Stolen Debit Card Questions
December 3, 2020 7:10 PM Subscribe
My debit card info was stolen and I'm trying to figure out a few things.
I noticed some Amazon Prime charges going back about three months on one of my debit card accounts (one I almost never use). I am not a Prime member at the moment and after I spoke to Amazon they confirmed for me that the Prime charges were not on the debit card associated w/ my account but verified that the charges happened and set up a call with someone in a few days to discuss.
My bank cancelled the stolen account number. I looked closely at my activity and found a few other, mostly Amazon related charges that were not mine. I disputed those with my bank and they're now in the process of being reversed. I also filled out an identity theft report at the FTC and will report this to the credit bureaus in the morning, etc.
What I don't understand is–why the person who stole my debit card info sent me a bag of candy a few days ago (I just realized that one of the smaller fraudulent charges is the exact amount as the 2 pound bag of sour worms I mysteriously received this weekend from Amazon). Why send candy to me? Why order candy at all–on a stolen card? Why not order a computer or cameras or something valuable? And does this confirm that they definitely know my address, as well as my name? I assumed they just had a card number, expiration, three digit code and a name. But to send candy (even by mistake) means they must have entered my address in the 'ship to' area on Amazon–right? Or is the candy some other scam I'm not aware of? And why did they keep everything Amazon-centric? Why didn't they attempt to max it out? What am I not understanding about this?
I noticed some Amazon Prime charges going back about three months on one of my debit card accounts (one I almost never use). I am not a Prime member at the moment and after I spoke to Amazon they confirmed for me that the Prime charges were not on the debit card associated w/ my account but verified that the charges happened and set up a call with someone in a few days to discuss.
My bank cancelled the stolen account number. I looked closely at my activity and found a few other, mostly Amazon related charges that were not mine. I disputed those with my bank and they're now in the process of being reversed. I also filled out an identity theft report at the FTC and will report this to the credit bureaus in the morning, etc.
What I don't understand is–why the person who stole my debit card info sent me a bag of candy a few days ago (I just realized that one of the smaller fraudulent charges is the exact amount as the 2 pound bag of sour worms I mysteriously received this weekend from Amazon). Why send candy to me? Why order candy at all–on a stolen card? Why not order a computer or cameras or something valuable? And does this confirm that they definitely know my address, as well as my name? I assumed they just had a card number, expiration, three digit code and a name. But to send candy (even by mistake) means they must have entered my address in the 'ship to' area on Amazon–right? Or is the candy some other scam I'm not aware of? And why did they keep everything Amazon-centric? Why didn't they attempt to max it out? What am I not understanding about this?
Can't answer the back half of your questions, but do you have Wells Fargo by any chance? My brother's checking account is with Wells Fargo. He doesn't use his debit card ever. He has had to get 3 new debit cards in the last year because the number keeps getting stolen to make Amazon purchases. How does a card that has never been used get stolen? Well apparently Wells Fargo has some kind of agreement with Amazon where their mutual customers have their account info automatically shared. It's been literally a year he's been dealing with this crap.
That doesn't help you at all except to say that this may not be the end of it.
posted by phunniemee at 7:23 PM on December 3, 2020
That doesn't help you at all except to say that this may not be the end of it.
posted by phunniemee at 7:23 PM on December 3, 2020
to send candy (even by mistake) means they must have entered my address in the 'ship to' area on Amazon–right?
A lot of times sites will auto-populate the shipping address with the billing address, or try to, and sometimes even if you put in a different shipping address, it's easy to accidentally hit something that will make it revert.
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:26 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
A lot of times sites will auto-populate the shipping address with the billing address, or try to, and sometimes even if you put in a different shipping address, it's easy to accidentally hit something that will make it revert.
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:26 PM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Just to clarify–the mystery candy that was sent to me from Amazon turns out to be one of the fraudulent charges on my debit card: *I* paid for that candy.
posted by marimeko at 7:34 PM on December 3, 2020
posted by marimeko at 7:34 PM on December 3, 2020
Response by poster: Sorry-when someone steels a card do they *always* know the card holder's address, as well (is it not usable otherwise?).
posted by marimeko at 7:39 PM on December 3, 2020
posted by marimeko at 7:39 PM on December 3, 2020
Best answer: Pure speculation, could they be checking that the card works and address is correct, so that they can order a more expensive item and then try to intercept it?
