Yesterday was a lovely day. A long walk, a good lunch and a good dinner planned out. Everything was proceeding nicely.
I bought a bottle of wine for dinner, and was id'd (carded) by the teller (at almost 35 I got ID'D!! If that isn't enough to make my month!) and then on to make purchases for dinner.
But...my bank card wasn't working at the debit machine at the cash register (it happens), so I went to the on site bank machine to withdrawal enough to cover my groceries.
"Insufficient funds." What ominous words.
I left the store, embarrassed and confused. I'm a little less than perfect in my account keeping, but I KNEW that something was dramatically wrong.
When I got home, I logged into my bank account online, only to discover...all of my money was missing.
In a single withdrawal from an undefined ABM machine, hundreds and hundreds of my hard earned dollars were stolen.
This morning at the bank they said it would take at least a month for the investigation to be concluded, and at that point they would be able to make the decision to refund my money. Or not.
I'm lucky. I didn't have three hungry children waiting for me at home to bring back dinner. There was only me and I have plenty of food, gas and everything else to suffice 'til pay day.
This theft left me annoyed and inconvenienced, but it could have left someone else in very dire straits indeed.
But I guess the people who do such things aren't thinking about anyone but themselves.
32 comments:
*gasp* Oh my god, what a NIGHTMARE!
That is so awful! You're taking it so well and you explained beautifully why, but Jesus! Straight from your bank account!!! Horrible, horrible, horrible. I use my debit card all the time so this frightens me.
*sigh* Well, you can only hope that the bank does the right thing. Good for you for keeping your head on straight. Good luck with that. Keep us posted! Sorry that happened!
That's a terrible situation! It really shouldn't take the bank that long to complete an investigation. Contact an officer of the bank and press for action. Also, make a police report of the theft independent from whatever report the bank makes.
I was in a similar situation about 9 years ago. All was settled by my bank in 3 days, except it took a couple of weeks for them to reissue my debit card.
You are in my prayers!
That really sucks... it happened to me about three years ago. Bank fraud blows. Hope that they straighten it all out for you soon.
As a response to the question you left on my blog, the police were very interested. Depending on how much money was stolen, it could be grand larceny. Mine was.
It's a rather involved story, but to put it briefly, the police set a trap for the thieves with me as the bait. They arrested the punks, two 19-year-olds, in my presence. Meantime the bank was working from the opposite direction. I met with the bank's head of security and he told me that they would have eventually found the theives, but the police were able to do it much faster.
I got all of my money back plus the satisfaction of being present when the punks were sentenced. (Being who I am, I still felt sorry for them).
By the way, congratulations on being carded!
That's seriously annoying. Hope it gets resolved. Soon. If it's any consolation (and it won't be), the same thing has happened to me, but it has been spread over a 10-year period and is a result of pursuing a highly dubious educational endeavor (Which has, admittedly, really only come around to teaching me to never totally trust a machine...).
Hang in there.
Whoa! That's awful... and from the comments seems to be pretty widespread.
*runs off to check bank account*
Yikes. I hope things are resolved quickly. You're handling REALLY well.
I agree with Nick. I would open an account with a new bank. That is ridiculous to have to wait. It is bad enough that problems like this usually stem from a security problem in the bank system. I mean, you didn't lose the card, did you?
Anyway, I would get a new bank that is more concerned about you than it is its own money (or at least knows how to appear that way).
You handled the whole situation with much grace. Beauty and grace? How do you do it? :)
BTW - congrats on being carded. If the pic on your ID is as nice as the one you posted a couple of days ago, they may have been suspicious of your ID as well. ;)
Hope you are feeling better. So sorry about the bank incident. What a bummer.
Seriously, how did they get your money? And even more seriously, there should be more dire consequences for such thieves. It really is an inconvenience.
What I really hate more is those people who stand so close to you while you are at the ATM machines that you can actually smell their breath, they are right up against you while you withdraw. What's up with that?
Hope all gets resolved soon Tai!...this happened to a friend of mine too when I lived there... and they found the man who did it. Take care.
