Scams

[s0978]

Speaking of scams (http://forums.intpcentral.com/showthread.php?t=39964), I recently had to close a check card account. I found a couple of mysterious charges for $4.97 that I didn't recognize. Called the phone numbers associated with the transactions and only got generic voicemails. Googled the phone numbers and found many similar complaints on various message boards.

I was only scammed for about $20 over the past couple years- didn't notice or bother to inquire about random $5 charges until I noticed a pattern- and the bank quickly reimbursed me. So not a big deal, other than it's discomforting to think credit fraud can be so easy.

Tracking my spending, these charges started appearing after I made a few purchases off eBay through PayPal. So if you shop through these channels, check your account activity.

[/Public service announcement] and/or share your scam stories.

[avolkiteshvara]

Just use credit cards. They cover all fraud.

[LastRailway]

I don't use Paypal, but I use my debit card frequently to buy stuff. Which makes me think I should check my account statements every once a while - I hardly ever do so and, even when I have, I've never been very thorough.

[ghost]

Last year someone used my credit card details to book some flights online. I noticed the first transaction a day after it happened, but had too much to think about at the time so put off calling my bank. A few days later there was another transaction.

I called up the airline and got the names, departure, destination and flight times of the passengers. Of course they used fake names so I couldn't pursue it further. The bank was pretty co-operative about it - they reimbursed the transactions and issued me a new credit card pretty quickly.

It happens a lot I guess. Scammers and fraudsters know exactly how much they can get away with before anyone will even bother following it up. It all just gets written off and passed along in banking fees.

A couple of weeks later I was making a purchase with my debit card, and my transaction was declined. I called the bank when I got home and they said they'd cancelled and reissued my card because I'd recently used it at an ATM where a skimmer was discovered.

[s0978]

It's true, the banks are always responsive about it. But now I'm wondering if it does get passed off in fees (I don't pay any) or if they're insured ultimately by tax dollars.

I also once had an identity theft incident whereby somebody cashed a $10K check drawn against my credit account. This is a great marketing idea, when banks send customers blank checks in the mail.

[SensEye]

It's true, the banks are always responsive about it. But now I'm wondering if it does get passed off in fees (I don't pay any) or if they're insured ultimately by tax dollars. Partly covered by fees. Not covered by tax dollars notwithstanding bailouts for blatant mismanagement not related to fraud (by external parties in any event).

It's like this, electronic funds transfer allows banks to save millions compared to bricks and mortar bank tellers (what was required back when everybody carried cash). Plus, because customers find it more convenient, banks can actually charge a surcharge (transaction fees) to customers for a behavior that costs the banks less money to support. It's a great con.

So the banks are far ahead eating a bit of fraud costs (a bit compared to the overall dollar value of transactions processed) compared to going back to the days where everybody carried cash in their wallet.

It's even more profitable for credit cards. Most people do not pay off their balances and usurious cc interest rates are a cash cow for banks. They don't want to discourage use in any way, which would happen if they made customers liable for fraud.

[kuranes]

Some of it is being protected or processed here -
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/113032/little-house-secrets-great-plains-reuters

[Skinart]

This is a great marketing idea, when banks send customers blank checks in the mail.
I realize this is the post-check writing era (save for a few holdouts, mostly old and older middle aged women who insist it takes the same amount of time as swiping a debit card--they are wrong); but that is how it commonly occurs. I still have a box of them, sent to me in the mail about a week after opening my account.

Of course, that 'convenience check' shit for credit card accounts (which is probably what you are referring to) is utter madness. Mostly because it is unasked for. You should have to explicitly request checks for them to be sent to you, each time they are sent to you--as a basic security feature. If you don't know checks are coming, you have no reason (save rampant paranoia) to look for them, or more importantly, notice when they are missing.