paypal. Well, on the positive side I’m eventually going to get my money back as I started a progress with police and the bank. Obviously my bank card is closed now and I will have to live without a card for like a week or so before I get a new one. I also had to take down all my eBay listings because I can’t receive payments right now and I also can’t pay with Paypal at this moment as my card details are invalid with the closing of my card.
What angers me the most on this situation is the fact that I have no idea where the theft happened. How did they get my information. I’ll probably never know.
For details it looks like they were from the US and bought a phone or something using my information…
We will see how this goes forward. Also, I would like to know if this has happened to someone else here on the forum. I thought I was very careful and serious about my card info, but looks like it can really happen to anyone. This is a bit scary even as I have no idea where they got my information.
It could’ve been anywhere sorry it happened to you, specially if you used it at a store physically, gas station, etc. Where they have those card readers scammers use; Personally I only use my credit card online and offline as any scam or theft is treated immediately, whereas a debit card takes a long time to recover cash, if you’re lucky, in my country there isn’t any protection if you get your debit card stolen and your cash used/taken out.
Well that sucks. It’s not just the wasted time and effort I’m sure. It’s kinda a violation that makes you feel vulnerable. Hang in there cause it’ll pass.
Doctor Gary.
Gotta love doctor Gary and his famous sweat pants.
Yes this happened to me once about three years ago hoqever a little different.
Someone got access to my paypal details and made a purchase through it for about $300. Calleed paypal up within 24 hours amd had the payment reversed very promptly.
My card is a debit only and the payment hasn’t officially gone yet but it’s on reserve, however before getting this case forward I have to wait until it’s gone to confirm the theft happened and only then and with the information I sent to the police my bank will start looking at it and get my money back. The customer service lady was quite sure I should get my money back. I’m happy that they noticed the suspicious activity as I don’t look at my bank account every single day.
Also my dad just told me that a similar thing happened to his friend very recently and the amounts etc were very similar. I’m thinking if there has been some kind of a leak or something because he is a customer of the same bank as me. Obviously it can all be coincidence…
This is why I do not have a debit card, nor do I write checks. It is such an irritating process to go through when dealing with something like this. My bank account information is only shared to my job for direct deposit. Everything else goes through credit cards (WAY easier to deal with fraud), PayPal, or Money Order/Certified Check.
What a coincidence. I got an email from the bank yesterday, asking to call them too about suspicious activities with one of my creditcards.
The weird thing is, I’ve had this creditcard for years and not had any problems with it. I am no longer using this creditcard since the company that provided is will quit in a few months. I’ve destroyed the card months ago (it involved burning so pretty impossible to still read things?). I already got a new card from a different company.
Luckily, the bank didn’t charge me the payments yet. I had to tell on the phone if I would accept these payments or not, of course I didn’t. There were payments made in China, Russia and Germany all on the same day for a sum of more than 700 euros (not so smart of them).
Credit cards have a $50 or $0 limit on what you are responsible for in case of fraud or theft.
Debit cards, they can drain your account and you are screwed.
On recurring payments, you may have to close your account to stop it on debit cards, and credit cards it is not an issue to stop.
Chargebacks are easier on credit cards.
Another point - Debit cards do not affect your credit history, but being responsible with credit cards can improve your credit rating and an excellent credit rating is wonderful thing.
Credit cards are really a wonderful thing, you’re fully protected plus you can even earn 1-2% cashback. When it comes to debit, some banks can limit you to a certain number of monthly transaction or have you pay extra. You don’t ever have that problem with a credit card.
I know some people are worried they would spend too much so they prefer using debit, but you’re more than free to ask your bank for whichever credit card limit you are comfortable with. Just have it at whatever your monthly budget is.
There’s also certain credit cards that don’t charge you for currency conversion so you don’t pay paypal 2-3% each time you buy something in USD. I have a VISA Amazon/Chase one that is like that, I’m not sure if it’s available outside Canada but it really adds up. Unfortunately, they refuse to raise my limit on that one so I don’t use it as much as I want to.
I have a 28 degrees MasterCard mainly because there is no international transaction fee. Helps with buying anything overseas (especially the US) on eBay or paypal. For this purpose, it’s perfect.
Debit cards are the devil. I swapped mine in for strictly an atm card. I use CC’s for everything. I don’t think debit cards do anything well at all and only serve to put your money at increased risk.
My buddy had his debit card compromised back around when he was buying a car. His entire ~$10,000 he had in there was taken part of which he was planning to use for a down payment. Luckily he had parents that were in good financial shape to borrow from for the 2-3 MONTHS it took him to get HIS MONEY back. That is the problem with debit cards. They are tied to your money so when someone hacks them they are stealing from you.
I myself have had a couple times that my credit cards were compromised. One time I saw two ~$1500 transactions go through that I didn’t make. I flagged them and called them up. They overnighted me a new card, “quarantined” those charges and I never heard about them again. Even worst case scenario if they somehow didn’t believe me that they weren’t my charges I’d tell them to F off and just close the account and not pay the bill. This would be extremely unlikely as all I would have to do is file a police report and they could get camera footage from wherever it occurred if it was an in person transaction and the shipping address could be checked if it was an online purchase. When someone hacks a credit card they are stealing someone else’s money so it is much easier to resolve and isn’t nearly the headache.
@poken00b88 to add there is also the option of secured credit cards for those who fear abuse of debt. @xzini it is definitely time to look into credit cards and rethink having a debit card tied to your primary account. At least if you are going to get one I would recommend having it on a second account where so many necessities aren’t processed through it.
