This Weekend I became a victim of Debit Card Fraud! Crazy Huh? The low down dirty criminals actually produced a dummy copy of my card and used it at an ATM to withdraw money from my account.
First off it's hard to believe that it's actually possible to do this but then to think that there are people with morals so low as to actually carry it out is mind boggling. I was lucky to have caught it pretty early, however they did get 3 transactions threw before I noticed though so that's pretty scary. The lady I spoke with in the fraud department at Bank of America said that this is a HUGE increasing problem in Washington state and that 85% of the cases of debit card reproduction are obtained through gas stations. Crooks are able to put a little chip in the card reader and get your card info and pin! Gas stations are a good target because many people use their cards there and the card readers are less monitor than say in store swipers. I was also told by BOA that you should always run your debit card as a "credit" rather than a debit if you can. It comes out of your account the same way but the crook only gets access to your card number and not your pin. Once they get your pin they can get actual cash and that is much harder to trace and prosecute if caught.
So my lesson learned is don't use your pin unless you absolutely have to, you never know who can gain access to it. Also be vigilant is checking your account's and know what's going on with your money! You never think it's going to happen to you but take it from me it can!
The picture above was obtained from Kids Bank.com it is the funniest little site geared towards teaching little ones about finances.
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