Have you ever used the card online?
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:44 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Have you ever used the card online?
posted by kinddieserzeit at 7:44 PM on December 3, 2020 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: It's all little, recurring things like Netflix, Ventra and Apple storage charges. It almost entirely online things that have been in place for many years.
posted by marimeko at 7:49 PM on December 3, 2020
posted by marimeko at 7:49 PM on December 3, 2020
No they do not *always* know the address; it depends on where it was compromised. But certainly sometimes they do. It's not surprising or unusual, but also not guaranteed.
I have seen fraudsters make a few "legitimate" looking purchases, including sending things to the cardholder's address, and using the cardholder's email address, to camouflage subsequent more blatant fraud. E.g. if they set up a new account on a site, place an order or two where the billing/shipping address match and pass verification, that account might then be viewed as less suspicious than one whose first order is a Playstation sent to an address in a different state or country than the billing address.
BTW, this is one reason it's not a good idea to use a debit card for purchases (online or otherwise). Luckily these charges were small it sounds like, but if someone makes a large purchase with a stolen debit card number, that cash comes straight out of your bank account and can cause bounced checks and worse. Even if you do eventually get reimbursed by the bank, it is much more of a hassle than a stolen credit card number.
posted by primethyme at 7:54 PM on December 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
I have seen fraudsters make a few "legitimate" looking purchases, including sending things to the cardholder's address, and using the cardholder's email address, to camouflage subsequent more blatant fraud. E.g. if they set up a new account on a site, place an order or two where the billing/shipping address match and pass verification, that account might then be viewed as less suspicious than one whose first order is a Playstation sent to an address in a different state or country than the billing address.
BTW, this is one reason it's not a good idea to use a debit card for purchases (online or otherwise). Luckily these charges were small it sounds like, but if someone makes a large purchase with a stolen debit card number, that cash comes straight out of your bank account and can cause bounced checks and worse. Even if you do eventually get reimbursed by the bank, it is much more of a hassle than a stolen credit card number.
posted by primethyme at 7:54 PM on December 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
You definitely need to know the correct billing address to buy anything on Amazon, as well as most other online retailers I can think of. If these charges have been going on for three months then they already had the address. My bet is the candy was sent to you by mistake. Another possibility: could they have been ordering items shipped to your residence for months, but swiping them before you had a chance to notice? This seems unlikely, but Amazon has extra verifications when you try to use a card for a new address for the first time, plus having stolen goods shipped to the thief's business or residence or some other access point obviously has its own risks.
It is weird that somebody would buy candy with your stolen debit card, but unexpected merchandise can be pretty liquid at or close to list price (more liquid than a fancy camera or television or whatever, which people tend to prefer to buy from retailers) in specific markets. It also seems as though this person correctly figured out that they could get away with small purchases for a while without you noticing. If your card were suddenly maxed out or if you saw an $800 Amazon expense instead of a routine $15 charge, chances are good you'd figure it out before the merchandise reached its destination. In most cases, retailers can ask the shipper to return goods in transit, so going big is likely a risky strategy.
posted by exutima at 8:56 PM on December 3, 2020
It is weird that somebody would buy candy with your stolen debit card, but unexpected merchandise can be pretty liquid at or close to list price (more liquid than a fancy camera or television or whatever, which people tend to prefer to buy from retailers) in specific markets. It also seems as though this person correctly figured out that they could get away with small purchases for a while without you noticing. If your card were suddenly maxed out or if you saw an $800 Amazon expense instead of a routine $15 charge, chances are good you'd figure it out before the merchandise reached its destination. In most cases, retailers can ask the shipper to return goods in transit, so going big is likely a risky strategy.
posted by exutima at 8:56 PM on December 3, 2020
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posted by BungaDunga at 7:23 PM on December 3, 2020