Some accessed my bank account and deposited money. Why?

December 9, 2017 11:13 AM

Someone gained access to my online bank account, got an cash advance from my credit card, and deposited the money INTO my account. I don't get it.

Whoever did this also changed the password and email address associated with my bank account.

I don't understand what happened. i notified both the bank and the credit card issuer, and after many conversations (and an actual in-person visit to the branch, which I almost never do) I have a new bank card# and password, and the email address is once again mine. I cancelled the credit card altogether, since it's a card I never use.

What I don't understand is: what would someone gain from taking a cash advance from my card and putting it into my own account? What do they get out of this? What further issues should I be on the lookout for? I have asked the bank these questions too, but have not heard back. I am in Canada - this is a Canadian bank. I am puzzled.

posted by Badmichelle to Work & Money (3 answers total)

They were going to wire the money overseas but didn't do it before you stopped them. They were giving the cash advance a couple of days to clear.
posted by Hatashran at 11:15 AM on December 9, 2017 [13 favorites]

I agree that they were probably making the cash available to them before they sent it elsewhere and cashed it out somehow. I suspect they had to cash the money into your account and couldn't have put it in their own account directly, or they were testing it to make sure it worked. For instance, when my credit card has gotten stolen in the past, there's usually an initial transaction of like $15 or something -- apparently them checking to see it works -- followed by the much larger transactions.

Sounds like you caught it, but I would just make sure to set up alerts on your account. Any activity on my account triggers an email so if I get an email when I haven't used my card, I know something is up.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:29 AM on December 9, 2017 [3 favorites]

I once gave a friend my bank account number so he could deposit some money he owed me. He did that and they gave him a receipt with my acct # on it. Then the next time he went to withdraw money from his own account, he used that receipt by accident. Then the next time he went to deposit money, he deposited into my account too. I wonder if someone similarly (close number?) got into your account and starting using it as if it were their own.
posted by hungrytiger at 3:21 PM on December 9, 2017