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Termyn8or -> RE: identity theft (3/5/2008 12:07:44 PM)
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Sorry this happened and I hope they make good. You are talking about a bank that promises to keep your money safe, they did not, they should pay and they go after the thief. It's not just the money, it is the use of the money and they know it. In the end you should come out alright.
But it would be alot harder for this to happen to me. I do not do any phone transfers, well one once a long time ago. One of my CC bills got lost in the mail and one day I'm sitting there, where the hell is the bill from _______ ? I called them, they said it was mailed and they could send me a duplicate. But that would make it late, and I am never late. So I did a check by phone. This includes giving them the routing number on a check and recording it in the ledger, and writing VOID on the check or tearing it up. But in this instance I am on the phone with my CC company and I called them so it was safe, but other than that I do not allow it.
Allow what ? Any phone transfers, wire transfers, automatic payments or direct deposits of any kind. My checking account has been in good standing for like twenty years. My check numbers are so high and my account number so low that they are as good as cash. And as an added plus I specifically ordered an ATM card, not a debit card. That card does not have a logo on it and cannot be used without the PIN under any circumstances.
I have written one bad check in my life. It was a mistake and it was to my cousin believe it or not. I bought a pair of speakers from him and gave him a check. Well I had written another check for about the same amount and it hadn't cleared in months, close to a year I think. I really thought the guy died or something, but Murphy's law dictates that it hits my bank when the account is low. My mistake was counting on having it, shit that was half a life ago for me.
Of course I made it good with cash. And lived and learned.
But I keep it the old way, I deposit money or checks in the ATM of course, then write checks for the CCs and gas bill etc. Nothing is automatic. I do not want the ability to transfer from savings to checking without going to the bank, or ATM.
Inconvenient ? Maybe, but if you sell me something and take my personal check, it is alot more convenient if the check is good.
So how did they ultimately get the money ? Clone your ATM card ? They must have unless they had your checkbook. And if they did clone your card, how indeed, did they get the PIN ?
Proud, what you have to do is find the very FIRST unauthorized transaction. This is a must to catch the thief. Determine on what exact date the first one happened. Then you need to go through all of the legitimate transactions prior to that date.
You also have to think about where you went, where your purse/wallet has been, all that kind of stuff, reason : the PIN. It boils down to either someone you know, someone who works at a bank, or one hell of a good computer hacker.
One exception though, if they somehow got a bank to send them an ATM card, there may have been a card with the PIN on it, sent to the same address. Although they used to, I don't think any bank would include the PIN in the same envelope, but that address is also a very valuable piece of information.
Thing about this is, even if you get every dime back, you are probably going to wind up giving copies of your financial records to law enforcement. Not under duress, but you want the guy caught right ? It may be a necessary violation of privacy, but it is still the same thing.
There is a company out there called Lifelock that isn't really an insurance compny per se, they are but they are supposedly very proactive in protecting people from ID theft. The guy points to a billboard or something and says "That is my real social security number". After a bit they cut to a guy who says something like "I got the call and they asked if I happened to be buying a boat (quite a distance away) and instead of me getting pilfered they arrested the guy". Something to that effect. It is in no way a direct quote, but somebody tried to buy a boat or something and they said hold on while we get bla bla bla, then the cops show up. I do not know if they run it where they actually call the locals, but it might be something like that.
I can't say if it is any good or not, I only saw the ads. But it might be worth a look. I would imagine that if you enroll there are a few things you must do like password protect this and put a PIN on that. And I don't see how in the hell they can do anything about an ATM withdrawal in the middle of the night, but they might have a way, I do not know.
Might be worth looking into.
T
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