topic Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share.... in Personal Finance

Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

CramEiko — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 15:49:32 GMT

So last night I was just minding my own business and bs'n with some neighbors out here in Texas when I get this strange text from BoA.

FREE TEXT: from Bank of America: Did you use your card #XXXX at DJ Fruit Market for $77.58 (Declined)? Reply YES or NO. To opt out of text alerts reply STOP.

It looked fishy to me and well frankly I didn't recognize the #'s. I immediatly Googled DJ Fruit Market and found out that it was in New Jersey. So I went into my house, opened up my safe and there was my unused ATM/Debit Card now in my hand. Turned out the numbers did match my ATM/Debit card. So I log into my BoA app and BOOM right SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCREEN !!!! A warning that something was going on. So I filled out the fraud information and checked the boxes and when it was all finished I called into BoA Fraud Department to make sure everything was ok.

History of my card: Only one call to verify I received my card and then it went directly into my safe. I have not used it at all for any purposes and I do not carry it.

At first the Fraud Rep couldn't even see my card linking to my accounts. He had to dig a bit to find it. Once he located it in the system he stated that this was an anomaly. He saw that this card had no swipe or usage history other than the one in NJ. He said that thieves now are making duplicate cards and punching random numbers on them and selling them on the black market. He stated that thieves usually find a number then ping the number to see if payment history pops up (he used Hulu as an example) to validate the number, then sell them. My card shows absolutely nothing except the physical swipe of a card in NJ. The Rep said that in his time working at BoA he's only seen one other instance like this and has only heard of a few similar cases.

These AH's are getting more brave by the day..... These guys didn't have access to my card AT ALL. Don't reply to fishy looking texts or emails. The rep said you wouldn't believe how many calls they get regarding pfishing scams.

Be Smart, Be Safe, Be Aware of your Credit.

Good Luck!

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

Streetervillelady — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 18:05:29 GMT

Thank you for your post. Debit card fraud is alive and well.

Over $1,500.00 in debit card transactions posted to my account before a valid check caused an NFS notice that alerted me. The kicker is my card was still sealed in the envelope! When I provided it to the bank a new account was opened and the funds immediately replaced. Now I keep my head on a swivel!

****NOTE***** The fine print: You have 30 days to catch fraud on most accounts!

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 18:11:17 GMT

@Streetervillelady wrote:
Thank you for your post. Debit card fraud is alive and well.

Over $1,500.00 in debit card transactions posted to my account before a valid check caused an NFS notice that alerted me. The kicker is my card was still sealed in the envelope! When I provided it to the bank a new account was opened and the funds immediately replaced. Now I keep my head on a swivel!

****NOTE***** The fine print: You have 30 days to catch fraud on most accounts!

Chase checking gives you a week to report it otherwise you're on the hook.

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

CreditInspired — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 19:24:37 GMT

@CramEiko wrote:
So last night I was just minding my own business and bs'n with some neighbors out here in Texas when I get this strange text from BoA.

FREE TEXT: from Bank of America: Did you use your card #XXXX at DJ Fruit Market for $77.58 (Declined)? Reply YES or NO. To opt out of text alerts reply STOP.

It looked fishy to me and well frankly I didn't recognize the #'s. I immediatly Googled DJ Fruit Market and found out that it was in New Jersey. So I went into my house, opened up my safe and there was my unused ATM/Debit Card now in my hand. Turned out the numbers did match my ATM/Debit card. So I log into my BoA app and BOOM right SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCREEN !!!! A warning that something was going on. So I filled out the fraud information and checked the boxes and when it was all finished I called into BoA Fraud Department to make sure everything was ok.

History of my card: Only one call to verify I received my card and then it went directly into my safe. I have not used it at all for any purposes and I do not carry it.

At first the Fraud Rep couldn't even see my card linking to my accounts. He had to dig a bit to find it. Once he located it in the system he stated that this was an anomaly. He saw that this card had no swipe or usage history other than the one in NJ. He said that thieves now are making duplicate cards and punching random numbers on them and selling them on the black market. He stated that thieves usually find a number then ping the number to see if payment history pops up (he used Hulu as an example) to validate the number, then sell them. My card shows absolutely nothing except the physical swipe of a card in NJ. The Rep said that in his time working at BoA he's only seen one other instance like this and has only heard of a few similar cases.

