Non Casual At All!!

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wdcav1952

wdcav1952

Activities Manager Emeritus
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
8,955
Location
Montgomery, Pennsylvania, USA.
My wife checked our bank account online this evening since I get paid once a month and it hits the bank around midnight on the last day of the month.

Suddenly I got blasted! Fortunately she is out of town so she couldn't choke me to death. Yesterday, $2500 of money we had borrowed for repairing my shop/detached garage was taken out of the account, and today, another $2000 was taken out.

Both withdrawals were made to Western Union. I guess she thought I really bought some great turning supplies!!!!! I called my credit union, and it seems that I had requested that the money be sent to someone in China. They told me that the caller impersonating me knew the answers to all of their challenge questions. They ask for SSN, DOB, and the usual questions. They were able to stop the one from today, and will reimburse me for the first one and try to get the money back. If they can't, they will take the hit for the money, which is bad, but at least I don't have to eat the loss. We added a secret code word to the account that has to be used for any transaction.

If your money is online at all, and unless it is under your mattress, it IS online, contact your bank or credit union to upgrade the security on your account.

BTW, no, I didn't order $4500 worth of supplies, and she no longer wants to kill me, at least not for that reason!
 
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Dang Cav, Sooo glad it was seen before it was to late. Sort of wants to make you take all the money and stuff it under a mattress.
 
Cav, that is indeed a scary story. Unfortunately though it is happening more and more these days.

One trick that many already know about, but there may be others that do not ...

IF your state issues drivers licenses and uses of all things your social security number in any way, demand that they do not place it anywhere on your license. Get a new license without the SSN.

For years here in GA the SSN was used as a registration number, but thankfully that has been changed due to public outcry. However, if you examine your drivers license it has some other information that identify thieves use as a tool for assuming your identity. (1) your signature is there for all to see, (2) your date of birth is present.

Then all they need is your SSN.

Your SSN is usually a part of your voters registration signature card. This card is not supposed to be available for examination by folks, but I don't know how many times I was able to actually get my hands on one if I was to sweet talk the clerk a bit. It is also present on many real estate transactions that are a matter of public record IF you know where to look.

All in all information to become anther person is readily available to this day IF the crook is willing to dig in the courthouse records and to spend a bit of time doing some reading.

Another place your SSN is often 'hidden' is on traffic tickets. These are also a matter of public record in many states. Often these things are computerized and all one needs is your full name to get the rest of the information.

Before anyone cries "wolf" on me you need to know that for some 25 years I was a fraud investigator and needed this kind information for various legal reasons.

I have found that when getting a checking account, that if you use your initials as the name imprint, then anyone that steals your checks might not know that you STILL USE your full name as the authorized signature for endorsement. This will show up when they try to cash a check they stole.

IF you use your credit cards to make online purchases, open an OPERATIONS ACCOUNT and put funds in it to cover the cards use. Keep your main account separate from everything else. Maybe even in a different bank if convenient.

OR, do as many folks are doing these days and cash your checks and do your banking from a safe out of your home. Tell absolutely NO ONE that you have a safe, you don't know who these folks talk to you know. Banks are closing daily these days and yours may be one of them ... I certainly hope not though.

We once busted a young clerk at a major department store here in Atlanta who would take your credit card, swipe it in their card reader, THEN he placed the card on the counter and using his cell phone actually took a picture of the card. That was an interesting case and took a bit of work to get the fool. Greed caused his downfall in the end.

Be careful folks, be very careful and check your accounts often. Cav was being wise to check his and look what he found out.
 
Whew. Well, lets look at the bright side. If you had lost your money, I have at least 2 people every day offering me millions of dollars. I could have accepted one of those offers and given you some money, or just sent you one of the offers and you could have all the money. I simply haven't accepted any of the multitude of generous offers because I want to earn my money the hard way.
 
That's scary as hell. Diane checks our accounts daily and I have been ribbing her about it, that will stop today. Glad you caught it quickly.
 
Very Unnerving Cav.

We have had one of the four big banks in Australia close it's internet banking for at least 24 hrs because of some "malicious" traffic on the site. I wonder how long it will be before the other banks may be hit.

Something that has bothered me for many years is the practice of businesses selling tour information on to other parties without your knowledge. I see this as a way for leaking of information into unworthy hands.
 
Your lucky that they treated you so nicely. My FORMER bank treated me like a criminal when someone made some unauthorized internet purchases from New Guinea.

Sure...I just flew back from New Guinea and now I'm in your bank claiming that someone stole my account? Seriously? Are people really that silly?
 
Fred said:
IF you use your credit cards to make online purchases, open an OPERATIONS ACCOUNT and put funds in it to cover the cards use. Keep your main account separate from everything else. Maybe even in a different bank if convenient.
Click to expand...


I do this with Paypal. I have an account that I use only for Paypal. When I want to pay for something I use the "Secure Card" generator to create a one time card number for the payment. I transfer funds from my normal account to the disbursing account as needed and the money is taken out of the disbursing account.

One other thing. If a company stores my credit card information I ask them to delete it and if they don't / can't / won't I don't give them my card number.
 
Cav,seeing that this is a very caring bunch of folks, You might want to give out your SSN and bank account number, so that we can keep an eye on it for you!:eek:.................. Glad all went well!!:)
 
Something else to watch for- a friend here at work went to Red Lobster on a Saturday afternoon with his family. When he paid the waitress with his check/debit card she passed the card to her partner and they somehow managed to make a few purchases online and at a shoe store next door before giving his card back. Luckily his card company noticed the charges were not normal for him and called his cell phone. Since then I try to keep an eye on who had my card and how long it takes them.
This is a scary time we are living in now and I'm glad yours is working out for you.

My mother is getting older now and was contacted by a "rep" from the bank about updating her records and not knowing any better she gave them the info they asked for. Luckily she realized she made a mistake and the bank helped her set up a new account before they could access anything.
 
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