When you are a victim of bank fraud, it brings out a myriad of emotions in you.  You’re pissed off, angry, irritated, concerned, sad, worried, and anxious.  It has nothing to do with getting your money back (as the bank covers it), but its the time it takes them to complete their investigation and the “how did they get access to my information” that makes you sit back and wonder.  It also makes you think about how you could have been placed in a pickle and how the people who perpetrated the fraud could have gotten ahold of your information.

Last Wednesday, I found myself in that very situation.  On a lark, I logged into my account and low and behold discovered that my balance was in the negative.  I found this most disturbing, so I immediately called the bank who verified that they had shut my access card down due to suspicious activity (albeit after the criminals had obtained the funds).  After answering many questions for loss prevention (as obviously, they had to verify that I was indeed the legitimate cardholder), I had to venture to my branch to obtain a new card (as the old one was now permanently offline).

It takes the loss prevention department at the bank 7-10 business days to perform an investigation and return the funds to your account.  During that time, you are left in limbo.  You have no access to those funds, although you will not be responsible for service charges if your account goes into the red due to pre-authorized payments being withdrawn from your account during that time.

All I can say, is to be careful where you use your debit card.  In some cases, it is a machine on top of the ATM that scans your card.  In other cases, such as a gas station, it is the attendant scamming the card.  Once they have your number and your PIN, they clone the card and it is generally used within a few days.

Now – here is something that I do not comprehend.  I used my access card about an hour prior to the fraud taking place.  I live in Oakville, Ontario and the fraudulent act was committed in Verdun, Quebec.  You would think that with all the security that we have these days that the bank would figure out instantly that it was not possible for me to travel from Oakville to Verdun in less than an hour, and shut down the card.

Secondly…after shutting down the card, the bank did not call me, e-mail me or otherwise inform me.  That is the second time that they have shut down the card without any notification.  This could end up to be terribly inconvenient if you are buying gas or at a restaurant and you do not have any alternative methods of payment.  It’s a good reminder to always have cash or a credit card on you.

Needless to say, on one hand I am happy with the bank refunding my money and trying to ensure that I am protected.  However, the lack of common sense and the fact that the money is not immediately put back into my account after it is established that I was not involved in the theft is rather irritating.