I’m actually very surprised about what you have all said about debit cards. I had no idea the image of them is that bad. Can there be big differences between countries and card policies? I feel like there is as my theft situation has been handled very well so far and I’ve gotten all the help and support I needed and the bank has done such a great job to help me with everything and to get my money back eventually. They have a rule where a theft that’s worth more than 50 euros will be given back to you if you just fill a reclamation to your bank and report the case to police as well. Also, the card I have can’t be used for purchases over the value of money you have in your account so those kind of payments will be blocked straight away and don’t go through (also what you need to know I definitely don’t have huge amounts of money in general).
Now as I don’t have any experience about credit cards I can’t really say anything about them. The problem is I possibly won’t even be able to apply for one as I don’t have a consistent job and that is usually required to gain a credit card in most cases (for financial stability). So far I’ve only had part-time jobs that last for months so I’m not sure if I can apply.
Also: I don’t know but here for some reason I’ve created a negative image for credit cards as so many people seem to think they are dangerous in some way. I guess it can be dangerous if you just use the credit always and don’t plan ahead. And here if you don’t pay your credit card bills you will get a negative credit report which will affect you for the rest of your life. You will lose so many of your rights if that happens. You can’t own anything, you can’t get loans, you can’t make contract payments in many places and so on.
But, here you can also get credit cards that have both credit and debit possibilities. My mom has one of those cards and she has been a victim of theft twice, but she didn’t get her money back as the amount she lost was less than 50 euros. Now, I don’t know if they used debit or credit side of the card as they have different numbers obviously. I’d say probably debit as she doesn’t really use the credit side.
In conclusion - I will have to get another debit card by the looks of it, but I will think about a credit card in the future if my financial state becomes more stable. I never really realized the risk that debit cards have until now.
@xzini it is probably highly dependent on your country. I just know here that debit cards are tied to your whole checking account. Too much money to risk. Here I have heard as I mentioned of it taking months to reclaim your own money. In a similar situation with a credit card it is nothing more than a minor inconvenience as the thief didn’t spend your money. They only utilized your credit and you can prove it very easily. Even if the company takes a long time to resolve it, none of your funds are on hold.
Credit cards are too easy to get here IMO but it is a great thing for people who have self control and can utilize the rewards. I knew people in high school without jobs already pushing into 4 figures of cc debt. But someone like myself, I get an extra 2% cash back on everything I buy which amounts to hundreds of free dollars a month as I never pay interest. I’m unsure of if it is a thing there, but perhaps try taking a look at secured credit cards to get started?
Another great thing about credit cards is that you have say in what your limit is. This allows for more damage control than a debit card that always gives you access to all of your money. Even if someone here knows they’re going to struggle with self-control in a credit card world, I can’t imagine you’ll be in a worse place if you set a super low credit card limit than if you have immediate access to all of your cash all of the time.
All of this on top of the insane cash back and rewards programs available with credit cards. In the US, I know Discover offers great first time credit card options for young people. When I was in high school, I was able to get a student card and start building credit super early. By the time I was 21, I had multiple years of credit history, had made thousands of free dollars on cash back rewards, and I was able to get better rates on the first loan I took.
Add me to the credit card hype train. And my pro tip for people who are avid credit cards utilizers is to check out the Costco credit card. If you have a Costco near you, it’s a stupid good deal. 4% cash back on gas and 3% on restaurants/travel makes it a fantastic companion to any card that does more than 1% on generic purchases. We pair it with Discover so that we get Discover’s great monthly specials (5% on restaurants this month, 5% on Amazon purchases last month) and Costco’s (Visa’s) great network. I average 2.5% back on my monthly expenses excluding rent/utilities.
@funmonkey54 to add to the rewards as they really shouldn’t be understated. My wife and I run the BofA rewards card which has 1/2/3 rewards alongside a Discover It for our everyday spending, but where we really rack up significant rewards is one time sign on bonuses. That any my citi double cash on all my buying/selling eBay business.
In 2015 I took a honeymoon to Alaska. Total cost about $5,000. Two week vacation including 1 week of it being a cruise. I opened a capital one venture exclusively for the trip. $10,000 limit initially (this is where good credit standing and good salaries come in which everyone may not have). I charged my whole trip onto it. Took the $500 reward for spending $3,000 within the first 3 months as well as the 2% rewards. So $5,000 trip quickly became discounted by $600 simply for intelligently taking advantage of an offer. I literally paid it off with $600 of statement credit 4 weeks later and then paid the remaining $4,400 and promptly close the card having paid 0 interest and getting a 12% discount on my travel that I was going to do anyways.
I also recently traveled to Florida for a week and did the same exact thing with a Chase card. Anyone looking to do something like this does need to be aware it will be a temporary point hit on their credit score, but when you know you won’t be initiating a new line of credit anytime soon it is an awesome way to save hundreds on money you are spending anyways.
*Disclaimer to reiterate that you really need to trust yourself to be able to take advantage of these offers. My experiences are only possible because overall the companies make money from those offers. The interest rates on those cards vary from 20-30% and some people’s poor financial habits lead to them paying thousands of dollars in interest when trying to use the cards the wrong way. Be careful of this.
Another problem with debit cards are pings tying up your funds. For example, you are buying gas, when you insert your card the seller sends a “ping” of $75 or $150 to see if the card can clear the transaction. That ping can sit on a card for 3 - 5 days.