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A Friendly Reminder (VERY IMPORTANT!!)

SirFragalot

SirFragalot

Good Afternoon All…

Just a friendly reminder to keep an eye on your bank accounts.

Sunday, my wife went online to check our bank account balance only to find that our account had been drained into the negatives an hour before. Was not us as we were working on the nursery for our upcoming new addition to the family. According to the online statement, it looks like purchases were made to online clothing stores overseas. Nothing could be done but we were able to put a freeze on the account.

The company that the charges went to is called www.empirestyle.net. It's based in Berlin, Germany. Do a Google search on them and sure enough, there are others out there that had the same thing happen to them. Our bank (Beneficial) seems to be cooperating and are able to issue us new cards on the spot. They were able to "loan" us the money that was lost until a full investigation is done to clear us from any wrong doing.

Keep an eye on your statements.
 
whitebear1020

whitebear1020

Wow! I hope they will return your money back quickly. :-\

From my business account was 5k stolen by a vendor. :'( The sad part bank didn't do anything about it. They told us that any person who has your check or saw your check can get into your account very easily. We never got our money back. I decided to switch to a small bank. They watch every transaction and call me every time when something doesn't look right.

Congratulations on your upcoming new addition :D
 
SirFragalot

SirFragalot

Apparently, it was one of VISA's branches that got hacked into. (this sounds like a movie) The hackers use an automated system to get into the mainframe and snatch some numbers. They use the nubers until the owners catch it and put a stop to it. Then they snatch another batch of numbers and continue the cycle.
 
whitebear1020

whitebear1020

SirFragalot said:
Apparently, it was one of VISA's branches that got hacked into. (this sounds like a movie) The hackers use an automated system to get into the mainframe and snatch some numbers. They use the nubers until the owners catch it and put a stop to it. Then they snatch another batch of numbers and continue the cycle.
Click to expand...

So, how did they get into your account? Did you have a VISA Debit Card that was stolen?
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
I have had two Christmas surprises with this happening. Just had someone try and change my address to Oregon, the company called me and put the account on hold. They then game me several companies to have them put a freeze on my social, and offered to go over a credit report with me. Luckily no money was taken.

Two years ago I got an overdraft notice and noticed someone had drained my account. Called my CC company and they immediatly reversed all the charges and looked into it. I had used a shady ATM machine in NYC where my info was copied and put onto blank cards and they drained the account via other ATM machines. They did not catch it immediatly because it was done in Philly and NYC which I was in a lot at that time.

My company calls me whenever the card is used not in my normal pattern and usually I will call and let them know when I will be away. Have gotten calls asking me if I was in Asia on a saturday before, they are really good.

Another scam I have seen hit a few of my clients is charges of .50 or .30 cents from a company that they hope you will just ignore it. If they do it to thousands of people it works, so go over your statements.
 
SirFragalot

SirFragalot

whitebear1020 said:
SirFragalot said:
Apparently, it was one of VISA's branches that got hacked into. (this sounds like a movie) The hackers use an automated system to get into the mainframe and snatch some numbers. They use the nubers until the owners catch it and put a stop to it. Then they snatch another batch of numbers and continue the cycle.
Click to expand...

So, how did they get into your account? Did you have a VISA Debit Card that was stolen?
Click to expand...

Negative. I rarely use my card and it was in my wallet the whole time. Because it was a VISA Debit Card, all of the hacking happened through one of VISA's mainframes, not the banks. All this is happening from overseas from what I was told.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Usually they don't go after the credit card company or your card, usually they go after a big retailer (Macy's for example) and hack their records and get the card numbers.
 
SirFragalot

SirFragalot

mnat said:
Usually they don't go after the credit card company or your card, usually they go after a big retailer (Macy's for example) and hack their records and get the card numbers.
Click to expand...

Well, I can guarantee you that neither my wife or myself would shop for skinny womens clothes from a store in Berlin, Germany. ;D Other than making a car payment online, we don't do ANY shopping online other than the occasional fish stuff.
 
dangerbird

dangerbird

My wife and I went through this last month, Someone was buying stuff on our debit card in Spain. Last year I had a credit card used that I had forgotten I had. I had packed it when we moved 4 yrs ago and I went and checked and it was still in the basement. I've always gotten my money back, thank god.
 
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