A couple in Alaska recently learned from their credit union that a criminal had used their debit card number to make $5,000 worth of purchases in about an hour, according to a report from the Anchorage Daily News. This included buying sports memorabilia and electronics, getting a subscription to USA Today, paying a phone bill and even joining a fruit of the month club.
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Unfortunately for the Linfords, they may not have much luck tracking down the person or persons responsible for the crime, as it's difficult to tell exactly where the criminals got the Linfords' payment data. They're likely also on the hook for returning the items they received from the various online outlets, the report said. Unfortunately for many consumers, there's only so much they can do to protect themselves from this type of fraud. At least for the Linfords, it seems their criminal or criminals were amateurs who weren't very good at hiding their crimes. Other consumers might not be so lucky.
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The only way consumers can be assured that their accounts haven't been compromised is to check them regularly so that they can spot any questionable transactions within a few days of their having been made. If any are discovered, they should be reported to the financial institution that issued the compromised card. However, it's important to keep in mind that usually with debit cards, the window for reporting fraud is much smaller than it is for that on a credit card.
Image: asenat29, via Flickr