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angelmb · Feb 6, 2005, 08:13 AM

Last week I found that there is a 6060 Euro ($7800) hole in my bank account, they are trying to track it since the bank have no idea about what could have happened, there are a lot of VISA charges I didn�t do it.

Has anyone experience with this kind of issues?

Any good option about a new credit card to use just to buy stuff over the internet?

Thanks in advance.

effgee · Feb 6, 2005, 08:34 AM

Originally posted by angelmb:
... Has anyone experience with this kind of issues? ...

To get sound advice on that issue it would probably be a good idea to let people know where you are (as in: what country) - even within the EEC, each country might deal with these issues differently.

Same thing happened to me once - some twat got hold of my VISA info and went on a wild online shopping spree, buying almost every Coach item he/she (?) could find. When the charges showed up on our bill (t'was a US card), we simply disputed them and were credited the amount(s) in question without further hassle. It was our luck that all the charges were made from within the US (MD, to be precise - we lived in PA) and we could prove that we were in Germany at the time the idiot went "shopping".

Good luck!

The Oracle · Feb 6, 2005, 09:02 AM

In writing, dispute the charges. They cannot collect or penalise you for not paying the disputed charges while those charges are in dispute. At least that's how it works in the United States.

Kilbey · Feb 6, 2005, 02:15 PM

My wife and I had US$1,900 stolen out of our account last year.

Luckily all of the purchases were on the web and were easily trackable. Everything they bought was shipped to an address in Quebec. The Michigan State police are still working on it and are in contact with Canadian officials to press charges.

The bank refunded my money after 10 days from filing a complaint. They were very helpful. It's one of the main reasons I use a local bank instead of an internet bank as I get personal assistance and I get to talk to a face instead of a CSR in India.

sugar_coated · Feb 6, 2005, 07:53 PM

Your discovery is very unfortunate! It is occurances like this that worries me utmost and makes me want to return my credit card.

spiky_dog · Feb 6, 2005, 08:25 PM

Originally posted by sugar_coated:
Your discovery is very unfortunate! It is occurances like this that worries me utmost and makes me want to return my credit card.

someone commits fraud with your credit card: you get your money back.
someone commits fraud with your debit card: you get nothing back.

which one would you prefer?

Kilbey · Feb 6, 2005, 10:58 PM

Originally posted by spiky_dog:

someone commits fraud with your debit card: you get nothing back.

which one would you prefer?

Not true. If your debit card is a Visa or Mastercard debit card, you will get your money back.

Well, I did.

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Feb 6, 2005, 11:31 PM

I have had it happen all the time with small charges on my credit card, they always credit me back with no hassle.

iT4c0 · Feb 6, 2005, 11:39 PM

It happened to me once to my credit card as well. Someone bought something worth 480 USD from amazon.com. I called my bank and they gave my money back within 3 days. I also called Amazon and they told me they will investigate on the fraud. My friend told me the thief is pretty dumb because to be able to shop on amazon, you got to have an account with your info in it. I hope they caught the guy unless of course the thief hacked someone's amazon account. I do not know what happen afterwards.

Mediaman_12 · Feb 7, 2005, 11:43 AM

Originally posted by Kilbey:
Not true. If your debit card is a Visa or Mastercard debit card, you will get your money back.

Well, I did.

I have never seen a 'Non-bank' branded Debit card. e.g. mine is HSBC my mums is a Halifax. I didn't even know that Visa and Mastercard ran Debit Card systems, must be a USA thing.

turtle777 · Feb 7, 2005, 11:52 AM

Originally posted by Mediaman_12:
I didn't even know that Visa and Mastercard ran Debit Card systems, must be a USA thing.

Yes !

It's not VISA or MC "running" it, it is banks issueing ATM and bank cards with a VISA / MC logo.

-t

jcadam · Feb 7, 2005, 12:01 PM

Originally posted by Kilbey:
Not true. If your debit card is a Visa or Mastercard debit card, you will get your money back.

Well, I did.

Even if you get your money back, Losing money out of your checking account for 10 days (via stolen Debit card), that is, the account you pay bills and buy food with, can be a lot more disruptive to the average family.

tooki · Feb 7, 2005, 03:17 PM

Originally posted by turtle777:
Yes !

It's not VISA or MC "running" it, it is banks issueing ATM and bank cards with a VISA / MC logo.

-t

Well, Visa and MC do run those cards -- just as with Visa and MC credit cards, Visa and MC aren't the card issuer, but they are the network the card runs on.

Visa calls theirs the "Visa Check Card", MC calls theirs "MasterMoney".

tooki

turtle777 · Feb 7, 2005, 03:29 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
Well, Visa and MC do run those cards

I know that. But I replied to the following comment:
"I didn't even know that Visa and Mastercard ran Debit Card systems."

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought VISA and MASTER are not running a Debit card system par se. The functionality of a Debit Card with a VISA / MASTER logo is offered by the issuing bank.

-t

Kilbey · Feb 7, 2005, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by jcadam:
Even if you get your money back, Losing money out of your checking account for 10 days (via stolen Debit card), that is, the account you pay bills and buy food with, can be a lot more disruptive to the average family.

Not really. That is why you need to keep cash at home too.

And if you happen to be low on cash, you simply use a credit card for a couple weeks and then pay it off at the end of the month.

It was only inconvient in the sense that I had to go and fill out a simple form. No disruption at all.