Fraud on PenFed Debit card

CreditCuriosity · ‎08-10-2021

How this didn't trigger their algorithm I have no idea, but saw it yesterday. Needless to say was on with PenFed fraud team for about an hour yesterday. If any clear they will be taken care of. Funny thing is use debit card maybe once a month to take out cash otherwise in safe. I used it at a non-bank atm at a bar needed cash to play pool and suppose there was a skimmer on that machine or line wasn't encrypted. Fun times! 95% of time it is in the safe, but just happened to have it with me as had to get cash for house cleaning person a few days prior to actually make that used twice that month.

Also how PenFed being 2nd biggest CU doesn't have lock on the card drives me nuts as well. They said that will be coming soon after our discussion to be seen if that happens.

creditfan · ‎08-10-2021

same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. When I complaint why you don't have lock feature on debit card and she told me not her job and she transferred me to CSR I hanged up

BearsCubsOtters · ‎08-11-2021

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
How this didn't trigger their algorithm I have no idea, but saw it yesterday. Needless to say was on with PenFed fraud team for about an hour yesterday. If any clear they will be taken care of. Funny thing is use debit card maybe once a month to take out cash otherwise in safe. I used it at a non-bank atm at a bar needed cash to play pool and suppose there was a skimmer on that machine or line wasn't encrypted. Fun times! 95% of time it is in the safe, but just happened to have it with me as had to get cash for house cleaning person a few days prior to actually make that used twice that month.

Also how PenFed being 2nd biggest CU doesn't have lock on the card drives me nuts as well. They said that will be coming soon after our discussion to be seen if that happens.

PenFed is actually the third largest with BECU looking to knock them down to 4th. I am not trying the be 'that guy' (know-it-all correcting people) but I have always been fascinated how the NC State Employees' Credit Union is second largest. It makes no sense to me and they do not even seem to offer anything that great. NC has plenty of good banks so I just don't get it......

Anyway, good thing you were paying attention. This is why, like you, I rarely use my debit cards...I do not like thieves having access to checking (or attached savings/LOC).

It is ironic how they did not identify this on their own. Some banks block a single, legitimate transaction believing it to be fraud but then this happens. Same thing happened on my Chase Freedom several years ago with $900 Uber transactions...they did eventually ask me if it had been me...but...they let $900 go through first

GatorGuy · ‎08-11-2021

I almost never use cash and thus my debit card is only used a few times a year. But I wouldn't use any bank as my main depositer if they didn't have proper protections in this regard. I just have too much on the line. Sure banks are supposed to give you fraud protection like CCs but in my experience it is much more limited and more dependent on the banks generosity than law.

I use Ally for my main bank holdings and give gives decent ROR, quickest transfer times I've experienced and has extensive card controls for it's debit cards.

ambivalent · ‎08-11-2021

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
How this didn't trigger their algorithm I have no idea, but saw it yesterday. Needless to say was on with PenFed fraud team for about an hour yesterday. If any clear they will be taken care of. Funny thing is use debit card maybe once a month to take out cash otherwise in safe. I used it at a non-bank atm at a bar needed cash to play pool and suppose there was a skimmer on that machine or line wasn't encrypted. Fun times! 95% of time it is in the safe, but just happened to have it with me as had to get cash for house cleaning person a few days prior to actually make that used twice that month.

Also how PenFed being 2nd biggest CU doesn't have lock on the card drives me nuts as well. They said that will be coming soon after our discussion to be seen if that happens.

I mentioned in another thread that I was going to move some of my DD from USAA to PenFed to avoid the fee and because I had recent fraud on that account. Low and behold, I also had fraud on my PenFed account! The thing about it is that I have NEVER used the account since opening it; the balance was about $10. The crooks are working overtime these days! Sorry that happened to you!

Aiming for 700 across FICO 8 and $150K TCL

CreditCuriosity · ‎08-11-2021

I moved 40k from checking into savings just for this reason a few weeks ago just in-case like something like this happened. Not sure if I didn't catch it how much they would of drained? My whole checking account balance? Seriously consider moving my checking to a place where I can lock my debit card along with DD due to lack of ability to turn it off. I can care less about locking CC's are not responsible. Checking is another story as can take awhile to get money back and cause a cascading impact of possible bouncing checks if one doesn't have enough balance or catch in time. I have many other checking accounts with other banks/cu's might be time to move my checking to one with a lock feature. How hard is it to implement, not hard at all..

cashorcharge · ‎08-11-2021

My SO had a similar problem 2 weeks ago...same thing...except the charges weren't as high...but all the same vendor...some TV Streaming service we'd never heard of. Had to call and blah blah blah. Similar questions asked about "Lock" and yep, pretty much the same reply. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Makes we wonder if other banks are "that good" at blocking this and we're not hearing about it...meaning PF is that BAD about managing this? Is it really likely that that many of their clients are using tampered ATM machines? Or could it be something else? It feels like I read about this with another MF member that stated they had never even used their card before. Stay vigilant!

AverageJoesCredit · ‎08-11-2021

Sorry to read CC. Not the same but i recently had fraud on my Langley Visa. Suckers got a $1148 hotel room and lets just say im not real happy how its being handled. I also have PSECU and i believe their debit Visa can be locked, as mine is. Maybe check them out. Theyve been real good to me . Ill jump off thread now as i dont need another Pendread headache lol. Good catch!

SoCalGardener · ‎08-11-2021

I use my BofA debit card freely, both online and [back when I could go out] at stores. But I *never* use ATMs--haven't since some time in the '80s, I think. I have alerts set up so I'm notified the moment a charge is made on any card. That's how I spotted fraud immediately when something similar happened to me. I'm assuming you do not have alerts set up. I highly recommend doing so! Every single one of my credit and debit cards is set up to notify me, both by e-mail and push notifications, whenever a charge is made.

I'm glad you caught this and it's being taken care of. I'm surprised, too, that the bank didn't automatically flag it, but whatever. *shrug*