Why are banks so insecure?

[abcdefghi]

So, in the middle of trying to figure out what was up with one of my rams, I log in to my bank account to check something, and notice about 20 charges to somewhere in Little Rock, somewhere I have never been.

I call the bank, who are to be honest pretty useless at this time of day, and attempt to report the fraudulent charges on my account. The woman I speak to is convinced my card is stolen, even though I am holding my card, and is pretty much useless about me reporting them, but hopefully did enough to block my card (I kept trying to tell her I did not know if it was my card or my wifes card, but did not get much help). Anyways....

This is the second time in about a year this has happened, in 3 years of living in the US I have had my card (I am guessing) cloned twice, in at least 15 years of having a card in the UK not once did I have any problems.

I am so mad at the moment, we are both careful with our cards, and rarely buy anything online, and when we do it is usually through somewhere like Amazon, or Target. Now I have to go through the whole process of finding out if they cloned our cards, getting new cards, getting the charges refunded to me etc.

Grrrr I have no idea what else to do in order to keep my details safe.

[petluvr]

This actually just happened a while back to me. Is your card a Visa by any chance? Visa recently had a mass security breech in their system so it may not have been the banks system that wasn't secure.

[12 Volt Man]

same thing happened to me with my ATM card.

criminals got out $500 in Montreal while I was near Toronto.

what made me mad was the bank took forever to get me my money back. they gave me a new card that is supposedly more secure.

the teller said it happens all the time. the criminals seem to be one step ahead.. :(

[coach_z]

it has happened to me but is usually pretty darn easy to take care of. callthem up, sign the papers, get a new card and then wait a lil bit for your money....i have always gotten my money back within a few days.

-chris

[abcdefghi]

This actually just happened a while back to me. Is your card a Visa by any chance? Visa recently had a mass security breech in their system so it may not have been the banks system that wasn't secure.

Hey, yeah it is a visa debit card.

[kj5kb]

Probably should call your local police and report it as identity theft. Ensure they fill out a report on it...you may need it later.

Just change both card #s and the bank account #. That will (should) help prevent future problems. Report the fraudulent charges IN WRITING (and in detail) ASAP to the card company. There is an amount you can be liable for, but in my experience most reputable companies will refund it if you report it promptly and accurately.

[UncaBret]

This is the second time in about a year this has happened, in 3 years of living in the US I have had my card (I am guessing) cloned twice, in at least 15 years of having a card in the UK not once did I have any problems.

Are you blaming the US for this? Well, I must say that I never had a problem with my card until you moved to the US, maybe it's YOU that are the cause!


Or maybe it's because in the last three years the bad guys have gotten smarter.




(I'm kidding about the first part, of course)

[petluvr]

Hey, yeah it is a visa debit card.
It was a breech in the security at visa your bank really had nothing to do with it. Trust me I know how aggrevating it is mine didn't have any fraudulent charges but the bank went ahead and redid EVERYONE'S I couldn't get at my money for almost 3 weeks without having to go to the bank and withdraw it directly PITA!!!

[excuzzzeme]

Banks insecure? You bet they are! Too many employees in this country are both lazy and ignorant. The lazy and ignorant place no value on other peoples information and finances. They have no sense of professionalism and doing a job correctly. They want 8hrs pay for 2 hrs worth of work and then complain how they are overworked and underpaid. They see their life pursuits as more important that doing something correctly, especially if it means having to do more work. The other part is the greedy corporations out-sourcing much of the work to places that don't always have the best opinions of Americans and so could really care less as well. Those corporations could care less as long as it gives them greater profit. Bottom line - it's all about greed.

[abcdefghi]

Are you blaming the US for this? Well, I must say that I never had a problem with my card until you moved to the US, maybe it's YOU that are the cause!


Or maybe it's because in the last three years the bad guys have gotten smarter.




(I'm kidding about the first part, of course)

LOL, yeah I know its just bad guys have gotten smarter etc, its just annoying that this is the 2nd time (and actually the 3rd time, had them replaced due to a security breech a while ago as well) I have had to have cards replaced due to fraud/security breech.

And excuzzzeme's post is spot on, this morning I go to my local branch to fill out the forms reporting fraud etc, and discover that despite me calling Saturday to cancel my cards and report the fraud, the person I spoke to did not bother to cancel them until about 30 minutes ago. So about 36 hours after I reported them stolen!! incredible! I am just grateful that there were no more transactions on my account!

[crimsonmoon]

my local news did a story on identity theft recently
apparently now, it doesn't matter how careful you are with your card. if you own one period you can have it stolen. and not physically stolen. now the theft can be done by just running up a bunch of cards with random numers and they just swipe them until one works. it happened to a guy in my area a few weeks ago.

[abcdefghi]

my local news did a story on identity theft recently
apparently now, it doesn't matter how careful you are with your card. if you own one period you can have it stolen. and not physically stolen. now the theft can be done by just running up a bunch of cards with random numers and they just swipe them until one works. it happened to a guy in my area a few weeks ago.

That does not surprise me at all, as an example I remember a while ago hearing that the best way to not get your car stolen, was simply not to have a car at all.

I am still mad that they did not cancel my cards until late this morning :mad2:

[Sploke]

I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago, my wife and I both got issued new debit cards by our bank because there were card numbers in their database that had possibly been leaked by some company in a security breach, so as a safety measure they issued new cards with new numbers to a whole bunch of their customers.

[crimsonmoon]

I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago, my wife and I both got issued new debit cards by our bank because there were card numbers in their database that had possibly been leaked by some company in a security breach, so as a safety measure they issued new cards with new numbers to a whole bunch of their customers.

my parents got new cards a couple weeks ago too. but i didn't lol

[petluvr]

I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago, my wife and I both got issued new debit cards by our bank because there were card numbers in their database that had possibly been leaked by some company in a security breach, so as a safety measure they issued new cards with new numbers to a whole bunch of their customers.
This is the same thing that happened with my card:) Really though it is not the banks fault it is the fault of the processors who work as middle men between the card companies and the places we are using our cards. ABC your card should have been hot carded immediately by the bank so i understand your frustration there.

[bettabrat]

Banks got us into this huge mess we're in. Don't expect any sympathy. Banks really aggrivate me to no end. I've faced ID theft a few times. Best advice I can give is to just keep on top of it. Find something documenting where you live and where you were on the date the charges were made in case they want to argue. Most of the time they will refund you and file a dispute with Visa...or whomever the card is set up through. After (sometimes takes 6 months) an investigation they will send you a letter. 9 time out of 10 you get your $$ back, there is that slim case where they are just trying to scam the bank and well that is why there is an investigation. Good luck!

[serissime]

My friend is a head teller at a bank near me... and she would have freaked out if she heard one of her coworkers was so lax! (as to wait 36 hours after a report)