I got hacked
I received a call from the fraud department of my bank, Fifth Third, earlier this week. They were calling to verify some "suspicious charges" on my checking account using my card number. These charges were all in New York at various gas stations, etc. "Was that you?" she asked.
Uh, NO.
"We didn't think so," she said.
First, mad props to Fifth Third, who had already flagged my account and closed my card before they even got a hold of me, to stop any more charges from going through. They were on top of things and stopped it before it got worse. Granted, my account will probably be overdrawn with all of these charges, since it happened less than a week before payday, but she said those charges--and the resulting fees--would be applied back to my account, although it may take a couple of weeks and some paperwork. A new card is also on its way to me. However, the question remains:
HOW THE HELL DID IT HAPPEN?
I may have the answer.
A major supermarket chain, SweetBay, had millions of customers' credit card numbers stolen in the last couple of months. I remember, vaguely, reading about it at the time, but it didn't really click. I do, however, shop at SB--hell, there's one right next door to my school. So when a coworker asked if I thought it was a result of THAT, it was kind of awakening. I'm going to call the hotline tomorrow; apparently they can tell me if my card was one of the ones affected.
(However, I buy a LOT of stuff online, so anything is possible.)
Anyway: it CAN happen to you. Be careful.
And bank at Fifth Third.
6 comments:
Also, shop at Publix. :p
We're kind of going to be neighbors. I'm moving to St Pete in a week.
I had a bad experience at fifth third this week and will NEVER bank there again...funny how it can go like that. I have a loan there and the manager was a total bitch to me about some activity that took place on the loan account before I took it over. I put a car in my name for someone and they allowed them to change the address from my own to theirs so when late fees were accumulating, I didn't know it and even though I looked online, it never showed that those fees were owed...so yeah, not happy this week...and i have been making the pmts since July and driving the car...all the while no idea that the account was at a collection status
Jen, I hate to burst your bubble, but as happy as you are with 5/3 they are only doing what they are doing to protect themselves, not you. The law makes you liable for fraud in excess of 50 bucks, if and only if you didn't take action in a timely matter AFTER it came to your attention. All that loss is theirs, and they know it.
oK yeah, i feel slightly less warm and fuzzy towards them now
That's crappy! At least your bank rocked and found it asap.
Yeah, that's scary. John's parents got hacked recently, too. Theirs was caught very timely as well and taken care of immediately, but just the thought of someone having your information is scary. I guess the silver lining is that it sounds like it's just your card number, not any personal info, right?
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