Crap! Now they drained $1,500 from my partner's card!

[jumptheshadow]

Last week two transactions on a cloned ATM card deleted $2,000 from my account. Today, we learned that my partner's card has also been cloned (this past weekend) and about $1,500 has been taken from our account. The first cloned card was used at Stanford University. The second was used in Arizona. Last week, we learned that a colleague's friend has been robbed in the same way on the day when my account was burgled. We live in New York City. This is the third time we have experienced this over the years but the bigger question is: How many people is this happening to?

Luckily, we keep "mad money" and my employer is good about advances in an emergency.

[laylah]

1. So sorry to

hear this! How frightening, not to mention maddening. I have no funds so therefore have no worries; however, how does one clone a debit card? I would like to warn friends and family of this.

Glad to hear about the "mad money" and your kind employer. Are there any leads on the culprits?

[jumptheshadow]

3. They were some good posts in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=7516191

People pointed out how these thieves clone cards. What gets to me is the fact that three cards we know of have been used like this in the past week, and in one case, we didn't even know the person. My partner and I have different workday trajectories, although we do use the card at the same grocery store. I have to wonder if there is more to the story.

The bank tells us where the withdrawals have been made -- across the country from us -- but hasn't said any more about how this happened.

[tpsbmam]

2. Damn!

Do you have recourse with the bank? I know about cloned cards but don't really know what goes on when it happens to you. That SUCKS!

[jumptheshadow]

4. They will reimburse us

But it will take a while and, for now, we are both out of ATM cards for several days. Basically, we will be fine, but this is turning out to be a lot of stress.

[tpsbmam]

5. At least they'll reimburse.....

but I hear ya. Now I'm very glad I do what I do -- I have my checking and savings in different banks (long story). At the end of the month if there's anything left in my checking account, I transfer it to savings. If it happened to me, I'd at least have my savings to fall back on for awhile. But I'd feel so damn violated and pissed off! I probably use my debit card too much given what can happen these days. Sigh -- people who go out of their way to turn good things bad really piss me off.

[Longhorn]

6. How frustrating!

It does sound like someone at that grocery store is a crook! I hope they catch whoever is doing this, even though I'm sure this sort of crime is rampant!

How do they get around using your PIN?

Good luck! :hi:

[ThomCat]

7. Damn. I'm very sorry you're both dealing with this.

:(

I expect this kind of thing to become much, much more common as more and more people get into really tough financial situations thanks to the tanking economy. We're all going to be vulnerable.

I don't use my debit card anymore, except at my bank's atms. And I hesitate to use my credit card anymore. It's too easy for people to to grab your card for a minute and clone it.