My debit card was stolen and fradulently used?

Question

My debit card was stolen and fraudulently used?
I've spoken to the bank, and I've also had them put a stop on my card. This kid who took my card (has to be a kid, we are talking $25 worth of Dairy Queen on top of $25 worth of McDonalds.. etc) totally wiped out my checking, and it will take weeks to return my money after an investigation. So I have a couple questions.
1. Should I file a POLICE report?
2. Will they do ANYTHING to catch the person who did this, or just confiscate the card?
3. There is no way I will pay my bills on time with all of my money gone, so what can I do to protect myself from repercussions against MYSELF for not being able to pay my bills now?!
ACK. I am so mad. :\

Answer 1

You need to go to the bank, fill out a dispute form, today if possible. Ask, them to go ahead and give you provisional credit. They must actually do that within 10 business anyways, It is called regulation E. You might want to remind the bank of Regulation E. I only write one or two checks and use my debit card most of the time for everything else. Depending on how quickly you notified your bank. You may still have to come up with $50.00, While you are at the bank. You could ask the bank if they would prefer you to fill out the zero liability from from MasterCard or Visa. In this case, the merchant, the bank, and the consumer does not lose money. MasterCard Or Visa pays the bank and the bank pays you. MasterCard or Visa writes it off on their taxes.

Answer 2

This sounds strange because the typically most if not all banks will issue credits for fraudulent transactions immediately after you have called them. It doesn't take weeks for that.

Also, just because the charges were at McDonald's and Dairy Queen does not mean it was a kid. It could have been an adult testing the waters and to make you think it was a kid.

You could file a police report. But if what you are saying is true your bank will conduct the investigation and pending the investigation, you would have had all the money refunded to you from the fraudulent transactions, and until the investigation is complete, unless they find out you lied, you would keep the money, but if you did then they would take the money back.

Answer 3

I had my identity stolen, so I'm speaking from experience.

1. Yes you should file a police report.
2. I'd like to say they will do something to catch this person, but that depends on the laws/procedures where you live. For me, they went through the motions and helped me somewhat, but the guy who took my stuff was in jail already on other charges by the time they caught up with him. I have never seen any sort of restitution. But it never hurts to ask. Ask the officer(s) that you file the report with.
3. The first thing I would suggest to protect yourself is, even though it was just your debit card, your name and information is connected to it. You really have no idea who has it or where it will go. File a fraud alert immediately with all three major credit bureaus. This way no new accounts can be established in your name without your knowledge/approval. You can also monitor your credit report periodically for suspicious activity.
Contact your creditors and any place else you have financial obligations and talk to them about your situation. Each company has a different policy/procedure.
**You will DEFINITELY need a formal police report as confirmation/documentation when contacting them. And of course any other backup you can provide will only help you.

Good luck...I am sorry this happened to you.

Answer 4

Yes, I would file a police report. Not that anything will be done about it.

Get a cash advance off of a credit card to avoid missing important payments to creditors. For utilities, I would contact the utility and explain the situation to them. Most of the time (if you have a good payment history) they will cut you some slack.

I had my credit card number stolen by an employee of Staples a few years ago. I tracked down all the purchases for the credit card company and stopped several of them (eg: they ordered a computer from Gateway).

Since the police wouldn't do anything, I got the address of the delivery site for the computer and waited. Then confronted the person who lived there when they came home.

The rest is history.

Answer 5

I would report the ATM Bank Card as Stolen to your Bank right away. Just tell the person helping you at your Bank that you didn't make any of this transactions on this particular day. I think that you can also get something Signed and Notorized at your Bank claiming that you didn't make these transactions at anytime. They can Reverse the Charges made to your Bank Account. They can Issue you a New ATM Bank Card. Bank's are willing to help you out especially if you have been a Victim to Identity Theft. Yes, she can use it to Debit Gas without your knowledge etc etc......

Answer 6

Sorry that happened to you!

1. Yes!!!
2. Yes they have to track it once you file a report.
3. Get a copy of the police report and call the companies you need to pay. Let them know what happened. Send them a copy of the police report so they can see it is legitimate, and set up a payment arrangement.

Also, work with the bank and see if they can help give you back your money faster.

Good luck!!!!!

Answer 7

Follow the procedures laid down by Issuing bank.
You should have already informed the issuer to stop and
report the card stolen. If you delay l gets complicated and
lengthy procedure.

Answer 8

If it has a Visa or MC logo on it, I would call them. You should have similar theft protection to their regular credit cards and get your money refunded.

Answer 9

LOL. What you should do is in future, do not let little idiots steal your card. The world is full of criminals. It is not a fun playground full of law abiding little human's such as yourself.