Thread: Watch your accounts, carefully...

This was likely done by either a secondary reader at the checkstand (these people can keep them in their pockets), a cell phone photo of the number, or an imprint of the number. Sometimes they are good enough to get a mental image and they then write it down.

My purchases follow a pretty mundane path, our income is not big and we have two kids. Our main expenditures are at the grocery store. The bank even agreed, had a large credit type purchase been made, with my debit Mastercard, and it tried to go through our account, it would have been paid, and we would have been left with the bill.

My husband and I also have a POS/ATM debit card, and we think from now on, we will be using that, or cash only. We will also alert the bank of this and have them leave that alert on our account.

This was likely done by either a secondary reader at the checkstand (these people can keep them in their pockets), a cell phone photo of the number, or an imprint of the number. Sometimes they are good enough to get a mental image and they then write it down.

I'm amazed at the technology some of these people have. My daughters friend, with his cell phone can download everything off your phone onto his. Nothing seems to be safe anymore. I don't think you even have to use your card and still have someone be able to scan your info. It was awhile ago, but someone mentioned some kind of card carrier that was able to block people from getting your info off your card, while it's in your wallet.. Just recently ...might have been the AARP mag or something, where they were suggesting to pay by cash because ID theft was so rampent. Heck, they can do it using your check numbers as well and mail off for their own checkbook using your account.

My husband is a sucker for Dollar Stores. Yet it seems everything that looked like such a deal ends up being junk.....oh he gets mad, saying anyone can put out junk and all you need is 1 million suckers to fork over a buck and your set. The stores nickle and dime people to death with their registers not ringing up the correct price, or not the sale price.....all hoping it's not worth the bother to correct......I mean geeze....it's just a few pennies, but those "pennies" add up. Same with hidden fee's in bills.....as long as it looks close, people pay and just don't question anything. Yet you can be assured, none of them overlook being shorted by a few pennies.

About 30 years ago a friend of mine working at the CIA said the Russian embassy in DC was able to pick up conversations in US government offices by the vibrations on the window glass of an office. Years later the FBI was able to capture some wanted Mafia type by pinging his cell phone even though it was turned off. There was a gang in Florida that somehow inserted card readers into ATM machines recording the numbers when people made a transaction. Black boxes in rental cars know exactly where you are (an Iraq vet rented a car in California and snuck off to Las Vegas, and his bill was huge because he took it across state lines.) Surveillance cameras are all over our streets and stores (which is good in tracking criminals). My security company will call me to say that the battery has run out on this or that window; and they also will yell through the speaker box if some alarm has been triggered--I have to give them my name and password, so if they really want they can listen in anytime.
Obama seems to be wanting to toughen the Patriot Act (according to MSNBC last night) and his policy seems to be no one is allowed to sue the Feds even if they were injured. Our medical records and even some payrolls are processed in India--which means they also have all SSNs and insurance info. Banks lose data all the time because of hackers. Even the VA had a computer stolen with info on thousands of vets, and one university lost another laptop where data was stored on thousands of students.
Privacy. What privacy? There is no such thing these days.

I am just not sure what more we can do. So far as we know, there has been no issues with our credit (well mine). I am hoping that this will end with them not being able to access anymore funds once they try and find the card was canceled (many I know say they want to basically "hit and run" you, but take it no further).

I can now do all I have and wait and see.

My mom is 87 and a mexican lady took her checking account numbers and created a checking account for hereslef. The thing is the name on the check was not the same name she signed. Alot of stores will cash your check without asking id becasue you have shopped there before and your number is in their system. She has excellent credit and was mortified when they refused to cash on of here checks becasue she bounced a check. Accrding to Target she bounced over $900. When we started to investigate, they had cashed over $2000 worth of checks. She got the money back, but it took 2 months to get everything straightened out.