Why does VISA advertise that they are safe if lost or stolen, but you pay the bill when thieves use it? FRUAD?

Question

My wife had her card stolen but the bank isn't covering our losses that were taken through an ATM machine. Even though the account requires a PIN the ATM machine cheerfully kicked out cash, and now VISA claims they are not responsible. WHAT THE HELL GOOD IS A PIN if it's not required??? Now I will get to work the next 4 or 5 days FREE GRATUS to pay off my wifes stolen card PENALTIES imposed by the BANK....VISA IS NOT A SECURE FORM OF BANKING....ANd I would pretty much assume the same is true of Bilk Of America, MASSESCARD and American Depressed.

Answer 1

I understand that you are upset. Trust me, I would be upset too if my card was stolen and money was taken out of my account. But, the only way that a person can pull money out of an ATM with a checkcard is if they have the PIN number. That is why it is important to protect your PIN and never write it down anywhere, especially in the close vicinity of your card. What probably happened was your wife wrote down her PIN number on the card or near the card and that is how the theives stole the money out of the account. Think about it, have you ever been able to pull money out of your account without your PIN number? In fact, most ATM machines have a maximum number of times a person can input an incorrect PIN before the card is de-activated. I would take this as a learning experience if I were you. That is the best thing you may get out of the whole ordeal.

Answer 2

I would have to agree with spock.

Did you report the card stolen? Is there a police report? An ATM does require a PIN you can not do any transactions without this number. If you did neither of these things they are probably thinking that your wife gave them the PIN or made it simple for them to get(I.E. wrote on the back of the card).

Again not knowing all of the details you need to contact the bank that isssued the card and not VISA directly. If they have a local branch go there to talk to the manager, if not call the Customer Service number and ask to talk to a supervisor in their fraud department.

When you talk to them the key is to be professional. Even though you are upset do not start using terms like Bilk of America, American Depressed or other more colorful language. The more professional you are with them the more they will be willing to work with you. As long as you did report it stolen when it happened and not a couple of weeks after it was stolen and the card was used, they should credit back most or all of your money after their investigation. But still may take a few weeks. If you in fact did wait a couple of weeks to report it stolen you may be responsible for the charges and have a lesson learned.

Answer 3

umm ... you're supposed to report the card stolen (to the bank or VISA) as soon as you know it has been stolen. I'll bet the contract clearly states that your liability limit applies only after you do that.

***
next, it is time for you to personally visit the manager of your local branch. ask lots of questions and ask for the withdrawals on the lost card to be reversed -- they take photos of everyone who withdraws money at ATMs, so it should be fairly easy to establish that it wasn't you or your wife. [And, this may take a few days to weeks if the ATMs used weren't at their bank.]

I certainly hope that the PIN wasn't written down in your wife's purse and wasn't her birthdate or SS number, etc. Those are so obvious that if her purse was stolen [as I'd guess was likely the case] the bank may claim that it is as if you told the perps what the number was.

Btw, you did file a police report on the theft, right? The bank'll likely insist that you do and sign where it says that you want the perp prosecuted if and when caught. {And then if it turns out to be your cousin's husband or someone like that -- he made his bed and now ought to lie in it up at the prison.}


GL

Answer 4

That guarantee only applies if you report the card lost or stolen within a certain time frame - usually 24 hours. Read your fine print on your card agreement.