Hey folks,
Just got a very interesting e-mail from a good friend of mine. Thought I'd pass it along as a FYI so others don't get caught up in similar situations when they use automated banking systems. Here's what Greg experienced and his account of what happened to him: Pay close attention!!!
Greg says...
I had happen to me this weekend that everyone fears, identity theft. My wife bought some candle making materials over the web, she makes candles, and someone got her number and cleaned our bank account out. They were buying an airline ticket in the Netherlands. It is a hassle but my bank has a security system to catch these types of things, so I will get it straighten out, it just takes time and it is a pain in the butt.
That is not what really freaked me out but talking to my bank, we went through all of my transactions to see what else may have been compromised. I noticed looking through the transactions of my debit card, I kept seeing balance and available balance was always a lower number. I asked what was going on and their answer just freaked me out.
Apparently the banks and the oil companies have this nice little self serving thing that they do. When using your debit card to buy gas and you use your pin number, the oil companies have had a law passed to hold up to $100 per transaction for three days, no matter if you only bought $20 in gas. They got that law passed because there are too many drive offs.
Now let me explain what this is doing. First of all your pin number is supposed to be a security code to help to keep your funds secure. Secondly, if you use your pin number when buying gas you are not going to drive off for obvious reasons. So the bank told me, when using your debit card only use it as a credit card and that won't happen again, so when if it asks you debit or credit, push credit.
So if someone steals your debit card and is asked "Debit or Credit" they will say "Credit" and walk away with their purchases using your money. What they have done with this law is the honest people are paying for the crooks, your supposed security pin number is now used as a
liability against you. I am sure over time it won't be just the oil
companies using your pin number as a liability it will be any retailer using this method to insure they get paid.
The other thing that can happen is if you are running tight on your bank account and you buy gas using your pin number, you won't know when it has been done and you will, because of them holding up to $100 per transaction, can put you in to the negative. Which in turn the bank will charge you a service fee for insufficient funds. Nice huh?
Which brings me to another point, "DO NOT" ever use that "auto pay" from your bank account. The reason is it will come out of your bank account on the date specified whether or not you have money in your account to cover it and if you don't have the funds to cover it, the bank will charge you a service fee for insufficient funds. Do you realize banks make more money off their service fees than they do with the interest off their loans?
I thought banks were suppose to provide services for their "customers" not bending them over and getting serviced by the bank. My suggestion for these issues, "Mason Jars", at least you know where your money is. If you think putting your money in a bank is more secure than a
mason jar, once they have your money, these are the types of things they can do with your money.
OK, that's the scoop and hopefully we are all the wiser when conducting business and personal transaction online, with our bank cards and so on. It certainly opened my eyes and just want to pass on some news to be used.
Swez USFLAG
Replies (3)
ttocs on 06/16/2008 08:17:41
interesting, I buy alot of stuff online too..
The only time I had anything similar happen was a few years ago when I went out mountaing biking, somebody broke into my truck and stole my wallet, bike toolbox as well as the face to my cd player. I returned a couple hours later and noticed the face and wallet was gone and made a fast trip home to clean out my truck and make sure that my wallet had not been hidden. About the time I got home and got out a trash bag to clean my truck out I got a call from my bank to report suspicious activity. I was amazed that they thought that it was stolen before I could confirm it, they were great about returning the $$$ in only a couple of days, Go bank of america.......
newB on 06/16/2008 08:23:19
All the Gas stations around here use Zip codes for your card instead of your pin, i found it interesting but now kinda relieved (i think?)
-Drew
swez on 06/16/2008 09:49:13
Hum, sounds like a good bank and that's who I linked up with too. Hopefully we'll never endure what Greg is now going through.
As a side note, about 18 years ago, was on a business/vacation trip w/ my wife and 1 year old daughter. We had just dropped off the rental car and I had my hands full with luggage and baby seat. The airport was busseling and I was worn out from a long week of working a trade show and then Disney Land in Orlando.
Well, somebody seized the perfect opportunity and bumped my wallet. I did not even notice it was missing until we were on the plane and headed for home. We arrived home late that night and all were exhausted from the trip and the violation we had just experienced.
The next day, I called all 3 credit card services and put a hold on all of them. There was no activity on any card reported. I also called the airport security team and they called me back that day to say the wallet was found in a trash can with all key items in tact. They mailed it back overnight and the only loss here was about $5.00 in cash. All that drama for a lousy 5 bucks?
Anyway, there is much more evil in the world today then I can remember ever. One has to be super-vigilant on who we do business with. Recall reading a piece that said most crimes of theft come from people we know or they know too much about us. I believe that to be true, especially if they are druggies, addicts and desparate people who have no value system.
It's not all about social status either. Some of the biggest crooks have high profile jobs, have more money than they know what to do with and still that's not enough.
OK, just so we know I am not totally cynical about stuff, I can honestly say I have met some of the finest and upstanding people on this site over the past 9 years too. A few, (2-3) have ripped me off when I did help them out extensively on big budget projects. However, the vast majority here are not like that. We can all be glad about that.
One has to keep things balanced and in perspective. It's only that 5% of bad eggs that ruin the good for others. The hard part is figuring out who that 5% group is/are around us and steer clear of them. Better yet, if we can find out who they are and catch them in the act, call the lawman and let them take care of the rats in our midst. There are lot more civilian eyes out on the streets then cops. Many of us are armed with cell/camera phones. With these tools, we can make a difference and become part of the solution.
