Imagine getting a call from your bank asking that you verify a purchase and when they tell you the amount and the merchant, you have no idea what he is talking about. This very thing happened to me early Friday afternoon. The amount– $1045, the merchant– somewhere in Mexico. I was told that since I wasn’t trying to make the purchase, my debit card had been compromised and was no longer valid, I needed to cut it up and wait 5-7 days for a replacement. He verified a few more purchases to make sure those were valid, asked me if I had any questions and the call ended. I was horrified– I am THE spokesperson for online bill paying. I’ve told people it’s more secure than paying by check, because checks pass through many hands and the account information as well as personal information is right there in plain sight. I use my debit card for everything because it’s so convenient and I don’t like to carry cash, what am I going to do now? I went on about my day thankful that the bank caught it and didn’t debit my account. I went to the bank, got some cash and went on my merry way to enjoy the weekend in Arkansas.
Fast forward Wednesday morning, I log-in and check my account and I see a (135.00), I’m in the hole! I check my transactions and what’s there, a debit for $1045 to SamsTuxtla! I immediately call the bank to find out what the heck is going on. I was informed that I had to go to my local branch to fill out a dispute form. I go and talk to a bank representative and ask her how this could happen after I informed them that I did not authorize the payment. She told me it depends on the merchant, sometimes they can catch it, sometimes not. They can do nothing until the customer comes in to dispute the purchase. She then got a list of the checks/amount I’d written, so they would pay them. I then breathed a sigh of relief, at least I wouldn’t have any rubber checks bouncing around. She assured me that it would take about three days to have my account credited and she would call as soon as it was done.
The internet has been a blessing and a curse. I love the convenience of paying bills online, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson about using my debit card for all of my online purchases. Some of the merchants will do a check my mail and with those they don’t save personal information, it has to be entered each time the bill is paid. I’ll stick with that route. I only have a few dollars and I don’t want the hustlers and criminals to have them.
It’s been a weird day and my supervisor informed me that things usually happens in threes. The first thing, this morning as we were going into the hall bathroom, we noticed the floor was wet. When I turned on the light, the floor was covered in water. Second, my account is drained. Third, when I called the office, they came by to look at it, but don’t have a wet-dry vacuum, so I had to clean it up by hand.
It’s hard to believe today is Wednesday, feels more like a Monday or better yet, Friday, the 13th.
2 comments:
What a terrible thing to happen! Make sure you get your credit history checked. I still have to do battle with the 3 credit reporting agencies. They've combined my mother's and my history. I really need to get that done before she dies; otherwise, I fear it will be a very long drawn out battle to prove I'm not dead. :-) I attempted to get it fixed several years ago but they faught me tooth and nail and called me a liar. I couldn't believe it. Especially when they had me applying for loans 10 years before my birth! Good luck. And I am so sorry you have this to deal with. Did I ever tell you how courageous I think you are?
Thanks, you and Jana keep me going. I miss you all so much, when I call you guys friends, I meant it!
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