Two weeks ago when we were in Missouri, I checked our account balances (as I usually do daily) to discover a mystery charge was listed as pending. \u00a0It was for $5.77 and the merchant was listed as Watergate Hotel. \u00a0The only Watergate Hotel I know of is in Washington D.C. and Casey and I were definitely not in D.C. on that day. \u00a0I immediately called USAA to report the charge and start the ball rolling on removing it from our account. \u00a0The charge was put through on Casey’s debit card from an account we only use for deposits and to pay bills. \u00a0We don’t even carry the cards for this account in our wallets. \u00a0Casey and I decided when we saw the charge that someone was trying to test out our account to see if it had any money in it before putting through a larger charge (the rep from USAA said she thought this as well). \u00a0She mailed out a new debit card for Casey only on this account since presumably this was the only card they had obtained.<\/p>\n
Prior to this, I had read an article about credit versus debit cards and the pros\/cons of each. \u00a0Against Dave Ramsey’s advice, we had decided we were going to make the transition to a credit card for our purchases and bills. \u00a0We just hadn’t done it by the time the charge had showed up on our account. \u00a0We were out of town and credit cards just sitting in our mailbox (since our mail hold wasn’t honored) didn’t seem like a smart plan. \u00a0Yesterday afternoon, I found a car that had good rewards on it and we decided we’d apply for it and start using it for purchases and bills and just paying it off in full every month. \u00a0We figured we’d have better fraud protection in case someone gained access to our information again.<\/p>\n
Well today, when I woke up I checked our account balances and noticed something amiss again. \u00a0There was a $440 ATM withdrawal from our account (different account than above, only used for variable non-bill type purchases) thereby taking our account balance to $10. \u00a0Which I’m sure they would’ve taken too if they could get multiples of $10 out of the ATM. \u00a0I got on the phone to USAA again to report the fraudulent activity. \u00a0They were asking if we had made a withdrawal anytime this weekend and maybe it was just hitting today. \u00a0I told them, no, we had not visited an ATM or removed any money from the account and that I didn’t recognize the address. \u00a0The rep confirmed the withdrawal was made from an ATM in Peoria, Illinois this time using my debit card number and PIN. \u00a0I’m not even sure how they got the PIN because I rarely use my debit card as debit and usually just process it through as credit. \u00a0I can think of only two times in the last month that I have used it as debit and that was at the post office and Target before we left town. \u00a0The fraud department is supposed to be investigating the charge and refunding the money in 3-5 business days and in the meantime is FedEx’ing me a new debit card.<\/p>\n
This whole thing has me wondering. \u00a0Two fraudulent charges in two weeks time on two different accounts and one under Casey’s name and one under mine. \u00a0The whole thing just seems fishy to me. \u00a0I’m honestly wondering if someone at USAA has compromised our account information. \u00a0I’m pretty nervous right now because the other checking account (the one the $5.77 charge was made on) has the downpayment for the new car still in it since the check hasn’t been cashed yet. \u00a0I just pray they cash that check today so nothing else goes on. \u00a0I also went ahead and notified the credit agencies and placed fraud alerts on our account for 6 months (the longest without a police report).<\/p>\n
I know what happened to us was probably just another line crap that’s been going on lately but be careful with your own accounts. \u00a0Think twice before using your debit card or entering your PIN anywhere you don’t have to. \u00a0Unfortunately USAA doesn’t have a physical location here so if we need to use the ATM we can’t go to a branch (assumed more secure than elsewhere) to withdraw money. \u00a0You hear about this happening to other people but probably don’t pay much attention until it happens to you or someone you know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two weeks ago when we were in Missouri, I checked our account balances (as I usually do daily) to discover a mystery charge was listed as pending. \u00a0It was for $5.77 and the merchant was listed as Watergate Hotel. \u00a0The … Continue reading