I just got a call from a guy who said he worked for a fraud-prevention place for my bank. Someone had tried to make a large purchase using my debit card. He said they had declined the purchase as I did not have the funds in the bank to cover it. Thank God!
He cancelled my card and I have to contact the bank in the morning to get a new card. I only keep in the checking what I need to pay bills and for small purchases. He said he had already found 10 more on his shift today.

What bank?? Did you call the bank yourself to doublecheck??? I'm always suspicious of someone calling me...PLEASE doublecheck!!!

sounds fishy.

This has happened to me also.Someone was using my card # in Coco Beach, Fla. to buy alot of gas(over $400 worth) & a fur coat. Come to find out, someone who worked at my bank sold my & about a dozen other peoples debit card #. It took me quite awhile to put things back together. Im glad you found out as quick as you did!

Banks don't typically call and discuss this type of business over the phone. I strongly suggest you call your bank ASAP and verify that this really happened.

ya that seems odd

Wells Fargo has a fraud department that will call if they see suspicious activity they will not ask you personal info but they will ask if you made the purchase or not.

call the bank now....

I hope you didn't give him any information because he could be out there trying to use your card right now.

Yes, I agree...that scares me for sure. BTW, love your Avatar pic :)

You can call the bank yourself right now and tell them what happened and they can tell you the last time a transactions was attempted or completed...banks do call..at least here in Canada..as we got a call at 10;30 on a Friday evening for my son...someone had withdrawn $500 from his acct and the bank, somehow, found this to be a suspicious transaction and called right away...THEY cancelled the card, then my son had to go to the bank and do paperwork and they did reverse the withdrawl...again, hope you didn't disclose any imp info to him...

So does American Express.. We get a call asking if we have/are traveling as there were numerous charges from 3 difference states in 24 hrs.. No other personal info is ever asked.. they gave us an 800 # to call to confirm

I would call the bank that sounds funny to me.
Don't give out any of your information.
Including
address, name, account number, driver;s license, birth date.

My sister had this happen someone was in FL trying to buy 5,000.00 on her card- the bank declined it and called her "just to make sure she wasn't allowing this " LOL as if :shock: :shock: They canceled her card on the spot - banks are being more careful these days and the fraud departments are growing by leaps and bounds - sadly

he called you??now that is scary. hope he didn't ask you any questions . crooks do that. call your credit card company yourself now!!
i get warning emails if any large purchases are done.

We've had both our Master Card and our American Express card services call us to verify purchases. I really appreciate it when they do that. They don't ask us to give them any account information, they just let us know that a suspicious charge has been made and if we are the one's making it.

I get automated calls asking to confirm purchases. Just to make sure I don't slip up someday in the future when something fraudulent calls, I always hang up on the bank that called me and call them to confirm my purchases. It's only a slight hassle to make the call myself but I hope it keeps my auto pilot under control in the future.

I have to point out that when my bank actually calls me, the caller id never clearly states it's my bank (and I have more than one). I know caller id can be faked but c'mon! say who you are already.

Hope everything works out for the OP.

I had a call one time leaving a warning on the answering machine that we needed to call the credit card company right away to report whether certain charges were legitimate and threatening to freeze the card if we didn't call. Of course I called our bank - I know the number because we've banked there since 1974 - and it was true their fraud department had called. The problem? We both carry the credit card, and it just happened that DH bought gas in one city minutes before I bought some in another city where I was visiting our son. I kind of scoffed at the idea that a criminal would make such petty purchases if he had a chance to spend big bucks before it was caught, but the credit card guy said I'd be surprised. They will make the smaller purchase, especially gas, because it's harder to track. Most gas stations have cameras, but apparently the crooks don't worry. This happens so often that there is simply not enough manpower for police to deal with any but the very biggest thefts. We're all paying for this kind of thing in higher rates. Be thankful the banks are finding ways to notice possible fraud before it's too late.

I've learned to notify the bank when I'll be out of town so they won't get overly cautious and freeze my card because of distant legitimate transactions. Make sure to notice that they have a procedure in place to verify it's really you who is calling for this purpose.

My daughter's debit card number was recently stolen, and she was grateful to get the bank's notice promptly. It's best to not even use a debit card these days. Fraud is so common, and it can cause a lot more headaches if the money is coming out of your account, where it might make your legitimate transactions bounce before you even find out about it. Ideally, establish yourself with only two credit cards so that you can track them easily. Use one for everything and put the other away for back-up, or use one and have your spouse use the other. If possible, pay up every month to avoid interest. Definitely establish online access to your statements and check activity frequently. Once a month statements were for a more innocent time.

Thanks!!! That pic got me a husband!!! LOL

I have had credit card company call to check if charge legit. Hadn't used the card in months, and went on a spree I think for new cloths. New activity at multiple locations raised a flag and they checked with us. Thank them for for the follow up.

