lost debit card...chances for id theft?
 

Hey all...

I was shopping for some recruitment outfits today (found some amazing stuff!) and when I got home I realized my debit card was gone. I reported it stolen immediately. On the plus side, it has my picture and signature imprinted on the front, and I'm a Bank of America customer...they take good care of their clients. Also, it wasn't used fradulently (thanks to the pic).

My main concern now is what happens next? Could someone still use this card in some way to access personal information needed to steal my identity? This is probably one of my biggest fears, so any thoughts would really be appreciated :)

Thanks for your help!

Re: lost debit card...chances for id theft?
 

Probably not - you should do some reading on identity theft and how to protect yourself, to help alleviate some of your concerns.

You have reported the card stolen, and done the most you can - there's nothing else you can really do, since recovering the card is most likely impossible unless it was lost within a store.

Much like anything else, make sure that you periodically check your credit rating and history, protect important information and documents, etc etc etc - but this really shouldn't be a big deal, very little vital information is available through the physical card (especially once canceled).

Thanks for that little piece of mind. I'll go ahead and check my credit report in the next few days to make sure that everything is okay.

Always be on alert despite knowing you cancelled the debit card.

This happened to me last year. I didn't have my picture on my card, and even though I had "SEE I.D." on the signature strip, someone still used it for two freaking days AFTER I CALLED MY BANK TO CANCEL THE CARD.

I used the card Monday evening, realized I had left the card in the ATM two hours later, and called the bank immediately. They said they cancelled the card.

So tell me why and how I went to the bank a few days later to withdraw cash (since I was waiting for a new debit card), the teller gets snooty and says, "Uh maam, your account is in the negative." Someone had made gas, food, and clothing purchases on my debit card and now I was in the red.

I was irate because a) the bank was supposed to cancel the card and b) these damn vendors aren't asking for ID when the debit card was used! They ended up doing an investigation that took over a month and a half to get the $$$ credit back into my account.

Check your debit balance DAILY to make sure you know what's going on. Don't wait around for a credit report!

While this is great advice, it is wholly and completely separate from "Identity Theft" in any form - it's simply theft.

Continue to be diligent, but don't allow buzz topics like 'identity theft' scare you - read up, learn, and all that good stuff.

I would not panic to much about identity theft with a debit card...like everyone said, you cannot really get anything from debit card numbers. The only problem you could really have is the one OTW had...but she gave great advice on what to do about that!!

Personally, I would not worry unless they had non-cancelled account numbers, your name, address, and your social security number!! Pretty much once they have that info-- chances of identity theft are much much higher!!

In my opinion there is not really anything that they can do with a debit card other than charge things immediately after it is stolen and after it no longer works it is not worth anything!!

I would not worry to much if I were you!!! I do agree on checking your credit report one to two times a year just for safety (unrelated to the debit card issue-- just in general)...but I do not think you need to worry about stolen identity if they only got your debit card-- well now cancelled debit card!! Hope that makes you feel better-- so now you can just take a deep breath and smile!!! :D

I lost my debit card one time and I cancelled the account. I got a new account at the same bank and nothing ever happened. You just have to make sure all of the checks and debits have cleared the bank first.

Re: lost debit card...chances for id theft?
 

If you are a Bank of America customer, chances are, your information has already been hacked....don't worry about your card, your information is safe with Bank of America. Not.

Out of curiosity, how would this person have made purchases on your debit card? Don't you need a PIN for them?

NO!! Most places like McDonald's, burger king, clothing stores, etc etc (basically everywhere except convienant stores -which is odd) do not ask for a pin number. They just ring it up like a credit card and more often than not they don't make you sign for it either.

I have also lost my debit card and it was used prior to me cancelling/reporting it lost. I disputed the transactions with my credit union and I was given immediate credit. I never had any other problems.

As others have said, it is very important to check your debit card account balance/transactions daily. I work at a credit union and over the past month, I've had 2 members whose debit card numbers have been used in foreign countries. One was in the Phillipines and the other was in Southern Mexico. Both members still had possession of their cards, but somehow the numbers had been compromised and used fradulently.

Just like cashmoney said, many places don't require a pin #. If they do require a pin #, 9 times out of 10 when the point of sale machine defaults to debit, you may hit cancel and select credit. Fast Food places and other merchants that don't require a signature usually have a ceiling limit, which allows them to make the transaction w/out a signature or pin#.

OTW....so sorry to hear about your bad experience! It's craziness like that that makes me so panicky about my cards.

Anyhow, I was back at the bank today. Still no problems, whew!

Thanks for everyone's input. And of course, nothing's ever safe. BA didn't come out looking great after their information was hacked, but there are inevitable risks to the way we do things. I guess all we can do is be vigilant and keep lobbying the FTC and banks to take this crime seriously and help victims promptly.

Ah okay. Our debit bards are different here. They are also our bank cards. In order to use a debit card, one must have a PIN. You don't need ID or to sign anything. If you don't have the PIN, you can't use the card.

We have those here too. My old roommate had just a straight ATM card that she couldn't use anywhere but places that accepted PIN numbers. She wrote a lot of checks.

But I guess nowdays, ATM cards with Visa or Mastercard logos are just the standard thing for banks. That way you CAN use your debit card everywhere, like a credit card.

Nobody takes cheques here. You either have to have the cash/debit or you have to have credit. Most places if not all (including convenience stores/fast food joints, etc) will have what we call INTERAC (debit), you just use your bank card at these places. So it's just like using cash, only you don't have to carry it around. Unfortunately, I can't use my debit card in the US because our systems are different. I actually have to go to the ATM and get cash every time I want to buy something.

Our bank cards are also not affiliated with any credit card company.