Crooks get craftier about fraudulent use of ATM cards

Nearly half of all consumers use a credit or debit card when buying gifts for the holidays, according to a recent Bank of America survey. To help prevent fraud, identity theft and other related crimes, card users should be aware of possible dangers and take precautions.

Consumers don’t have to lose their card to be victims, said a Newbury Park mother of four who became the victim of fraud recently when someone made purchases in Palmdale using her ATM card.

“I immediately thought I must have lost my debit card since a bank card was used for these purchases and they weren’t done online,” said Darcey Harley-Wittcoff, 37But she found the card. It was still in her wallet.

So Harley-Wittcoff retraced her steps, recalling that she’d used her debit card at a gas station on Thousand Oaks Boulevard the previous day.

The unusual series of purchases made in the High Desershowed up on her account soon after the gasoline purchase.

Although the local victim caught the problem early on because she reviews her bank balance online every day, she was surprised that the bank allowed the charges to go through in the first place. The purchases amounted to more than what was available in the account at the time, she said, noting the bank promptly returned the funds to her account.

But Harley-Wittcoff was also puzzled by the bank’s lack of answers to her queries about this type of crime. Many cases remain unresolved, they told her. The bank also indicated that the charges probably went through because it was a holiday.

Bank of America is doing what it can to minimize fraud incidents, said a spokesperson for the large corporation.

“Bank of America provides Total Security Protection, which protects customers when fraud occurs on their accounts as long as they report the fraud to us within 60 days of the statement date,” said Betty Riess, a B of A spokesperson. But when customers report unauthorized transactions on their debit card account, banks can’t always identify how the information was accessed, she said.     According to the Federal Reserve, thieves can capture debit and credit card numbers when the information is in data storage. Or, when processing a credit card, a dishonest merchant may decide to imprint a few extra copies of the charge slip, which are later submitted to the issuing institution for payment on phony charges.

Authorities also said that criminals sometimes pay off cashiers to replace genuine swiping machines with fake card readers that divert transactions into a fraudulent account.

Authorities can’t do much to help victims or solve the problem, especially when charges are below $1,000 and occur in outside jurisdictions, they said.

Harley-Wittcoff suggested consumers check their bank balances online every day to catch fraudulent charges early on. She also said she will use cash at gas stations from now on.

The Federal Reserve offers consumers the following suggestions on its website at federalreserve.gov:

•Be sure you get your credit card back after a purchase, and make sure it’s yours.

•Don’t leave receipts at the checkout counter.

•Always take charge slips and tear up any carbons.

•Save receipts and check them against your monthly billing or account statements to make sure you can identify all of the transactions.

•After reconciling billing statements, tear up all receipts and discard them at home.