Debit card POS rip-off in the news...

Hi!

Well, Channel 9 came and interviewed us today about our account being cleaned out. They also contacted the Sheriff's department, the AM/PM we used and the B of A.

The folks at AM/PM, at the corner of Bear Valley and Amethyst, are telling folks that this isn't real, that it didn't really happen. We're here to tell you that it DID.

They even argued with my husband telling him he was wrong. We sent the Channel 9 reporters their way and while none of the AM/PM employees appeared on camera, the store did.

I don't blame AM/PM for the loss but I do blame them for lying to people and telling them that this isn't really happening. They have a responsibility to be honest with their customers and they're not.

We've used this same AM/PM for almost 10 years now and I can't say how disgusted I am with them that they would lie about this.

Here's hoping Channel 4 shows up this evening, they said they might... :)

Don't use your PIN right now until we know what's going on...

Take care,
Diane

Is America under another terrorist attack?

A follow-up to the ATM Fraud info I've posted...

My friend's mom and dad have been in Havasu, Arizona (nowhere near Victorville) for the past 6 weeks and her mom got hit with this as well. This means it isn't just in the Victor Valley...

Is this a widespread attack on America? It is definitely a terrorist attack, whether it's foreign terrorists or homegrown terrorists, it's a terrorist attack, an attack against the people and the banking system. BUT, how widespread is it?

We expect that in about 2 days time, maybe by Wednesday October 19, this will be a HUGE story.

We finally got someone to listen to us about this. KNBC4, Patrick Healy, just phoned me to find out what we know. They may be up here in the high desert tomorrow evening to do a follow-up story.

There's something else weird going on too (in Lancaster/Palmdale), may be related or may not...

My sister-in-law's husband put his ATM card in the ATM at the bank and the ATM automatically shot out $20 at him. NO receipt, NO PIN, no nothing, as soon as he put his card in it shot out $20.

So, he put his card in again to finish draining their account and it worked right the second time. They are afraid that they are going to lose all their money like we did so they're pulling it out.

Then, their daughter went to a different ATM, and THE SAME THING happened to her. She put her card in and the machine spit out $20, NO receipt, NO PIN, no nothing. Her card came back out so she put it back in and the second time it worked the right way.

My sister-in-law called the police to say hey what's going on and the officer she spoke with said the exact same thing happened to him!

Don't know if it's related or not but it's one more weird thing going on...

Also, in case I didn't mention in my prior posting, 3 Victor Valley sheriff's bank accounts were also cleaned out in this attack that's going on right now... The officer that took our report told us that he told his wife to NOT use her PIN and to use ONLY cash, withdrawn at the bank, for purchases, until it's known what's going on...

Well, gotta go, keep your eye on your bank account and, like the officer said, DON'T use your PIN until we know what's going on...

Have a good day,
Diane

HUGE ATM FRAUD RIP-OFF

OUCH! Our personal checking account was cleaned out Wednesday Oct 5. Not only cleaned out but HUGELY overdrawn. Where were the withdrawals coming from?

Shanghai China!!

Yep, we are victims of a HUGE ATM fraud rip-off going on in the Victor Valley in California, as are over 400 other people so far!

Unfortunately, this is not getting the attention that it needs and more and more folks are getting ripped off as we speak. We feel it's IMPORTANT that everyone be made aware of this as soon as possible, in an attempt to help others to avoid getting ripped off themselves...

Here's what's going on...

You use your ATM card at a POS (Point of Sale, like at AM/PM which is where we used ours) and you punch in your PIN number while ever so cautiously making sure no one is watching and that there's no cameras around to see your PIN.

Then within as quick as 5 minutes your checking account is cleaned out and then negative, negative, negative! B of A kept paying the withdrawals even though there were no more funds left in our account. When all is said and done, we will have paid NSF fees on over 120 hits to our account!

We'll get the money back but it's taking a while because the bank cannot credit a debit until it's actually been posted. So, every night at midnight when they credit back the bogus debits, they turn around and debit us an NSF fee for every negative. It's an ongoing nightmare that won't be resolved for a couple weeks...

How is it happening?

Currently it's believed that it's a third-party contractor's computer system that was hacked. The third-party contractor handles the POS transactions and evidently also has your PIN number. The third-party contractor's computer system that contains all of this incredibly sensitive information was hacked and the rest is history.

According to a Victorville sheriff, over 400 victims in the Victor Valley alone so far... and that's just folks who live here. Victorville is a MAJOR stop for folks traveling to Las Vegas and this weekend is a 3-day weekend, which means even more travelers stopping here. There are victims outside of the Victor Valley but they may not realize it yet, or it may just not be connected to the Victor Valley yet.

Folks, until we know what's going on QUIT using your ATM card with the PIN number. If the store you're trying to use your card at won't process your debit card as a credit card (you sign instead of punching in your PIN) then LEAVE, DO NOT CONDUCT BUSINESS through POS right now!!

A thought from my husband and sister-in-law...

This is a terrorist attack. What if this is a trial run with the plan of doing this to major cities nationwide simultaneously? It would literally shut down our economy, our banks could go broke from refunding everyone and from the folks who haven't yet been attacked withdrawing their money to keep it safe!

I'll write more soon because I have some folks I want to contact and warn about this.

Thank you,
Diane