Damn You Vegas!!

[John Junk]

Someone in Las Vegas just withdrew 304.99 from my checking account. 

Remind me not to hit up an ATM in a strip club again anytime soon.

[John Junk]

Holy Shit, I've been on hold for a half hour.  How is this even possible?

[KickTheBobo]

is this like some sort of new viral ad for Visa Checkcard with FraudShield™?

seriously though: you aren't responsible for that, are you? Isn't the onus on our bank to protect our money from theft, or am I just living in some never-been-victim-of-ID-theft dreamland?

good luck.

[Beth]

Some dude once stole my debit card, and promptly went to K-Mart and spent 400 dollars. The bank issued me a new card, and deposited the amount stolen back into my account. I really wanted to catch the guy that did it, but even though he was on camera no one knew who he was. I remember the manager of K-mart said "Yeah, I thought it was a little weird, I've never seen someone run through a store so quickly and accumulate so much merchandise so quickly at 3 in the morning". If he thought it was weird, he should have looked at the name on the card! It's probably a safe bet that the guy's name was not Elizabeth M. Barrett.

Stupidity.

It's too easy these days, with the anonymity of the internet, and those swipe through machines at stores, where you don't even have to hand the card over. I mean, when was the last time anyone saw a cashier double check a signature.

Good luck, John Junk. You'll get through this!

[Laurie]

Someone once signed up for an AT&T account using my name and purchased a BlackBerry. NO CLUE HOW. I'm really careful with my information, too. I've had bad luck with AT&T in the past, so I'm pretty sure it's their fault.

I only use AT&T for local calls by necessity. I use a dirty hippie company for my long distance and T-Mobile for my cell phone, so my AT&T bill is never more than $25. The $878 phone bill with my name attached was kind of a shocker. I got it squared eventually, but they gave me the run around. I was on hold for a total of three and three quarters of an hour over the course of two weeks, spoke with 8 different representatives at three different numbers ("Oh dear, why did they tell you to call here? I'm sorry, the fraud department can't help you."), and wasted a grand total of seven and a half hours trying to remedy this bullshit. It was awful.

I've been super vigilant ever since that happened Here's hoping for a shenanigans-free '08.

[John Junk]

Yeah, I gave up on staying on hold after 50 minutes.  I actually called again using a different phone, with the first phone still up at my other ear, and asked the second teller (who was more annoying and asked stuff like "It says the debit card was used.  How could you have the card in L.A. if it said the card was used in Las Vegas?"  Fuck if I know Sherlock.) but I asked that guy was up and he said I should call back in the morning. I'm just going to WaMu this morning to deal with it in person.  Thanks for the support people.  And yeah, it might not be my fault, exactly, but there could've been a crooked ATM machine I ended up using or something.

[Dorvid Barnas]

When prostitutes refuse my travelers checks, I say, "Good day, young lady" and get right back into the Town Car.

[buffcoat]

A friend of mine had her card number stolen and used to PAY COURT COSTS AND CHILD SUPPORT in California.  At least they couldn't trace the guy.

The good news, JJ, is that she wasn't liable for any of it.

[Phantom Hugger]

I recently had to clear up some BS with Sprint. I was dreading the 7 hour run around so much that I contemplated going Amish. In the end it was relatively painless, i used this list in order to get to a human that could help me asap and it seems to have worked....

http://www.gethuman.com/

[Laurie]

PH, that's a really cool site. THANK YOU.

[Beth]

Yeah, that really is awesome. I'm sharing it with as many people as possible.

[masterofsparks]

Very useful link. Thanks!

[Laurie]

Me too, Beth. I just sent it to my entire department at work -- yes, at the job I am leaving for good THIS FRIDAY YAY.

[John Junk]

Hey all,
Here's my update.  I went to the bank and they told me to use the phone!   But they gave me a better number.  Anyway, the thing's under investigation.  Hopefully they'll be crediting my account sometime within 5 business days.  I guess things are okay.  That is an awesome website, btw!
Cheers,
John

[Sarah]

I just misread the name of this thread as "Damn You Vegans!!" 

I was shocked.