# My bank account was hacked. :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bank-account-was-hacked/827183 "2019-01-04T05:50:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bank-account-was-hacked/827183/21 "2019-01-10T14:46:11Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > …Anyway, this, and several of the examples mentioned here, are why I don’t use a debit card. Only credit cards (that are paid off constantly). When I explain to people that they can be used fraudulently, they always interrupt me to say that the bank will reimburse me. Yes, that’s true. I’ll get all the money back\*, my issue is that in the mean time, I won’t have any money. I’d much rather they max out one of my credit cards and I have to use the other one for a few days than over draw my bank account and suddenly I can’t pay my mortgage or electric bill etc. > > \*IIRC, with debit cards you can be responsible for $50, so if they don’t waive that, you’re still out $50. I wholeheartedly agree. If someone charges my credit card fraudulently, the credit card company is out the money until the issue is resolved, because I will contest the charge and not pay it. In the case of fraudulent use of a debit card, **I** am out the money until the issue is addressed. I don’t ever want to be in a situation where I am trying to convince my bank to restore missing funds due to fraudulent use of a debit card. I own a debit card, because my bank sent me one unasked, but have never used it. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bank-account-was-hacked/827183/22 "2019-01-10T15:25:14Z")
This just happened to me last night. I found two debit card transactions for $75 each from a gas station in California (they stole the number, not the card). ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bank-account-was-hacked/827183/23 "2019-01-10T15:38:09Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Did the fraudster manage to actually hack my account and change other personal details like my phone contact? Should I just cancel that whole account and start a new Easy enough to figure out; call the bank & check you info. > [@Joey\_P](#): > > Anyway, this, and several of the examples mentioned here, are why I don’t use a debit card. Only credit cards (that are paid off constantly). When I explain to people that they can be used fraudulently, they always interrupt me to say that the bank will reimburse me. Yes, that’s true. I’ll get all the money back\*, my issue is that in the mean time, I won’t have any money. I’d much rather they max out one of my credit cards and I have to use the other one for a few days than over draw my bank account and suddenly I can’t pay my mortgage or electric bill etc. > > \*IIRC, with debit cards you can be responsible for $50, so if they don’t waive that, you’re still out $50. You’re only partially right. There’s still the potential to be out other\* fees if your debit card is hacked. I’ve seen it happen & there was nothing we (as an employee of the FI) could do because they weren’t our charges. Most places will give you one freebee a year; ie. waive a late fee or NSF charge. If your account is hacked at the wrong time, just after you’ve paid all of your monthly bills then your rent/mortgage payment, your car payment, your insurance, utilities, may bounce or ultimately end up being paid late even if it takes your bank only a day or two to resolve. If you had some issue, say six months earlier, you’ve already used up your freebee, which means they’ll charge you a fee. If you use it up now & then have an issue seven months from now (say you forget to pay a bill before you go on vacation) then your freebee has already been used up in the hacking debacle & you’ll be charged a fee. Our customer paid a bunch of bills at monthend, her card was stolen/hacked between when she paid them & the money was taken out by her various creditors. Collectively, they charged her a few hundred in fees. Since they weren’t fees that we charged, we couldn’t waive them, nor were they caused by anything we did wrong; therefore, we weren’t going to ‘courtesy credit’ her. We did write a “To whom it may concern” letter for her, explaining the hack but it’s up to the other institution(s) on whether to charge their fees or not. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bank-account-was-hacked/827183/24 "2019-01-10T15:58:50Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > You’re only partially right. There’s still the potential to be out other\* fees if your debit card is hacked. I’ve seen it happen & there was nothing we (as an employee of the FI) could do because they weren’t our charges. But that’s still for a debit card. That’s why I was saying I don’t use one. If someone steals your credit card, there’s near zero chance you’ll foot any of the bill. > [@](#): > > If your account is hacked at the wrong time, just after you’ve paid all of your monthly bills then your rent/mortgage payment, your car payment, your insurance, utilities, may bounce or ultimately end up being paid late even if it takes your bank only a day or two to resolve. But, again, that only applies to a debit card, which is why I always say that I’d rather have someone steal my credit card number and run up the balance than steal my debit card (or checking acct info) and take my actual money. Sure, in either case it should get straightened out, but I’d rather have my credit card maxed out than have my checking account in the red. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-bank-account-was-hacked/827183.md?page=1)