I know this happens all the time with debit cards.

[Roon]

But it's the first time it has happened to me. I paid a bill last month for a friend..the company that I charged to deducted for next month against my empty bank account without my permission. Overdraw fees are now $80.00. All over a $6.00 transaction. I called the bank, they said the company is legally authorized to do that. Should be dammed illegal, such dirty pool. I got rip-offed this time,but I tell you what,it won't happen again!

[Iggo]

1. Paid a bill for a friend.

I'm sorry. I don't understand your words.

:P

[Roon]

5. It was my roomie

He wanted to add some time to his Skpe account so I let him use my Visa.

[harmonicon]

10. blame your friend, dude

I pay for my skype account with a debit card, but I just add money when I need it - they have an option where they'll immediately add money to your account after it goes below a certain point, but you don't have to go with that option. Your friend owes you $80.

[Roon]

12. I wasn't sure about that

My friend is sleeping right now, but he is going to have a very rude awakening.

[kath]

2. stories like this make me shake my head and wonder why people use debit cards at all -

get a credit card and pay it off in full every month. you can get 1% or more back on your purchases, and absolutely NO risk of exorbitant overdraft fees. You could have seen this incorrect charge on your online statement and dealt with it fairly easily. At most you would have been out six bucks, but never eighty-six.

I really don't see the point of those things. They make it way too hard to keep track of your bank balance.

[Roon]

6. I was in total control, until I slipped up

won't happen again though..

[LynneSin]

3. Ok I'm not clear on something here

You paid a bill one month - did you set up automatic withdrawal for each month? If not - they are not allowed to pull money out of your account like that. And with a friend, I would have just written the check and sent it in (I've done that before) than to get that kind of access setup with a company.

I've been using my checking account for years and the one thing I do not use it 'automatic withdrawel' if I can avoid them. My mortgage and car insurance are on these but everything else I sit down, figure out how much I owe and then setup a one time payment.

Something is fishy there.

[Roon]

7. I called my bank

they said that once you give a company your number, they can access funds any old time they want to.

[Zuiderelle]

9. The bank doesn't have control over what someone else does with your acct #, but that does not mean

that it shouldn't be treated as fraud. You should call your bank back and ask to speak to someone in the fraud department. You didn't authorize repeated debits, then it's fraud. If it's a mistake on the payee's part, then they should refund the bank fees directly to you.

You should at least make sure with the bank that this particular creditor doesn't attempt any more withdrawals.

[LynneSin]

14. I have to agree with you 110%

Unless the OP agreed to setup a monthly billpay with the debt collectors perhaps somehow that message came across and the OP didn't realize it was being done. Other than that I agree - this is fraud.

My mortgage company & car insurance have authorization to pull money out each month from my account but all my other accounts I decide when they get paid and send a 'one-time' payment each month to them (I want to get my house/insurance paid first and then pay my bills). So for those 'one-time' pay groups which include all my utilitizes & credit cards - I give them the money each month but that doesn't give them the right to randomly pull money out of my account even if I'm in default.

[LynneSin]

13. No they cannot

that's bullshit especially if it's not your account that you're default on (you said it was a friend).

I would start shopping for a new bank. I do billpay for everything and there is no way they can get my account information. The only thing I can think of is that you offered your account and gave them the authorization to make monthly pulls. If you do a one-time billpay they can't just go back in there again and again to help themselves.

I have some debt - what's it for someone to just drain out my account to pay a bill especially if doing so would incur more debt. What you told me is just like me giving you my debit card WITH my pin number.

What I would suggest is that you find another bank or talk to a non-profit debit counsellor (again - I realize this wasn't your debt that you were helping with but they could provide advice to help stop and prevent this).

[suninvited]

4. I used to pay bills for a friend all the time

usually electric or phone or something. I always did it online with my debit card, but that never happened to me. I always made sure I had everything checked that it was a ONE time payment.

[Roon]

8. That is probably where I went wrong

I just gave my roomie my card instead of paying it myself.

[LynneSin]

15. Ok that solves the mystery

I know you meant well but never just randomly give out your card especially if it's your debit card.

About 5 years ago my neighbor was about to lose her electricity. I had just inherited a few hundred dollars from my grandfather and felt I wanted to do something nice for someone else (I hadn't expected the money). So I decided to get her electric bill caught up and get some groceries for her.

But I didn't know her well enough and didn't want the money going to something not utility/grocery related. So I took the bill and paid it off myself at the grocerty store billpay place.

I would highly recommend you get your account numbers changed so that another bill doesn't get paid and overdraft your account.

[suninvited]

16. ooooohhhhhh.....

yes, I would say that was the problem !!

[Iggo]

11. You did a nice thing and got screwn.

No one's blaming you for that. In fact, your screwn-ness taught me a lesson. You took one for the team. Thanks.

[graywarrior]

17. Put an alert on your debit acct.

I did. It stops a lot of problems.