Money Disappearing From Checking Accounts, Again

["Fergie" <fergdawg () netzero net>]

Via The Red Tape Chronicles.

[snip]

There is a new reason to think twice about using your debit card when
you go shopping. Criminals have managed to steal ATM account
information and PINs from shoppers at Dollar Tree stores in western states.

The U.S. Secret Service says it is investigating. Visa Inc. says it is
too. No one will say how widespread the crime spree is, but here’s a
hint -- 150 consumers who shopped at a Dollar Tree store in Modesto,
Calif., have told local police that a total of $170,000 has been stolen
from their accounts. Similar reports have trickled in from Ashland,
Ore., some 350 miles to the north.

It appears criminals are using stolen data to create counterfeit ATM
cards, then using stolen PINs to withdraw money from victims’ accounts.
This kind of theft is far more serious than credit card fraud, because
the money instantly disappears from victims’ accounts, and it’s up to
victims to call their banks and get it back. And after 60 days, victims
lose their right to refunds. That’s much different from credit card
frauds, which simply require consumers to call and have items removed
from their bills.

And don’t forget – while victims and banks sort all this out, consumers
often lose access to their checking account money. One victim I heard
from said he was traveling, and suddenly couldn’t access his cash.
Banks often try to paint this kind of crime as painless for consumers.
It’s not.

[snip]

More here:
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/08/there_is_a_new_.html

- ferg


--
"Fergie", a.k.a. Paul Ferguson
 Engineering Architecture for the Internet
 fergdawg(at)netzero.net
 ferg's tech blog: http://fergdawg.blogspot.com/


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