Like the others said - there absolutely is, but you need to report it now. Your bank has a toll-free number to deal with this, and may even let you deal with it online. There doesn’t have to be a police investigation and criminal caught and successful arrest or anything; the bank will move forward on getting the money back to you ASAP and will walk you through what needs to happen.
Don’t let your depression double-victimize you on this.
Yup. I’ve even gotten money back on charges that I authorized when I paid for a service not performed. I argued with the vendor 100 times, they wouldn’t give me my money back, so I let my bank argue with them and finally got a refund. As shitty as most banks are, they’re usually pretty good at returning stolen money to you.
How does a stolen debit card get used at a Dollar General or a Krogers? You’d have to have a physical card to use in person. Someone explain to me how this is even possible.
My stolen number was also used at physical stores, gas stations, etc. despite the fact I never lost my physical card. The charges were sequential down the east cost, the person seems to have gone on a road trip to Miami.
My understanding is it is not difficult to make the cards themselves and load stolen numbers on them. They will “test” a card with small purchases before moving on to larger ones. Unfortunately, Hazle has very little money so even a small fraudulent charge is devastating.
Dollar General has an online store. I don’t know about Kroger. Maybe they work there, or convinced a young employee there to just punch in the number?
Online, I was able to cancel the card and report it stolen, but I won’t be able to talk to a real person until tomorrow morning. Not to worry, I’m not wallowing. It’s almost freeing to be at the absolute bottom. Next destination? Up. My immediate need, obviously, is money. Even if I had a job starting tomorrow (which I do not,) I would not receive a paycheck until a week from Friday. Fortunately, as I mentioned, I have paid my bills for the month and I had just gone to the store. Thank you for the advice/support and for listening.
Donate plasma.
Wow, I’m literally stunned that your bank does not offer 24 hour customer service for fraud. Not at the branch level, but at the corporate level - a 24 hour toll-free phone number? There isn’t one on the back of your bank card? You need a new bank.
Did you use your debit card at Schnucks? They had a massive security breach recently; many customers had their card information stolen.
Yes. Yes I did. How did that not even occur to me? And, yes, there is an 800 number, but my most immediate concern was getting the card shut down, which I did. I’d rather meet with someone face-to-face, documents in hand first thing tomorrow morning. I assume there will be paperwork and I’d rather just sit down with an actual person.
Do whatever works for you, but honestly this happened to me in December and in about 6 minutes of conversation on the phone to verify which purchases were mine and which were not they immediately put the money back in my account. It is a very simple process and the bank is generally happy to help.
You don’t have to do anything in person. I’ve twice disputed charges with my bank and it was all pretty simple. I didn’t have to go into a branch, there weren’t any retina eye scans, you don’t need a whole shitload of documents. One bank made me fill out a pretty simple form, and with the other, I just talked on the phone for a few minutes and the bad charges went away. Seriously, most banks suck, but retrieving stolen money is the one thing you can call a phone banker for and not want to pull your hair out by the end of it.
My debit card was used for online purchases totaling almost $800. I was alerted to it by the bank.
They know I don’t shop online that often. I did go to the bank and they gave me the amounts and
places my digits were used. One was a shoe company. I called Sperry and the clerk gave me the
address to where the shoes were shipped. Next stop was to the Sheriffs dept to file a police report.
I had an address in MN where merchandise was sent, I live in FL. I don’t know what the bank or
police did but my money was returned very quickly and a new card issued. Good Luck!
I finally reached an actual person. I have to wait until the charges actually go through; right now, they’re still pending. She said it would probably be Tuesday or Wednesday. At that point I need to go to my local branch and fill out an affidavit. Thanks for the encouragement.
Do you have anything you can sell or pawn for short-term cash?
I don’t, actually. I do have a ton of vintage Interview magazines and books, but had no luck. Perhaps I’ll revisit this. Unfortunately, they’re deep in storage right now.
I do have my day planned out for tomorrow. I’m contacting six different temp agencies and I hope to set up at least three interviews in the next couple of days. I’m dropping off resume’s at two different childcare/tutoring places and contacting a former employer and a friend who works at a textbook publishing company. I’ve already done more this afternoon than I have in recent days, thanks to some motivation/accountability from/to my best friend.
How did things go yesterday, Hazle? Any luck with your bank?
Hooray for a loving shove! I hope you’re feeling head and shoulders above the frustrations of the other day.
Thanks, NC and Lorene. I should have the bank thing cleared up tomorrow when the sixth transaction has posted. Unfortunately, I’ll still only have 130 dollars in my account. But I’m optimistic about finding something in the next couple of weeks. Desperation is a scary but effective motivator.
Good Luck to you!