Nothing like a lil bank fraud- How do I do my own investigation?

Oh, lucky day for me yesterday!

I found out someone had lifted (by the time everything was said and done and printed out and scoured and the offending transactions highlighted) $71 by cloning my card. Not a lot to most, but it was *enough*.

The fools made a HUGE mistake, however- This was a brand new account, and I had 3 transactions where my card was actually swiped somewhere. Wal Mart, Rack Room Shoes, and a Chinese buffet called China King. I am in the piedmont of NC- without giving away my complete location.

I highly suspect, in order: Chinese place, Rack Room, Wal Mart.

The account activity:

Every thief transaction has been at ONE golden corral in Winston Salem- at ONE location only. I have never been to that golden corral, or one at ALL. I especially hadn't been to one after I had opened the account. They also slipped $22 out like every other month- except this month, where they tried to slip out $44. They also checked my account 3 times..

I have already gone to the bank, got rid of my old card, am waiting for the new card, the paperwork, got the $$ put back in, awaiting the 'investigation', made a police report, Cursed, swore and would like their heads on a pike- or at the VERY least arrests and possibly a lawsuit, so by the time I get done with them, they wont be able to steal apples from a market...


Now... how do I investigate this independently? I see a correlation between Chinese place. Golden, and possibly the ATM they have there (at the golden corral). And that's just how things look on my account history sheet. I read up, and restaurants are the biggest offenders for stealing card numbers. I don't have much in the line of resources- like the name of the owner of the Golden, or the Chinese place, or who owns the ATM. I would love to know who did it, because at the very LEAST- I will boycott the place forever.

And yes... no more debit card purchases. I am now an officially 'cash only' affair.



[edit on 9-4-2010 by wylekat]

I'm sorry this happened to you.
I don't really have any advice, though.
Hope you get to the bottom of this, soon! (and are repaid!)

There is nothing you can do basically.

Your money was refunded and that is that. I have had my debit card jacked for like 10 transactions in 10 minutes all across Florida. Bank called me immediately and I got a new card, money back etc..

Are you certain the card was cloned and not just account # stolen and used for manual transactions?

Did you swipe your card yourself at the Rack Room and China King or did they take the card? If you swiped it and keyed your pin it is much less likely that the employees had easy access.

At the Rack Room it is likely they have a credit card imprinter that could easily have been used to obtain the card numbers.

At the China King it is common for small establishments of that nature to use a very unsecure form of credit card reader which prints a receipt with the entire card number for store use. The transaction itself is as secure as any, but the paper receipt is very risky and could be taken by any employee who has access to the slips.

My thought, like yours, would be that the Chinese place would be the most likely culprit primarily because an independent place is more likely to have laxer cc control standards.

Among other things, I would talk to the manager at the Golden Corral to see if it is possible to verify if a card was actually swiped or if it's possible that an employee just keyed your card number for those transactions. That would be a big help in determining which direction to go from there.

Just my initial thoughts. I hope that can be of some help to you.

reply to post by wylekat


Hello,
I too am sorry for what had happened to you. I wish I knew how to help, but you've already done all that I would think to do. Except maybe case the joints, and film a theft in progress. Got a small enough camcorder/video-phone? Or the time to spend?

Those transactions have store #'s as to their locations? (Your bank statement transactions)

reply to post by skyturnedgrey

Did you swipe your card yourself at the Rack Room and China King or did they take the card?

They took the card both times- Rack room, however- I was right in front of the swiper. The Buffet- it's behind a counter.
As for the Corral- I think there's an ATM there- due to the $2 charge while they peeked at my balance. It's why I am pretty sure about the card cloning.

reply to post by loveguy


A lil hard, since it's a debit swiping scam- one doesn't know when it's done, or how it's done.

Have you already talked to the general manager at the Golden Corral or any other locations to see if they have any camera footage for the time frame in question?

reply to post by skyturnedgrey


Not yet- been running around trying to keep all the ends from getting loose

I will be going there this next week, tho

As for camera footage- all I have is a date, no actual hour/ min when this happened.


[edit on 9-4-2010 by wylekat]

As mentioned, you "personally" have no recourse as the bank has cancelled the old card, is issuing a new card (which will have different numbers) and has reimbursed your "loss" without penalty. It is now in the bank's hand to prosecute the thief.

You may think that your numbers were swiped (pun intended) at some place you may have previously used the card but it's plausible that the account was phished or hacked from a server somewhere, or an internal job, or just a lucky guess.

However, you may want to keep an eye on your credit reports.



[edit on 4/10/2010 by abecedarian]

reply to post by abecedarian


True, that.... But my credit is already so bad, They'll be up the creek trying to get a card! if *I* Cant get one, what chance do they have?

I'll be more worried about 'committing crimes' or 'becoming a terrorist', to be honest. However, I usually can pinpoint where I am, with a LOT of help from my friends- so few worries there. AND, I'll take a polygraph, if all else fails.

As an aside- you know what really killing me? The people who use their cards there and know me think i am a flipping idiot when I mentioned not going back there. If a place steals your info, would YOU eat there? Hell- would you still use your card there???? It's like I'm screaming into an abyss sometimes. Except, instead of an echo, I hear some snotty lil kid laughing at me.

Hire a private investigator and sue, sue and sue.