Think about that,
Swez
Just got a very interesting e-mail from a good friend of mine. Thought I'd pass it along as a FYI so others don't get caught up in similar situations when they use automated banking systems. Here's what Greg experienced and his account of what happened to him: Pay close attention!!!
Greg says...
I had happen to me this weekend that everyone fears, identity theft. My wife bought some candle making materials over the web, she makes candles, and someone got her number and cleaned our bank account out. They were buying an airline ticket in the Netherlands. It is a hassle but my bank has a security system to catch these types of things, so I will get it straighten out, it just takes time and it is a pain in the butt.
That is not what really freaked me out but talking to my bank, we went through all of my transactions to see what else may have been compromised. I noticed looking through the transactions of my debit card, I kept seeing balance and available balance was always a lower number. I asked what was going on and their answer just freaked me out.
Apparently the banks and the oil companies have this nice little self serving thing that they do. When using your debit card to buy gas and you use your pin number, the oil companies have had a law passed to hold up to $100 per transaction for three days, no matter if you only bought $20 in gas. They got that law passed because there are too many drive offs.
Now let me explain what this is doing. First of all your pin number is supposed to be a security code to help to keep your funds secure. Secondly, if you use your pin number when buying gas you are not going to drive off for obvious reasons. So the bank told me, when using your debit card only use it as a credit card and that won't happen again, so when if it asks you debit or credit, push credit.
So if someone steals your debit card and is asked "Debit or Credit" they will say "Credit" and walk away with their purchases using your money. What they have done with this law is the honest people are paying for the crooks, your supposed security pin number is now used as a
liability against you. I am sure over time it won't be just the oil
companies using your pin number as a liability it will be any retailer using this method to insure they get paid.
The other thing that can happen is if you are running tight on your bank account and you buy gas using your pin number, you won't know when it has been done and you will, because of them holding up to $100 per transaction, can put you in to the negative. Which in turn the bank will charge you a service fee for insufficient funds. Nice huh?
Which brings me to another point, "DO NOT" ever use that "auto pay" from your bank account. The reason is it will come out of your bank account on the date specified whether or not you have money in your account to cover it and if you don't have the funds to cover it, the bank will charge you a service fee for insufficient funds. Do you realize banks make more money off their service fees than they do with the interest off their loans?
I thought banks were suppose to provide services for their "customers" not bending them over and getting serviced by the bank. My suggestion for these issues, "Mason Jars", at least you know where your money is. If you think putting your money in a bank is more secure than a
mason jar, once they have your money, these are the types of things they can do with your money.
OK, that's the scoop and hopefully we are all the wiser when conducting business and personal transaction online, with our bank cards and so on. It certainly opened my eyes and just want to pass on some news to be used.
Swez USFLAG
Replies (3)
ttocs on 06/16/2008 08:17:41
interesting, I buy alot of stuff online too..
The only time I had anything similar happen was a few years ago when I went out mountaing biking, somebody broke into my truck and stole my wallet, bike toolbox as well as the face to my cd player. I returned a couple hours later and noticed the face and wallet was gone and made a fast trip home to clean out my truck and make sure that my wallet had not been hidden. About the time I got home and got out a trash bag to clean my truck out I got a call from my bank to report suspicious activity. I was amazed that they thought that it was stolen before I could confirm it, they were great about returning the $$$ in only a couple of days, Go bank of america.......
newB on 06/16/2008 08:23:19
All the Gas stations around here use Zip codes for your card instead of your pin, i found it interesting but now kinda relieved (i think?)
-Drew
swez on 06/16/2008 09:49:13
Hum, sounds like a good bank and that's who I linked up with too. Hopefully we'll never endure what Greg is now going through.
As a side note, about 18 years ago, was on a business/vacation trip w/ my wife and 1 year old daughter. We had just dropped off the rental car and I had my hands full with luggage and baby seat. The airport was busseling and I was worn out from a long week of working a trade show and then Disney Land in Orlando.
Well, somebody seized the perfect opportunity and bumped my wallet. I did not even notice it was missing until we were on the plane and headed for home. We arrived home late that night and all were exhausted from the trip and the violation we had just experienced.
The next day, I called all 3 credit card services and put a hold on all of them. There was no activity on any card reported. I also called the airport security team and they called me back that day to say the wallet was found in a trash can with all key items in tact. They mailed it back overnight and the only loss here was about $5.00 in cash. All that drama for a lousy 5 bucks?
Anyway, there is much more evil in the world today then I can remember ever. One has to be super-vigilant on who we do business with. Recall reading a piece that said most crimes of theft come from people we know or they know too much about us. I believe that to be true, especially if they are druggies, addicts and desparate people who have no value system.
It's not all about social status either. Some of the biggest crooks have high profile jobs, have more money than they know what to do with and still that's not enough.
OK, just so we know I am not totally cynical about stuff, I can honestly say I have met some of the finest and upstanding people on this site over the past 9 years too. A few, (2-3) have ripped me off when I did help them out extensively on big budget projects. However, the vast majority here are not like that. We can all be glad about that.
One has to keep things balanced and in perspective. It's only that 5% of bad eggs that ruin the good for others. The hard part is figuring out who that 5% group is/are around us and steer clear of them. Better yet, if we can find out who they are and catch them in the act, call the lawman and let them take care of the rats in our midst. There are lot more civilian eyes out on the streets then cops. Many of us are armed with cell/camera phones. With these tools, we can make a difference and become part of the solution.
Think about that,
Swez
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