I had my debit card fraudulently used in Brazil, what to do?

Today I learned that my checking account has been debited for $600.00 somewhere in Brazil. The bank said that I am not liable for the charges and they are sending me a new debit card. I really want to know if they possibly have other information of mine? Is this a valid concern? Any help would be greatly appreciated!|||I would file a police report just to cover your bases..|||The bank will only solve the problem as is fraud is concerned with their bank and so you won't be privy to their information. You can hire a PI to check that out though. Or you could ask the bank if you should personally file charges against that person in court for fraud, and if they say yes, then ask them for the info they have on hand as proof and if they can send you the proof when they solve the matter. The PI could then trace where the people are so you could serve them with papers to appear in court. Under $5000 would be a misdemeanor, and they were only allowed (as far as you can tell) $600 which is a misdemeanor. If in Brazil you can't really bring them to America (if that's where you are) to appear in court, and even so it would not be worth all the trouble you'd have to go thru to press charges. Perhaps once you've told your bank that's your word already that you were defrauded that leaves the bank the authority to go after the perpetrators.|||Well, they obviously had to get that information from somewhere. Did you accidentally click on any link from any e-mails that you received, taking you to some website? A lot of scammers make a duplicate bank website and send out e-mails with links in them (along with an absolute Urgent! message for you to update some account info, etc...or your account will be deleted). If you click that link...it takes you to a site that looks exactly like the bank/paypal/whatever site. When you put in your login id and password, it e-mails that to the scammer, who then has access to your accounts (and can use it to look up credit/debit card info, address, contact phone number, etc.). Then those get used for Identity theft purposes.





I would also advise calling up the three credit agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and placing a 'fraud alert' on each of those for at least 6 months. Basically what that will do is...they will call you if someone tries to open a credit account or any credit-related service in your name. Make sure to get them to check that your phone number on your credit report is current; I had an old phone number on mine and my fraud alert caused me a headache when I couldn't remember it to confirm my phone #...when I applied for a new credit card for myself.





I'm assuming that since you are shocked that it was used in 'Brazil', that you are from the U.S. or some other country (hence, not Brazil, of course).





Some people at restaurants and various other places are actually scammers who try to copy credit card numbers and security codes, to use for ID theft purposes in other locations.





That's about the only thing I can think of. My advice to you at this point would be to change any login ID/passwords you use for any online banking or bill paying that is related to that account. Pull your credit report and make sure nobody else has opened anything under your name using your address, etc. (such as a credit card, cell phone plan, etc.). You'd be surprised how much that is done on a daily basis. Obviously, get a new debit card with a new bank/routing number. Remember to change any debit information with any company or service that automatically debits from your checking, to the new card #.





Another possibility (though the chances are slim), is that you put your card into an ATM that a scammer had wired up with a device that steals your card/pin information. A lot of people have had that happen, as well. That information then gets wirelessly transmitted to the said scammer, who may be nearby in a car on a laptop computer...receiving that information; and viewing your pin through a tiny camera they place at the top of the ATM opening, where most people never think to look.|||Of course this is a valid concern. You can get a free credit check and put a fraud alert on your account at all credit agencies. They will know to call you if anyone tries applying for credit cards etc. to confirm it really is you. This is all free!!


Here is the government website, just remember, you do not need to pay for this. Do not let a company charge you, go through the government.