Ever have your bank account hacked?????

[Heel n Toe]

Happened to my wife recently. We have separate accounts and she's with TD Bank.

She just figured out something happened this past Friday but a withdrawal for $990 happened this past Monday, November 15th. Very weird the way she was alerted to it; she received a new order of checks in the mail (that she hadn't ordered) and when using the first one to write out to pay a bill, she noticed it had her name, address, and some random phone number on it. She doesn't have a phone number on her checks.

It also had the same routing number, but a different account number across the bottom. She called the check printing company. Someone there said an account had been opened in her name on November 11 by computer (the phone number on the new checks was a Maryland number, but of course that doesn't mean it happened in MD). The perp had her SS# and phone number, too. She's already changed her phone #.

The funds were withdrawn "by wire" from her legit account, not the new account associated with the new checks. We assume this gets the bank as well as the check printing company off the hook for a mistake that led to the withdrawal, but we don't know.

It was after hours to call her local branch bank, but she called them Saturday morning and a woman there spent quite some time with her and it is unsure where this is going. This woman also told her to report it to the local police, who told her this kind of fraud is happening all the time. She is going by that bank after work Monday to follow up. She already has a new account with that bank.

She spoke with her son, who's an attorney in GA about it. He thinks she should be reimbursed by the bank... or move her account to a different bank if they won't.

What say you guys?

ALERT: I read this out to her just now and I had a few details wrong, so I've just edited it.

[Ayles]

The money is federally insured. It will work out.

[Heel n Toe]

Thank... that's very encouraging.

This just occurred to me; we were considering signing up with LifeLock... is that not needed?

[Por_sha911]

Scary stuff as to how easy a hacker can get to you.
What worries me is that they had her SS #.
Put a freeze on all 3 credit bureaus AND report identity theft. I believe this enables her to check her credit more often. Stay vigilant.

[Alan A]

How do you withdraw by wire?
I thought they were all push not pull.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Scary stuff as to how easy a hacker can get to you.
What worries me is that they had her SS #.
Put a freeze on all 3 credit bureaus AND report identity theft. I believe this enables her to check her credit more often. Stay vigilant.

Thanks.

I believe she told me one of the people she talked with told her to call Equifax and she did... I think she said they said they would contact Experian, but don't know beyond that.

I don't know what will/can be done about the SS# situation. She was told to contact them this week. That ought to be a long, fun wait on hold.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by Alan A

How do you withdraw by wire?
I thought they were all push not pull.

I don't know... may have more to report in the next few days.

[Sooner or later]

I don't believe FDIC covers identity theft from a bank. Primarily for bank failure.

May cover if they have a protection plan in place. Going to be a pia. Good luck.

[Por_sha911]

There are 3 credit bureaus. YOU must call all 3 and be sure it is reported as Identity Theft! Also have a freeze put on all your files and pull a report immediately to see if there has been any other fraud activity. The sooner you do this the better.

Experian 855-246-9409 or 888-397-3742
Equifax 888-202-4025 or 800-349-9960 or 800-685-1111
Trans Union 800-680-7289 or 800-888-4213

(some of these numbers are old so I don't know which ones work)

[dafischer]

It may be a prudent idea to contact the county clerk's office to put a freeze on the deed to your property, if they maintain electronic records. Some that still depend on paperwork will tell you that it's not necessary as a flag will go up if any changes are initiated.

[tdw28210]

At the risk of being redundant, her account wasn't hacked. Her identity was stolen and new bank account(s) were opened in her name at the same bank and probably linked to her real one, hence the $990 withdrawal. Freeze your credit immediately, alert the authorities and alert your credit card issuers, as they may be trying to open more accounts in her name. Sorry, but this will suck. Dealing with identify theft is a major PIA.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Alan A

How do you withdraw by wire?
I thought they were all push not pull.

The way it used to be done was a negative ACH amount.

$10,000 would be a deposit.

-$10,000 would have been a withdrawal.

But pretty sure they fixed that issue years ago.

ACH reversals are still work for deposits to incorrect account numbers so this may have been that.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by tdw28210

....alert your credit card issuers, as they may be trying to open more accounts in her name. Sorry, but this will suck. Dealing with identify theft is a major PIA.

This.

It's almost never one and done.

The first successful breach is just the beginning.