These AH's are getting more brave by the day..... These guys didn't have access to my card AT ALL. Don't reply to fishy looking texts or emails. The rep said you wouldn't believe how many calls they get regarding pfishing scams.

Be Smart, Be Safe, Be Aware of your Credit.

Good Luck!

Thanks for sharing. And this is why I have alerts setup on all my cards. So glad BOA text you.

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

CramEiko — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 02:22:28 GMT

Initially I wasn't going to post but, I figured why not? Right? Maybe someone else will turn their notices on. Maybe someone else will check their account and find something abnormal with their accounts.

Again, my ATM card is in my safe. My safes door alone is 4 feet wide. It's not going to be carried out by anyone so easily. If they do? Well, they probably aren't goint to use my ATM card first. This was a physically swiped card (not an online purchase). Crooks used a random number generator and placed it onto a card. I just happened to be my number this time on thier fake card.

Be aware!

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 09:30:08 GMT

Great thread! Already learned some more. Never even use your card and get hit with fraud!!! Hackers now enter random numbers and then run ... unreal! Also, the follow ups on how long banks give us to notify them. No longer carry any Debit Cards and don't use them as the banks seem more reluctant to replace funds. Some where I read someone reported fraud, their bank replaced the lost funds then clawed back the funds and held the Debit Cardholder responsible (do I trust banks? NOT!!!) as they felt the cardholder was not diligent enough with security on the card. So I wonder, locking the card in a safe or never opening the mail and activating the card is sufficient grounds to not pay back the funds (just say'in). .

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

CramEiko — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 16:11:45 GMT

That's exactly why I called even after completing the information on my APP. This CSR in Fraud Department was shocked. And well, I live in Texas and don't really finding myself traveling to NJ anytime in the near future let alone shopping for stuff at a random market.

But now I'm looking into the business more and I see it may acutually be in Brooklyn, NY at least thats where I'm finding DJ Fruit Market Inc. located at. I'm curious as to the neighborhood. There is a couple Yelp complaints about fraudulant charges through there as well. And both complaints said that they are located in Dallas, TX.

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 16:36:11 GMT

Thanks for sharing. Normally up to date with my accounts and cautious with emails so as not to fall prey to phishing, but this is the first time I've heard of the MO.

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

AverageJoesCredit — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:29:02 GMT

Thanks for sharing Cram Glad you caught it. I would always tecommend calling in too. Hopefully you can add additional security measures when you call in. Crazy to think human beings wont stop at anything to make a buck

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

Remedios — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 17:40:09 GMT

@CramEiko That's a scary story. Thank you for sharing.

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

xaximus — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 12:38:04 GMT

It sucks when this happens but the good thing is that it was caught in time. I've had this happen twice now (Chase) and once to the DW. First time, it was some bogus charges out in the Midwest and second time, it was some fraud company. Chase took care of the charges within 24 hours and had a new debit card expedited, new account, etc.

DW had someone buy a sofa off her card out in Cali. With a signature and all on the receipt. Funny thing was, it was BoA. They refused to refund since the merchant had a receipt. We asked for ID and merchant never responded and BoA took their side. I actually went to the branch and went off on them, went to the police station and filed a report, went back to the branch and went off on them some more. Fraud dept was called, I yelled at them some more, got multiple supervisors involved and finally they agreed it was fraud and refunded. It was a massive headache to get it cleared.

Re: Odd BoA Fraud Text to share....

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 20:07:09 GMT

Yikes, that’s crazy!

This is why I don’t like debit cards. Thank you for the reminder to go into the DCU app and turn my card off again, forgot to do it when I loaded up my Cash App card the other day.

It sucks that we have to deal with this — the only reason that fraud is so rampant is because the banks refuse to implement chip and PIN priority for transactions like the rest of the world does.