Huh? Has anyone else heard of this? (I deleted the name of my bank) "Dear Member, We would like to inform you of new information that came in over night and assure you that Federal Credit Union has NOT had a data breach, nor a compromise to any of our systems or accounts. The debit card fraud that is currently being seen across the nation is coming from the merchant level, NOT from us. For example, recent breaches have occurred at stores such as Target, Home Depot, and Albertsons, among others. This is how debit card numbers have been obtained, and then sold and used for fraudulent activity. We are sending these emails to ALL members, whether you have a debit card on your account or not. By receiving this email, it does NOT mean you have had fraud on your account, it is just to notify you of the temporary limitation currently in place. If we notice any unauthorized charges to your account, you will receive a phone call from . We also ask that you keep an eye on your transactions, and please notify us if there is any unusual activity. Again, we put this purchase limitation in place to safeguard your account, and will notify you when the limitation has been lifted. If you need to make purchases in excess of the $495 per day limit, please call us at , and we will remove that limit. We are available by phone, Monday through Friday from 8am until 5pm, and Saturday from 9am until 1pm. Please contact us if you have any questions, or to have your limit increased."
Here is the first one from a day ago. "Dear Member, Effective immediately, your total debit card purchases are limited to $495 per day. If you need to make purchases in excess of this amount, please call during normal business hours, to have your limit increased. We are available Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm and Saturday from 9am-1pm. This is in an effort to reduce the amount of fraud instances being seen and to protect the funds in your account. This is a temporary limitation, and we will notify you once the limit has been lifted. Please contact us at if you have any questions, or to have your limit increased. Sincerely, "
I've never heard of a bank doing that, but I bet I can guess which one you have in about 3 tries. I bank locally. I've had my debit card # thieved before. I had to file a police report, the bank did an investigation, and returned my money after a couple of days. This is more about protecting 'their' money, not yours. They're obligated to reimburse you if your money is stolen. At that point, they're out that money until the police can recover it, or they receive their insurance check from the gov. Given the amount of fraud happening, they're trying to limit their exposure, by taking it out on you. I say get another bank, especially if you have one of the national McMegabanks.
My limit got set to zero two days ago. I got a call from my CU fraud department questioning multiple charges at various Kroger stores in the metro Detroit area when the same card had just been used in northeastern lower Michigan by myself. I confirmed that I wasn't in both places at the same time and they shut my card down. They got away with a shade over $100, which I'll get back after I fill out piles of paperwork. My CU confirmed that these were all 'pin-less debit transactions'. I've thought that was a big security hole, but apparently it's not possible to always require a PIN. I'd like to set my daily limit to $100, but the CU won't let me go that low. I just want to know what my alternative identity was buying. I hope it was worth it.
Sure enough, I went to the notice on the main website. It mentions there additional restrictions in Colorado........ Text from Dear Husband at 8 am. From. Colorado. "debit card not honored" pls look into it.
Despite the excellent advice that "emergency" credit cards are not a good idea......... I just looked up my husbands extra credit card, there are 2 pending transactions from Colorado. Glad he had it.
Don't open the e mail, don't respond to it. If you do your personal info MAY be scooped. Call your bank and discuss over the phone....................
Thanks for the safe advice rotti! I did call them, the email is legit, as well as posted on their internet.
I don't have a debit card, but I thought you could have it set up where you run it as credit and it still comes out of your bank directly but you have the protection of the credit card system. My biggest peeve if I was you would be what if I needed/wanted to increase my limit at 6:00 at night? Oh, that's right they have Bankers hours! Gary
I have mine set up where I get a text anytime more the $50 is debited - I usually get them by the time I'm getting back in the truck from the grocery store. Also get texts when purchases are made outside of my normal area. I've never had any fraudulent things outside of a gas station running the same charge twice in a day. My Credit Union goofed something up a couple years ago and paid someone else's natural gas bill from my account. When I noticed the charge I did some quick sleuthing and had the address that the bill was paid for within a few minutes, drove by and almost stopped, when the bank called me back and said their was an error in the transcription of the account info. They wouldn't provide me with any additional info and the money was back in my account that day.
Debit Cards along with Credit Cards are co reed under Regulation E. Regulation E states that your must notify your bank with 48 hours of realizing you lost your card or the card was compromised. You are responsible for only up to X amount. It use to be $50. Not sure if that has changed. My debit card number has been compromised more than once, and I've not lost a dime. All funds were returned. As for lowering your limit, that should only refer to your purchase power for a day. My bank allows $1500. You can request that they lower it, and if you need it raised for a transaction, then you call your bank. A word of advice. Never have a debit card for an account where your direct deposit lands. We transfer our spending amount from our Direct Deposit account. This prevents thieves from draining your cash account. Jason from RI
I tried to make our monthly $1000 dollar health insurance payment on Friday. Yep, had to call the bank, what a PITA. Making a payment like that every month is not fun at all, having to call the bank to raise the daily limit made it even worse.
It is both good and bad. I had a day that I ordered some pet supplies under $100, then went back in later that day to order some more only to have my card declined. I called the bank. They told me that they had a hold on the account, after our conversation, they released the hold. Never did figure out just why. That was the only time that happed. was only a couple months ago. I'm betting they know that China has breached the security system and they are trying to prevent a run. I would rather the occasional inconvenience than being robbed.
My spending limits only apply to my debit card. Most of my big bills - utilities, insurance, etc, are linked directly to my bank account, where there is no limit at all - it's as if I wrote a personal check. In fact I plan to pay off the remaining $5000 of my student loan this evening.
I need to look into that. Likely his office manager will have to make the changes, better wait till the new one is in place.
I received a call from my bank one day. They wanted to know if after I had lunch at one of my regular places did I then drive to Brooklyn, NY to buy some expensive leather handbags, about $900 worth. When that transaction came in they had put a request for secondary ID on it. The person making the purchase said they had to get their wallet from the car and never came back. The bank's computer saw my lunch charge, within my normal spending range and area, then a large charge out of my normal area. The computer automatically put the ID request on the transaction. The bank called to let me know my card had been compromised and requested permission to cancel that card and FedEx me a new one. They are getting better at fraud detection. KaptJaq
Is that a local bank or a national one? I have a wyoming based credit union, but I have had calls from a previous national bank on suspicious purchases. My suspicious purchases were legit however (me on internet).