[flatbutt]

As above inform all the credit bureaus but they won't be able to help you with the bank. The bank should reimburse the lost funds. When I got hacked I severed any online access to my savings but kept the checking available. I still get an occasional attempt on a credit card out of Delaware and theres a bogus address for me in Brooklyn that is a vacant lot which I keep the Post Office aware of.

Do everything you can think of, notify everyone in writing. The IRS, FTC, SSA everyone.

[craigster59]

I had my credit card hacked. They also were able to hack my ATT cellphone account because I didn't have a PIN or phrase for verification before making any changes.

They essentially forwarded my cell number to their "burner phone" so that any questioned purchases they could personally authorize.

They got around $2700 in charges, mostly electronic cash withdrawals at truck stops in Ohio.

I now have a PIN for my cell phone account and a "freeze" on Experian that I can lift for a designated amount of time in case I apply for loans or credit cards. California authorizes a $10 charge every time you lift the freeze so I only have it on Experian and that triggers a denial across all three agencies in case of fraud. I've heard about freezing all 3 but freezing one seems to do the trick.

[matthewb0051]

We used to get our CC/Debit skimmed frequently when living on Oahu and El Paso. Had several friends that had the same issue after dining at one BBQ restaurant overlooking Pearl Harbor. After going there out CC/Debits would get used elsewhere. One time I got a call from the bank asking if I was in Singapore at Hermes buying a rather expensive item. I was not. We all just started paying cash.

The El Paso thing was actually about half way btwn San Antonio and El Paso (which is over 500 miles). Several times our CC/Debit got skimmed after getting gas in some of the smaller towns on I-10. We tried to avoid that at all costs and only fill up closer to the major cities, it seemed to stop.

Luckily the banks always caught these transactions before it became an issue. But there was always a new card as a result.

[flatbutt]

I've been using AmEx exclusively and they've been great regarding fraud.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

I've been using AmEx exclusively and they've been great regarding fraud.

Same here

[Heel n Toe]

Thank you to everyone for all the input. It is turning out well.

My wife will be reimbursed, but it may take a week or so. We are fine with that. She met with the woman at her bank after work, they froze her account for now, and got in touch with all 3 credit reporting agencies.

But she called me just before she left the bank to tell me this was now involving my bank. I have her name on my account, so I guess that's how the bad guys found a way in. They had created a solo account for her at my bank, and my wife's banker said the bad guys had deposited the $990 in that account.

I got on the phone with my bank's fraud division and they found that account, but there was no record of a deposit of any amount. They froze that account. So we are hoping it's over and we are breathing easier. I have a substantial amount in my account, so I felt pretty queasy until getting that all clear from the fraud division. The woman who talked to us was amazing. I told her she was our Christmas miracle this year.

And the good news is... money lost during identity theft is considered fraud and depositors are covered by FDIC up to $250K. I had way less than that in my account, but we were more than relieved to get that good news.

Once again, many thanks for all the good input, and dafischer, I will definitely be contacting the deed office to see if they are still on paper. Thanks for that tip.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Thank you to everyone for all the input. It is turning out well.

My wife will be reimbursed, but it may take a week or so. We are fine with that. She met with the woman at her bank after work, they froze her account for now, and got in touch with all 3 credit reporting agencies.

But she called me just before she left the bank to tell me this was now involving my bank. I have her name on my account, so I guess that's how the bad guys found a way in. They had created a solo account for her at my bank, and my wife's banker said the bad guys had deposited the $990 in that account.

I got on the phone with my bank's fraud division and they found that account, but there was no record of a deposit of any amount. They froze that account. So we are hoping it's over and we are breathing easier. I have a substantial amount in my account, so I felt pretty queasy until getting that all clear from the fraud division. The woman who talked to us was amazing. I told her she was our Christmas miracle this year.

And the good new is... money lost during identity theft is considered fraud and depositors are covered by FDIC up to $250K. I had way less than that in my account, but we were more than relieved to get that good news.

Once again, many thanks for all the good input, and dafischer, I will definitely be contacting the deed office to see if they are still on paper. Thanks for that tip.

THat sounds like good news. But how did they get your wife's SS#? Did YOUR bank, who would have this information get hacked or what? It still seems like there is likely more going on here. Stay vigilant.