We got a recorded message from the fraud dept. at our bank regarding unauthorized purchases on our credit card. I thought the message was weird so I got my credit card out and called the customer service number on the card. They put me into the fraud dept. and I found out the call was legit. Someone tried to purchase thousands of dollars of fishing gear on our card but they could not give the correct billing address so it was declined. Had to cancel the card just two days before we were to leave on vacation. They could not get us the new card in time so we had to use our ATM card. I just had to make sure I transferred enough money for us to use. It was a pain in the neck but we were able to go on vacation feeling everything was taken care of. Please call your bank and verify everything that was told to you on the phone. It will be worth the peace of mind.

Thanks!!! That pic got me a husband!!! LOL[/quote]

I frequently wish this site had 'like' buttons. That's one I would have liked to 'like'!

My bank has called me if there was a larger than usual purchase on my debit card. I would still call to see if it was on the up and up.

I agree, call to double check just to make sure. It sounds alright to me, but I used to work in card services for a bank in the fraud department. Banks have a complicated system that runs 24/7 - evaluating current fraud trends, your spending pattern, locale, and $ amount of purchases.

Better safe than sorry.

just christmas day someone used my card # and clean out our account almost 3,000.00 before we found out wished my bank had call....but they did put all the money back thank god

This was what the guy did. All he asked was if we had tried to make a large purchase 6 minutes ago and I told him no I had not bought anythingi in 3 or 4 days. He said he was with fraud prevention for my bank (Citizens) and that he thought the large purchase was unusual for our account. He cancelled my card right then and told me to contact my bank first thing in the morning as they had already closed for the day. All he asked was for the zip code #. I asked if I would have to pay for the purchase and he said they had declined the purchase.

My son and sister have been through this within the past couple of months. Both received calls from the fraud department of their banks. They were not asked to give any personal information other than to verify some facts before the bank personnel would even discuss the case with them. They visited their bank in person the following day and everything was taken care of, including getting the money returned to their accounts...thank goodness.

I had this happen to one of my CC several years ago. CC company called me stating there were charges & this lady started asking questions. I hung up & called my CC company & sure enough someone had tried to place over $3300.00 in ladies sexy under garments, electronics & they even tried to make a donation to a non-profit organization. I placed fraud alert/ID required on all my accounts & haven't had any problems since. There are warehouses full of hackers in China & Russia & possibly a few other countries, where all they do all day long is attempt to steal your info/money/etc. It may be a pain in the butt to have to let your company know when you make a large purchase, but it's better than being ripped off. Bank account/checking/debit cards are the easiest to hack, which is why I don't have one.

This is such a scary subject! Is there some reason bank account/checking/debit cards are easier than credit cards? How can we protect ourselves? We try to shred everything but I've heard that thieves can get personal information for the bar codes on address labels!

I have had banks/cc companies call to check on larger charges that didn't fit into our "normal" spending pattern.

15th anniv we went to the jewelry district in L.A. and bought expensive watches. Got home to a message from Discover Card services on the answering machine. I just called and said that it was me and we were very happy with our anniv presents.

I called my bank thismorning and found that the man who called me yesterday was legit. He saved me from a big scam. The bank said my card had been cancelled and they are sending me a new card.

Wow, so glad you followed up on this. I read all the posts from yesterday and you were very smart to call them this morning. Thank you so much for sharing this. Thankfully you were spared a whole lot of baloney from a bad person.

You can never be to safe.

That's good.

My bank - Wells Fargo - is very proactive like this. I really appreciate them watching out for me.

i had it happen with a card we hadn't used in a year

Actually my bank generally verifies large credit card purchases over the phone. Last time when I bought additional airline tickets, they couldn't get a hold of me (as I was on the road) and they cancelled my card. The fraud-check agent will not ask for sensitive information and you will recognize that they are talking about your account.

One time I used my credit card in Jamacia in the morning before boarding the plane, Detroit when we landed to buy gas and then we drove to Indiana to see the kids at college, and I used it down there. They were on the phone the next day calling to see if I had made all those charges. Last week the bank called and asked if I made a large purchase in China. I'm on an account (in the US) with my son and dil who live in China and they had purchased a computer. I told the guy I would contact my son and get back with him if anything was wrong with the purchase. The banks don't ask personal questions, just check to see if you've been making the charges. I'm glad they do that. If they did ask personal questions I wouldn't give them the information. I would call to verify it.

Good deal. I want to clarify --- I know banks do call and check out unusual or big purchases (has happened to me), but I still feel, in this day and age, that it's important to double check.

After the last time, in a really really nice hotel in Canada (okay - I used a coupon), my card was rejected. I had to call the card company and they were concerned because I'd bought gas in the US and then tried to use the card in Canada. Well, we talked about it and she suggested that from then on, when we were going to do a big purchase or travel like that to call AHEAD of time. We did, and never had that happen again. gosh, it was so embarrassing -- it was like we had over-used or stolen the card!!!!

State Farm Bank has a fraud dept and they will call too!! My local bank just "freezes" your account and then when you call in to inquire why you are unable to use your card (which by the way can put you in an awkward position at the check out) they will ask you about any suspicious charges they have identified....