Debit / Credit Card Fraud

[Rosewoodsteel]

Looked at my checking account this morning and noticed an ATM tranaction for $600.00.
Fine, but I haven't used an ATM since September.
-Called my credit union, canceled my card and ordered a new one. The scumbags tried, unscucessfuly, to get more money a few minutes before my card was canceled. (I only had $8 left, so they obviously were looking to grab hundreds more..)

I never use this card for online transactions and, when used locally, it is always used as a credit card, so the pin number is not keyed in.
Also, absolutely no one but me knows what the pin number is.

Question: How were the scammers able to access my pin number and pull money from my account? The ATM they used is located somewhere in Texas, far away from my Maryland home.

 

[tiboy]

Sometimes thieves put devices on ATM machines. Then when you use your card and put in your PIN the device captures both.

 

[CoreyT]

Yep, and a hacker sits in the parking lot of a gas station with their laptop and logs the credit/debit card numbers and pins when someone tires to get gas.
I always make sure the scanner at the station I go to all the time looks right.

Also at a restaurant I pay cash, I never let my card out of my site.
Employee's can use a small scanner they keep in their apron to scan your card, then they have a contact they sell your info to.

This happens more than people think.

 

[Jester]

The ATM they used is located somewhere in Texas, far away from my Maryland home.

Nothing to see here.

 

[Rosewoodsteel]

Not to worry. It was Orange Texas, Jester, not Houston...

I know all about the use of "skimmers" at gas stations and ATM machines.
In my case, however, the last time I used my pin number for a transaction, was over 3 months ago, at my credit union's ATM, and I covered the keyboard with my hand when I keyed in the pin. And, no one, not even my wife knows my pin number, so I'm curious to find out how the scum sucking bastids were able to use my card information for an ATM withdrawal..
On the good news front, my credit union reimbursed the money a few hours after I reported the fraud.

-You really have to be on the alert now-a-days.

 

[Jester]

That is odd. I would think that if I only used my debit card as a credit card and never used my pin that a skimmer would likewise only allow it to be used as a credit card. What are we missing here?

Problem within the bank itself?

 

[andy474x]

I worked in banking for a couple of years and did a good amount of work on fraud cases like this... It's possible that rather than knowing your pin, someone has more of your personal info than you think, and called in to your bank or card issuer (visa, MC, etc) and had the pin unlocked so they could change it themselves. A lot of your personal info is easier to get than a PIN number, especially if, like you said, you rarely use it. I'm not saying this is for sure what happened, but you should be cautious. Perhaps call your CU and put a security question on your accounts to make it harder for someone to contact your bank and pretend to be you.