| A cautionary tale about card security At lunchtime today I stopped by the local ATM to get some weekend cash. My card was refused. Tried another machine -- same result. Looked at the card, only to discover that it wasn't my card! I last used mine at a local restaurant two days ago, and apparently the waitress mixed up the cards. It was exactly the same type card as mine, and I never looked at the name. Fortunately, there had been no activity on my account. The bank cancelled the old card and issued me a new one. I called the restaurant (where I have been a regular customer for years) and they were as surprised as I was. Told them that if the real owner of the card called, the bank had it. From now on I will be looking a lot more carefully when I get my card back. In this case, at least, no harm - no foul. Cheers! |
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| Thanks for sharing that experience. |
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| reply to Popster27
This must be a lot more prevalent than you might initially think... in fact this is actually the 2nd or 3rd time I've heard this exact story reported on boards / blogs. Since seeing it the first time I always make a point to double check it's really the right card when they bring it back to me.
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Scott Brown Consulting |
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 More FiberPremium,MVM
join:2005-09-26
West Chester, PA
kudos:28 | reply to Popster27
I've had this happen. Fortunately, I caught it at the time. |
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 Rocky67Pencil Neck GeekPremium
join:2005-01-13
Orange, CA | reply to Popster27
I never look at the card. I gotta start paying more attention!
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Panic is the new patriotism |
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 StuartMWWho Is John Galt?Premium
join:2000-08-06
Galt's Gulch
kudos:2 | reply to Popster27
Many CC companies allow you to customize the look of your card and/or add a photo. Making your card(s) unique could alleviate this issue.
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Don't feed trolls--it only makes them grow! |
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Rocky67Pencil Neck GeekPremium
join:2005-01-13
Orange, CA Reviews:
 ·AT&T Yahoo
| said by StuartMW:Many CC companies allow you to customize the look of your card and/or add a photo. Making your card(s) unique could alleviate this issue.
Very good idea. I had forgotten it was possible to do that. All I ever do is look at the appearance of the card; I never look to see if the name is correct. I hate places like restaurants where the card is taken out of my site.
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Panic is the new patriotism |
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 antdudeA Ninja AntPremium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
United State
kudos:4
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to StuartMW
said by StuartMW:Many CC companies allow you to customize the look of your card and/or add a photo. Making your card(s) unique could alleviate this issue.
Yep, I do this with ants. [grin]
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Ant @ »antfarm.ma.cx and »aqfl.net. Please do not IM/e-mail me for technical support. Use the forum! Disclaimer: The views expressed in this posting are mine, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer |
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StuartMWWho Is John Galt?Premium
join:2000-08-06
Galt's Gulch
kudos:2 Reviews:
·CenturyLink
| said by antdude:Yep, I do this with ants.
Well some ants are already "unique" 
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Don't feed trolls--it only makes them grow! |
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 caffeinatorComing soon to a cup near you..Premium
join:2005-01-16
WA, USA
kudos:4 | reply to Popster27
Yeah, my bank requires a photo on the front of my debit/visa card. It's handy.  |
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 rcdaileyDragoonflyPremium
join:2005-03-29
Rialto, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Popster27
That kind of thing can easily happen. Another issue that banks are fixing is the problem of someone leaving an ATM card in the ATM machine. Now, at the BofA, anyway, the ATM will accept the card, then pop it back out, so that you have to put it away before you enter your pin to do business. That's a really good idea.
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It is easier for a camel to put on a bikini than an old man to thread a needle. |
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| said by rcdailey:That kind of thing can easily happen. Another issue that banks are fixing is the problem of someone leaving an ATM card in the ATM machine. Now, at the BofA, anyway, the ATM will accept the card, then pop it back out, so that you have to put it away before you enter your pin to do business. That's a really good idea.
I'll give you an even worse scenario.
If you travel by train in Europe and cross the EU border at night, they'll take your passport to verify if during the night and return it to you the next morning. I wondered, what happens when they make a mistake? Sure enough, as soon as they returned mine, I checked it and they had confused it with someone else's.
Imagine being in another country with the wrong passport? I suspect that this happens often enough if they've got 1,000+ individuals on a train and many with the same passport country. |
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Mele20Premium
join:2001-06-05
Hilo, HI
kudos:4 | reply to rcdailey
said by rcdailey:That kind of thing can easily happen. Another issue that banks are fixing is the problem of someone leaving an ATM card in the ATM machine. Now, at the BofA, anyway, the ATM will accept the card, then pop it back out, so that you have to put it away before you enter your pin to do business. That's a really good idea.
Both of my banks simply have the machine eat your card if you don't retrieve it within 10 seconds after you have finished your transaction. You have to wait several days before you can go to the bank to get it back (especially if it happens on a Friday). The beep to tell you to remove it is not loud enough in Safeway where it is noisy.
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When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson |
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