How awful for you. I have paranoid fears about such a thing. One thing I have ceased doing is banking on line because I do not trust it.
May it all work out OK for you.
Ian
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
That is so horrible! You are taking it well. I am sure I would be devastated....
Jeez, sorry about that. That's one reason why I don't think I will ever do any banking online, no matter how "secure" they assure me it is.
Oh My Gosh Tai,I'm sorry!
How bloody awful!!
I'll be thinking about you,and concentrating all my mental energy on you getting all your money back in a timely manner.
I love that you got carded,lol
Aiyiyi, I felt sick just reading that. You're taking it in stride, but I'm still over here trying to cope with this crime committed against you! That suckzz!
Oh. Shit.
Not very eloquent, I admit it, but really the only response I have to this.
That's almost the ultimate violation. I'm so sorry to hear that and I hope the thieves are caught and punished to the full extent of the law.
Ah, Tai! No!
I don't care if you have children waiting in you at home or no, that is just wrong.
Will this investigation tell you how they got hold of your account and PIN numbers?
This happened to me once...the so called identity theft, but fortunately it was a withdrawal on my VISA card so I didn't have any problems...except for having to wait a week for my new card to show up in the mail. Apparently, according to research, the most likely people to steal you're ATM information and rob you blind are GAS STATION ATTENDANTS!!! as a former gas jockey I was a little surprised, but hugely impressed by this fact. Hope you get you're money back
Hi Tai
Sorry to hear that this has happened to you. Many people are afraid of online banking because of all the stories they hear about things like this happening. The truth is it takes a very good computer wizard to be able to hack a bank site, when any shmuck can steal your info from the garbage, or at a gas station or restaurant...
I got carded this week as well, and for me it's been a very long time indeed (I think she was just being nice). From what I've seen, I would think you would get carded all the time...
Tai, that happened to me too, and I got my money back. It was at a free-standing ATM machine and someone had put a device on the machine that could read the cards and the PIN numbers. They caught the people who did it. You will almost certainly get your money back. A good rule of thumb is to use the machines only at banks.
Josie
Tai! That's TERRIBLE! I hope they find the bastards who took your money, string 'em up by their little toes, and charge admission for people to pelt them with rotten potatoes (with all proceeds going to you, of course!).
Yikes!
Hope they get it straightened out for you, and soon.
Steve~
That is terrible Tai! The nerve of some people really pisses me off!
This just happened to my best friend. Fortunately, her problem was resolved quickly. I hope yours will be, too.
Happy V-Day!
OMG how horrible!! I hope they get it straightened out soon! I would have freaked.
Actually, this DID happen to my hubby before we were married. The cash was withdrawn from ATMs in Europe and he had to show his passport and paystubs to prove he never left the country. It was corrected pretty quickly I think. Good luck to you.
ok...now that just sucks. We've had that done before. They didn't take all of it but over a course of a week, they took $200, $80, and $150. Hubby thought I was spending and I figured he was doing it. Thank the Lord that they only took about 2 weeks to get it all straightened out and gave us our money back. The bastards were never caught. Needless to say we watch our withdrawls very closely now.
I hope that it doesn't take that long and you get all your money back Tai.
OMG that is awful..I am so sorry!
With my bank I have a daily limit of a couple of hundred to withdraw, and the same goes for weekly. Goodluck..I hope u can get everything resolved ASAP!
Sorry to hear this. It's terrible. I've had it happen to me and it's got to be the most unsettling thing. Damn mean people...
Get a new bank. There's no way it should take that long. Sorry to hear about it.
Hey Tai that really sucks. I had it happen with my credit card. Thank (gender neuter) g*d the credit card companies cover the theft. It is really easy these days to clone a card. One extra swipe of the card, a small pinhole camera over the touch pad and away you go. I rarely use my debit card for that reason, Visa is less touchy about card cloning than the banks. Only thing to do is keep the daily withdrawal margin low and hope for the best. Hope you get it straightened out.
They id'd you for wine? Wow....congrats!
Actually, the only thing I've never been id'd for is smurnoff ice.
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