Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Stolen card, good advice at any time

Letter to the editor:
Gerry Walker, Fort Pierce
Stolen card, good advice

No, it’s not Halloween yet. I had my debit card number stolen at Walmart recently and somebody cleaned out my bank account! All is back to normal now — money back in account, new debit card, went to the bank yesterday morning and they had taken care of it.

Fortunately I had checked my bank account within the 48-hour period you’re allowed to report unauthorized transactions, so a man at the customer service line open 24/7 was able to file a dispute and stop the transaction for me; all the money was replaced within 48 hours, thank goodness. I’ve also emailed the Walmart fraud division at their corporate headquarters and filed an official report with the Police Department.

I was using the new “self-service” machine. They just put them in a month or so ago and the first time I used it I was delighted; it saves standing in long lines, etc.

The second time I used it, not so good! I’d put money from my debit card on a shopping card to buy gas so I could save 3 cents a gallon. Not much of a savings when somebody rips off your debit card number and uses it online to buy hundreds of dollars’ worth of stuff!

So be careful! Christmas is around the corner and the scammers are out there looking for little ol’ ladies who don’t look like they know enough to check their bank accounts online every day.

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