Posted by I was working on my computer the other day and I received a fraud alert from my bank. My newly activated debit card had been used for a purchase on Ebay. My first thought was that it was a fake alert. So, I logged into my bank account and sure enough, there was a $17 charge from Ebay. I do have an account on Ebay, but I don’t use this debit card for purchases on Ebay. I immediately put a block on any further transactions. While I was doing this another fraud alert appeared on my phone. It was another Ebay transaction. But this one quickly disappeared because I had deactivated the card in time. I then called my bank and told them about the fraud alerts. They were very helpful and assured me that the funds from the first transaction would be credited back to my account. They asked me a few questions about the card and said that they would start an investigation. I got the feeling that they were accustomed to this type of thing.
This was a card that the bank had sent me in the mail because my old card was due to expire. I had just activated it two days prior to the fraudulent activity. I put the card in my wallet and had not used the card. In fact, it is a card that I rarely use. The card had a different expiration and 3-digit security code than the old one. The card could have been compromised during the manufacturing process, a data breach, or when it went through the US mail. I used my cell phone to activate the card, so I suppose that could be a possibility too. My girlfriend received a new card from the same bank, but she has not seen any fraudulent transactions yet.
I am thankful that the bank sent the fraud alert. That allowed me to deactivate my card and stop any further transactions. It is also a good idea to turn on transaction alerts on your checking account and turn on two-factor identification. This isn’t the first time I have had to deal with fraudulent transactions. Criminals can obtain lists of credit/debit card information quite easily and it looks like they are getting the data directly from the source. It is getting to be rare to have a credit/debit card make it to the expiration date printed on the card without having to be replaced because of fraudulent activity. All we can do is monitor our accounts and deactivate the card as soon as we see any unusual activity.