Holiday Hose Job

[Herk7769]

We were robbed yesterday of $10,000 ; I am working to get the money back from the banks involved.

I have automatic bill pay on one of our two credit cards and it was compromised.
It was our “backup” credit card from AFBA-5star bank of CO that I keep active for emergencies and the balance is always small. It is a bank I used when I had an insurance policy years ago but now the only product I have with them is this card.

I bill pay in full as an automatic charge to my Navy credit union checking account.

The card was used at retail stores for about 10 days in October while our USAA (primary) credit card was being replaced as a number hacked at Home Depot. Unbelievably, in those 10 days it was used at TARGET and that store was attacked. The bogus charges of $4,000 and $6,000 on the same day were caught by the fraud department and new cards were issued; but were inadvertently transferred to the new card number after 30 days "in suspension."

The bill date came and they wiped out my checking account and dipped into my Line of Credit to completely pay the $10,433.12 debit. The $433.12 was the correct amount.

The credit card company could have credited the money back in 5-7 business days but they had no way to refund it to my credit union.

They recommended that I dispute the entire credit card payment in order to get the money back into the credit union the fastest.

I contacted the credit union and they were initially reluctant to help as “this is their problem” the charge was pre-approved and authorized (read the fine print).

After much phone work the credit union agreed that I should fill out a “Unauthorized Automatic Debit” form; sign it and FAX it in.

I was able to print one out online and sign it; drove up to Willow Grove (our branch) and get the ball rolling.

Should take 3-5 days to get the money back in our checking account.
Then I can settle with the credit card company.

What a hassle. I will NEVER use automatic bill pay on my credit cards again.
You should also think twice.

[AquaMan]

Wow! What a headache. Hope they fix it fast for you.


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[rjshiflet]

My gosh - this is one of those "always heard about it" stories that you never expect to happen to you.

We've been called several times by the fraud department of our bank and asked if we bought major items in California...but, it was usually caught very early. Never had any fraudulent charges get through (yet...hopefully never!!).

Best wishes getting all this mess cleared up.

[Herk7769]

We live in a Brave New World and sometimes we forget there are sharks in the water along with the pretty fish.

[Oakman]

Wow, that really SUCKS Lou! I'm surprised the credit card company allowed that charge to go through because it was so out of the ordinary. Normally charges like that are caught and stopped.

I have had credit cards compromised 4 times now and 3 of the 4 times the credit card company caught and stopped the charge before I knew about it. They also placed a "freeze" on any future transactions until they contacted me.

I hope this all works out for you.

[Shinny]

I'm sorry that happened to you. The Credit Card company will have to fix it for you. The Credit Card company just wants the easy way out. The Credit Union will have to work with them. If you can go to the credit union, go and speak with a manager. Ask me how I know
Call your local Police and report it. Make them take a report. If any of your identity was stolen there is a huge list to follow, like freezing your credit with the 3 credit bureaus, call the IRS again, ask me how I know

[mud yapster]

What's the world coming to. Sorry to hear what happened. I used to like my debit card but not any more, I guess we all need to go back to checks and cash and there was never much hassle all the electronic paperless transactions where no brought about for our convenience but for bank expense savings. They say 97% of all companies have been compromised. A sad fact that we must not over look and be on the guard of electronic thieves at all times.

[Platokidd]

SCUMBAGS!
Good luck getting this sorted out herk

[rlocicero]

I am a member with Protect My ID.com. They have caught several possible suspicious transactions. My American express immediately sends out a text when something is charged to my account where my card was not present, like on line purchases.

My wife's VISA card was stolen and I seriously thought about not reporting it.
The person who stole it spends a lot less than her.. LOL

[WY Husker Fan]

You will eventually get your money back but the vendor who was scammed for the original $10,000 - not so much! I've been on that side of the fence. If a physical card was not present, the vendor is out.

[rattleNsmoke]

That's horrible Herk. A lot of campers spend extended time away from home and use auto-bill pay. My wife was contemplating doing just that, but I've never been keen on giving up control. We will seek out suitable alternatives.

[Herk7769]

What was unusual was the autopay credit card payment.

THAT will stop! I found out the hard way that a key protection is negated when you autopay your bill.

The rest of the bills will stay autopay, but even there; things are not cut and dried. I tried to cancel an autopay subscription but the 800 number I "had to call" (since I never got a reply from online requests were never answered) was always busy.

I had to wait for a credit card number change before I had a chance to dump them.

"Protect my ID" or other credit monitoring services would not have helped since AFBA-5star DID catch it initially and sent me a new card. They screwed up when they only put a 30 day hold on the charge. The next month it was "internally" reinstated with no further action by their fraud department required.

[asquared]

This is why I use usaa. They caught two identical $54 charges to my debit card to a Wal-Mart in IN. They automatically put a hold on my account and both called and emailed me about it. Within 3 days the money was back in my account. I never have used auto pay for credit cards, only things like utilities and loans. I hope you get this resolved quickly.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by asquared

This is why I use usaa. They caught two identical $54 charges to my debit card to a Wal-Mart in IN. They automatically put a hold on my account and both called and emailed me about it. Within 3 days the money was back in my account. I never have used auto pay for credit cards, only things like utilities and loans. I hope you get this resolved quickly.

Believe it or not it was our USAA mastercard that started this disaster chain. They caught the data breach at Home Depot which forced us to use our backup VISA for local purchases till the new cards arrived.

Just in time to get caught in the Target fiasco.

[whj77372]

So my better half is not so old and cautious! She will not let anybody take funds out of our bank account, for any reason. We pay a higher interest rate because she will not let them take money from our account and we also pay extra for a mailed invoice from one vendor. Sorry for your issue.

[Semperfi24]

I have found that the credit card companies have gotten so good at this kind of thing, that it actually becomes a hassle for us to use our own cards when we are away. I wont complain about it, because it is in my best interest, BUT, it is a hassle when you are traveling. Every time the wife and I travel somewhere with the RV, we get to our destination and get things mostly set up for us, then make a trip to WalMart or wherever to make some purchases. I am not sure what the threshold value is, but it seems that every time, our cards get denied at the store (not all of them, just the ones we prefer to use). Then we have to call the bank and let them know that we are traveling, where we are located, and that the "unusual purchases" are legitimate. I just find it incredibly embarrassing to be at the register when your cards keep getting denied. The people behind you that have now determined you are some kind of dead beat dont know that you are getting denied because you dared to use your card more than 100 miles from your house (gasp), LMFAO.

There are a few issues I have with it, it is is the same card we used to pay for the campground, if they allow that transaction to go through, why does a transaction 5 miles away get denied? Lol. The other thing, we are using the card in person. I would think that the bank trusts that the store is following the protocols, and that if the store determines the transaction is legit, they should assume it is. Basically, I would expect a bank to accept in person transactions, and be skeptical of online purchases, but in my experience, online purchases are never scrutinized, but in person purchases are. Seems backwards to me

[Herk7769]

Big news item on TARGET just now. They were the ones who hit my card.

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

Believe it or not it was our USAA mastercard that started this disaster chain. They caught the data breach at Home Depot which forced us to use our backup VISA for local purchases till the new cards arrived.

Just in time to get caught in the Target fiasco.

I will never use my debit card at Home Depot again...I had to get two new cards because of them.


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[Freds342]

And without my glasses on, I thought the thread title was "Holiday Nose Job"!

[KyDan]

I never use debit cards always credit cards.
I never use auto pay. NO ONE is authorized to take money out of
my checking or savings account but me or my wife.

IF my credit card gets hacked it's THEIR money that's missing not mine....