In this economy, every penny counts.
Apparently thieves think so as well.
Here at the station, several of us have recently received emails - allegedly from the I.R.S. - informing us that we are entitled to a tax refund and all we need to do to claim it is enter all our personal information, including bank account numbers.
No legitimate bank or government agency will ever ask for you to respond to an email they send you with personal information. Don't do it - unless you yourself type their website into your browser and know that you are not on a "dummy" site.
It's better to be safe than sorry. There are lots of scam artists out there, trying a variety of ways to get at your account numbers and your money.
I received this email from a viewer - whom I'll call "Mary" - last week.
"Yesterday I received a phone call from my bank telling me that someone in Bulgaria had my debit card number and had taken out 5 withdrawals from ATM's over there and thus my account was severely overdrawn. To date, my bank is helping to get this money back into my account - but it is going to take up to 10 days to do so.
In the meantime, being a single mom with a special needs son, that presents a problem. (i.e., shopping for groceries, gas, and just paying my bills).
It happened the evening of September 23.
Apparently, someone had gained access to my debt card account number (not the card itself) and used it to withdraw funds from several ATMs in Bulgaria.
I was thinking it was an isolated incident but I don't anymore. My next door neighbor had the same thing happen to her and the thief, oddly enough, was from Bulgaria too! They raided several ATMs in Bulgaria but only got $30.00 compared to my $1,600. She doesn't have overdraft protection and I do. I only had $800 in my checking account and I also have $800 in overdraft protection...thus he/she got more. The odds of this happening randomly are slight so I'm thinking there may be some leaks in the bank's system.
Regardless, today is October 6 and they said they won't have my money returned to my account until October 8. I have been without money for that long. I have had to rely on the generosity of my family and friends to get me through. It has been tough. This has been a total nightmare for me and my son. "
"Mary" isn't sure how the thief got her card number, but it just goes to show we all need to guard our personal financial information closely.
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