“So here is the deal,” I said to the security representative from the bank, “I cannot have people taking money from my checking account. I do not know how they got a hold of my debit card information or my PIN, but you have to stop them.” And I added, “If you don’t do it, I will have to close my account with you and move to another institution.” After this last sentence, I have not encountered any further problems with the bank.

This recent problem with the bank occurred when I noticed that more than $1,000 was missing from my checking account on a Tuesday morning. Most interesting, after I review the transactions, they all happened in gas stations around the country for around the same amount ($75.00 to $80.00). I immediately called the bank to file a claim. As you might expect the call was a long conversation, where I would be put on hold for 5-10 minutes at a time while I was transferred to another representative and to a new department. Finally a gentle older woman told me that I needed to process some documentation online to file the claim, and within 48 hours I would get the funds credited back to my account. She also cancelled my debit card to avoid further inconvenience; I felt secure. After I hung up, I received an e-mail with documentation confirming my claim. Fortunately, 10 hours later the bank had credited the money bank into my account.

However, the next morning, I woke up and I saw that the thieves had taken another $300 from gas stations as far away as Portland Oregon and Ft. Myers Florida. Again, like Groundhog Day, I had to call the bank and explain my story. And again, they requested that I completed the documentation online.

Third morning in a row, there was another transaction this time for around $75.00 in a remote town in Northern Georgia. This time I was furious. How can this happen? Who did I hurt to have this happened? Sadly the bank was my only resource, so I had to call the bank again. This third time I was not joking around and I demanded some results. This time the conversation proved fruitful, and I had no further issues.

This almost traumatic experience taught me three valuable lessons.

1. Check your bank account as often as you can. Without online banking, I would have never noticed that the funds were missing until it was too late, and all the money would have disappeared.
2. When you open a savings, checking, or credit card account, make sure you keep a security or fraud number for your organization easily available. I had a lot of issues contacting the correct department. Instead of wasting time, I should have been able to contact the correct people as fast as possible.
3. Although neither the bank nor I have a logical explanation for how the thieves got a hold of my information, please NEVER leave your card in the hands of some unknown person. With the use of advance technology almost any code can be broken with very basic information like your name, date of birth or credit/debit card number. Also never share your PIN with anybody; people that you trust could be sharing that information with malicious strangers.