Debit Card Fraud
Debit card fraud
Debit card fraud is on the increase. When there is an economic recession similar to the one we are currently experiencing, generally speaking the crime rate increases. In the old days this meant that more houses got burgled and more shops were robbed and while these crimes are still happening today, the modern thief is a little more sophisticated.
Fraud of any type is very prevalent on the internet as well as at the ATM. Debit card fraud doesn’t differentiate between its victims, young and old alike are targeted as well as those with cash and those without. The problem is that it is quite easy to commit fraud using cards. It doesn’t take a mastermind although some of the bigger scams have involved former intelligence officer and police personnel. With small time debit card fraud, gas stations, motels and restaurants are usually the places where your card details get copied. When the person serving you takes payment, they can make a second copy of the payment receipt if you are signing for the bill. They then use your personal details to pay for transactions online. Another way to debit your card without you knowing is to preprogram the machine to capture all of your debt card details. The fraudsters can then sell this information onto gangs who will make up new cards using your details. It is very difficult to protect yourself from all the debit card scam opportunities available to thieves but there are a couple of simple things you can do.
Get into the habit of checking your bank account regularly. You should check every transaction to make sure you recognize it and that you were the instigator. Don’t just look for big sums of money. People mistakenly believe that fraudsters only target large amounts but actually quite a few will target very small amounts across a number of accounts. They do this in the hope that they will pass under the radar. For example, a number of bank employees have been convicted of transferring 1 dollar from their clients’ accounts to their own accounts. Not a lot of money to risk your career and pension on but if you are doing this over 100,000 accounts every day; you can see how it can add up. So always check your bank statements and reconcile every transaction.
A virtual credit card may be another answer to preventing you falling victim to an indentity thief. It is really worth reading into this option.
Keep limited amounts of money in your debit card bank account. You will know when you need to put a large transaction through on your card and can transfer the funds at that time to cover it. But in the meantime, getting into the habit of leaving small sums of money in your account means that should you be targeted by a fraudster, the amount they can steal is limited. Your bank may try to argue that you are responsible for any money taken from your account including that taken by thieves but this is not always the case. Generally you are not liable for fraud unless you are directly involved or you have been careless and your carelessness lead to the loss. Examples of this would include writing your pin number on a piece of paper and carrying that with your bank cards. Another example would be having your purse and cards stolen and not reporting it within a reasonable time period to your bank thus preventing them from putting a stop on your account. You have a duty of care to report any suspicious activity to your bank.
Some companies offer debit card fraud protection. If your visa, Mastercard or other debit card provider offers this facility sign up. It works in a number of ways. For online transactions you will often be asked to enter in some additional personal information not found on your debit card in order to authorize a payment. The theory being that even if your bank account details are stolen, the thieves won’t know this additional piece of specific information. The second way debit or credit card fraud protection works is to have your bank or financial institution contact you if there is any unusual activity on your card. For example if you never buy anything online and suddenly you have five small transaction s in one day, the bank would ring you to find out if you had authorized these charges. Alternatively if you never spend more than $x amount of money and suddenly a large transaction appears on your account, again the bank would ring to check it was not fraudulent.
Another way that thieves who are involved in debit card fraud operate is to film you using the ATM. ATM debit card fraud is big business and can involve a number of different scams. A common one is someone looking over your shoulder as you input your pin number. They or their accomplices then rob your purse containing the cards and knowing your pin number empty your account. Another scam they use is to interrupt you at the ATM machine claiming to be lost or needing assistance as it gives them another chance to spy on your details.
ATM machines can also be fitted with computer devices that look like the bank but when you enter in your card and details it retains the information together with the card and obviously doesn’t give you cash. You think your bank has made a mistake swallowing your card but in fact the fraudsters have it. By the time you sort it out with your bank, your card details could have been used a number of times online and your bank account may have been emptied.
All of the major banks including Chase and Barclays have been targeted by debit or credit card scam artists. With more people using debit rather than credit cards especially now during the recession the opportunities for the scam artists are almost limitless. Debit card fraud at the gas pump is a major crime as it is so easy to fit a skimming device to the pump. If you can, use a credit card rather than a debit card as the protection available is so much better if a fraud does occur. You may want to invest in a prepaid credit card for these types of transactions or get used to using cash in order to avoid becoming the next victim of debit card fraud.