So, some crafty person on the other side of the country is apparently using a copy of my debit card to make some small purchases. On their fourth try, Washington Mutual’s fraud department took notice and gave me a call. My card has been canceled. I’m out about $200 right now, which should soon be credited to my account. They’ll also be mailing me some legal paperwork to fill out.
First question: Is making a physical copy of a debit card now a common scam? Howzat work? Vaguely.
Second, I noticed that all the transactions are listed as “Debit without pin.” 3 of them were at gas stations and 1 was at Sam’s Club. Is “debit without pin” the same as using it as a credit card, or are there establishments that just let you swipe without any sort of validation?
Third, is there any way this could affect my credit?
I’ve seen it a couple of times. A fast food joint and a newsstand, both times in airports. I was very surprised not to have to put in my personal PIN number.
Well, as Electornic mail became e-mail became email, it PIN may become pin. It already has in Dutch: “Would you like to pay by direct debit?” is “Wilt u pinnen?”.
I had a thousand euros stolen from my account in Finland a few months ago, and it’s improbable that they had my pincode (Sound redundant? It’s right in Dutch! ). The bank refused to refund it, so it seems you’re better off than me. Shortly thereafer, the Süddeutsche Zeitung had a story about how PIN-pass fraud is becoming a bigger problem in Europe.
I don’t know how common it is, but it’s very easy with a blank card and a card reader. The thief copies the information from your magnetic strip and copies it onto a blank card.
No.
Personal personal identification number number? Ugh. It’s just PIN.
:smack: Always proofread on the Dope. I think I deleted the one sentence where I got PIN right.
But thanks to Otto for the straight answer to the credit question, which honestly kept me up last night more than semantics.
In phone tree hell right now, trying to put in a claim on that last charge. Would it be worth $96 to put down the phone and go out and get some sunshine? Hmm.
It depends on your merchant agreement. For some items you don’t need a PIN. For instance I work part time in a store and if the charge is less than $5.00 you don’t need to sign for it nor enter your PIN. The store decided do to the huge number of customers we get it’s not worth the inconvenience. Sure we get what are called chargebacks, but we can absorb the loss for the sake of moving customers through quicker.
You can negotiate with the credit card company any amount you want. For instance we do sell a card for the city bus. And that’s less than $5.00 but when we ring it up the customer has to enter a PIN or sign (if using a credit card) because we found people were using it and charging it back.
So you can pretty much do whatever you want to negotiate for.
This is the first time I’ve heard of such a thing. On the other hand I know a lot of places around here don’t require signatures for credit card purchases below a certain amount, and may or may not require ID. Most don’t require it.
). The bank refused to refund it, so it seems you’re better off than me. Shortly thereafer, the Süddeutsche Zeitung had a story about how PIN-pass fraud is becoming a bigger problem in Europe.