Identity theft

[DeadPoolX 9]

Matt...this scam just took place in my town in Southern Ontario.

People were working from the inside out.

They have a machine that when you swipe your ATM/Debit card, it captures your cards information. It's placed underneath and sometimes inside the real area where you swipe your card. They also install a tiny pin hole sized camera just above the key pad, so they film you entering your 4 digit pin.

Perhaps this is the same thing going on in your area.

Sorry this happened to you

Laura, that's called a "skimmer." It captures information on Debit and Credit Cards in different machines, ranging from ATMs to Gas Pumps.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

It was done on my debit card.

Matt, I haven't read thru all the replies, but if you used your Visa debit card, you are protected against those charges. If you haven't already done so, you need to fill out a dispute form with your financial institution. The merchant (Nordstrom's) then has to prove that it was in fact you who rang up those charges, which they won't be able to. They may have a signed receipt, but the signature will not be yours. It is Nordstrom's responsibility to make sure it is actually you who is making the purchases. They'll be able to track which sales clerk made those transactions. When Jinky was working at Macy's, they caught a few employees who were using customer's cc #'s to make purchases. There's no telling what happened, but once Nordstrom's is required to prove you purchased those items, they'll quickly find out. In the meantime, Nordstrom's will be required to credit you for the charges. Good luck.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Jabberwocky

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Happened to me 2 years ago. I hadn't checked my acct for about a week and when I logged online I saw it was wiped out. In the negative by hundreds, too. Done with my debit card which had NOT left my possession. I read that crooks can somehow get the info that they need to do such things from gas pumps after one uses a card at the pump. I hate thieves

I believe the more typical method is to skim your credit/debit card number at restaurants, when you use it to pay. Either the waiter/waitress writes your number down and uses it to buy stuff over the phone, or they can electronically copy your card onto a clone and use it that way.

Wife had her purse stolen while she was at work a couple of years ago - she lost everything: credit cards, drivers license. We got all the money back but it was a major headache.

Edited April 21, 2008 by Number 6

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It was done on my debit card.

Matt, I haven't read thru all the replies, but if you used your Visa debit card, you are protected against those charges. If you haven't already done so, you need to fill out a dispute form with your financial institution. The merchant (Nordstrom's) then has to prove that it was in fact you who rang up those charges, which they won't be able to. They may have a signed receipt, but the signature will not be yours. It is Nordstrom's responsibility to make sure it is actually you who is making the purchases. They'll be able to track which sales clerk made those transactions. When Jinky was working at Macy's, they caught a few employees who were using customer's cc #'s to make purchases. There's no telling what happened, but once Nordstrom's is required to prove you purchased those items, they'll quickly find out. In the meantime, Nordstrom's will be required to credit you for the charges. Good luck.

They'll also most likely have a CCTV record of the entire transaction.

[Caladan 19]

It was done on my debit card.

Matt, I haven't read thru all the replies, but if you used your Visa debit card, you are protected against those charges. If you haven't already done so, you need to fill out a dispute form with your financial institution. The merchant (Nordstrom's) then has to prove that it was in fact you who rang up those charges, which they won't be able to. They may have a signed receipt, but the signature will not be yours. It is Nordstrom's responsibility to make sure it is actually you who is making the purchases. They'll be able to track which sales clerk made those transactions. When Jinky was working at Macy's, they caught a few employees who were using customer's cc #'s to make purchases. There's no telling what happened, but once Nordstrom's is required to prove you purchased those items, they'll quickly find out. In the meantime, Nordstrom's will be required to credit you for the charges. Good luck.

This is one area where the law is, fortunately, actually on the customer's side.

Matt85, it probably wasn't paypal, but you probably should have paypal hooked up to a credit card instead of a debit card just for that reason. It's much easier to challenge, should it become necessary.

[mRx 16]

It was done on my debit card.

Matt, I haven't read thru all the replies, but if you used your Visa debit card, you are protected against those charges. If you haven't already done so, you need to fill out a dispute form with your financial institution. The merchant (Nordstrom's) then has to prove that it was in fact you who rang up those charges, which they won't be able to. They may have a signed receipt, but the signature will not be yours. It is Nordstrom's responsibility to make sure it is actually you who is making the purchases. They'll be able to track which sales clerk made those transactions. When Jinky was working at Macy's, they caught a few employees who were using customer's cc #'s to make purchases. There's no telling what happened, but once Nordstrom's is required to prove you purchased those items, they'll quickly find out. In the meantime, Nordstrom's will be required to credit you for the charges. Good luck.

My bank actually refunded the charges within 2 hours of calling them this morning. From what she told me, they will be reimbursed by Nordstroms. Then the burden lies with Nordstroms (and rightfully so).

Still no definitive cause to what led up to this. But this much is true:

A card was swiped as debit.

My correct PIN was entered.

This would mean that there had to have been a physical copy of my card. And in order to get my PIN, I must have put my card into an altered reader.

The gas station would be a likely cause.

I think getting a CC would be the only way to prevent this from directly affecting me.

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

It was done on my debit card.

Matt, I haven't read thru all the replies, but if you used your Visa debit card, you are protected against those charges. If you haven't already done so, you need to fill out a dispute form with your financial institution. The merchant (Nordstrom's) then has to prove that it was in fact you who rang up those charges, which they won't be able to. They may have a signed receipt, but the signature will not be yours. It is Nordstrom's responsibility to make sure it is actually you who is making the purchases. They'll be able to track which sales clerk made those transactions. When Jinky was working at Macy's, they caught a few employees who were using customer's cc #'s to make purchases. There's no telling what happened, but once Nordstrom's is required to prove you purchased those items, they'll quickly find out. In the meantime, Nordstrom's will be required to credit you for the charges. Good luck.

My bank actually refunded the charges within 2 hours of calling them this morning. From what she told me, they will be reimbursed by Nordstroms. Then the burden lies with Nordstroms (and rightfully so).

Still no definitive cause to what led up to this. But this much is true:

A card was swiped as debit.

My correct PIN was entered.

This would mean that there had to have been a physical copy of my card. And in order to get my PIN, I must have put my card into an altered reader.

The gas station would be a likely cause.

I think getting a CC would be the only way to prevent this from directly affecting me.

glad to see things are working in your direction. i've heard too many bad things about a debit card and that's why i refuse to use one. not too long ago some poor guy had a burger place add a few zeros on the bill and he paid like 3k for a pair of burgers.

btw, usaa isn't too bad on car loans, nessa's is like 4.79% or something like that, it's under 5%.