Scam Alert! - Cigar Asylum Cigar Forum

I was in New Orleans this past saturday on a B&M tour. We went to four shops and had a blast!
We ate at a resturant/bar in the 'Quarter called Yo Mama's. I had one of the best peanut butter burgers I've ever had! I paid with my debt card and never thought twice about it. Went to four shops and all the cigar purchases were done on my credit card (except for one and I watched the debitcard and it never left my sight), and the drinks were paid in cash.

Tonight, I check my debit card account and I am in the negative... WAY in the negative! :-) I look and I have two charges I don't remember making. One for "peoplefinders.com" and one right after it at "walmart.com"... Hmmm....

Im thinking someone wrote down my debit card number and used it at peoplefinders to get my home (billing) address on a "trial offer". They then claimed not to like the site and got a refund. So im cleared up on that, it was only $14.95.
Then they went to Walmart.com and hit me up for $384 n change!!!! So they entered my card number, and billing address (gotten from peoplefinders) and shipped the item(s) to them as a "gift".

:-) Some gift! (Sombish is what I really want to say!)

A gift that left me high-n-dry and I didn't have any money to feed my family for supper tonight. Luckily, the misses had some money stashed away so we could eat... I was so aggrevated that I didn't eat my pizza....

I called and finally got ahold of VISA so they could cancel my card so I couldn't buy them any more "gifts". Now I am going to be charged NSF fees of $25+ for each transaction past when the account went to negative...

Now, tomorrow I have to miss work and hopefully they will give me sick time for the loss time to go to my bank with my case number from VISA and get the ball rolling for them to investigate the charge(s). Hopefully I can get my money back, its just a matter of how long it will take to get it!

Im not 100% sure of where my card number was aquired at, but read into the story... you'll catch on.

Im so aggrevated right now, I could eat rocks!

Moral of the story:
NEVER give anyone your credit/debit card in a "tourist" town.....

The bad thing is, I am not a tourist and I will be back..... very soon!
The good thing is, I don't have the gas money to go to New Orleans tonight; because I really want to go!

:-)
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Shawn don't let it stress you to much brother. I have had this happen 2 times to me and within a hour or two of me calling bank of America the money was refunded whilethey investigate. They should also not charge you the overdraft fees cause it was not your fault.

While it does suck it should all get worked out. Like I said it's happened to me 2 times and a few people I know and it usually gets fixed pretty quick.

Hang in there brother :-)
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you should have no problem getting you NSF fee's refunded since it was fraudulent charges. if not piss and moan about it for hours.
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I agree, you should get your funds back fast. I would call the restaurant were you used the card and tell the manager whats up. Sounds like he may have a bad employee.
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I am sorry to read this bro. This has happened to me before. Now I only use my CREDIT card and pay it off every month. It is a lot easier to call up the credit company and dispute charges than a bank. In most cases you can even do it on their website. I hope it all gets worked out quickly.
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Originally Posted by Drez:
Shawn don't let it stress you to much brother. I have had this happen 2 times to me and within a hour or two of me calling bank of America the money was refunded whilethey investigate. They should also not charge you the overdraft fees cause it was not your fault.

While it does suck it should all get worked out. Like I said it's happened to me 2 times and a few people I know and it usually gets fixed pretty quick.

Hang in there brother :-)

I had the same thing happen and like Frank said an hour or so on the phone and they gave me a credit while they investigated. At the end of the investigation they will send you a letter that tells you the money is a permanent refund. If you explain what happened they will refund the fees as well. I wouldn't miss work unless the bank specifically tells you to come in but that is just me. Just call them and explain what happened and let their fraud department handle it. They are pretty good when it comes to this kind of thing as it happens all of the time. :-) Good luck brother and I very sorry to hear this happened.

:-)
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I agree they will credit your fees and any theft. It's happened to me traveling before so it's nice to have a backup card just incase.
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If your bank doesn't refund the fraudulent charges and the NSF fees...get a new bank. There isn't any reason they shouldn't reverse those charges same business day. I've disputed charges on my Chase debit card (visa) before no problem. Had the money back in my account same day.

Good luck brother...and fight them for the money, because once they are out the money then THEY will go after the bad guys. Whoever ordered that stuff on Walmart probably went to pick it up, that means they will be on their CCTV's. If they were stupid enough to send it to their home address...well they have them there too.
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That's exactly why I got a prepaid debitcard from Neteller for my trip to Florida last year.
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This is the exact reason why I absolutely refuse to use debit at a restaurant. The card is out of sight while they run it so anything can happen. I always will use cash or credit any time someone needs to physically walk away with my card. I look at it this way, if they take the cc number I just don't pay while it

:-) being investigated but if they hit your bank account your screwed until they straighten out the matter. Should be easy to find whoever took your card by seeing where the items they purchased were shipped.
What's weird is when my cards were compromised in the past and friends of mine credit cards were compromised they always had charges at a Walmart. I guess that store does truly in fact attract the scum of the earth.
Good luck I hope they get you squared away quick.
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I once worked with the police to catch a guy that was trying to use somebody elses credit card. I was working at a Honda dealer in Phoenix and a return customer called in that he wanted to place and order but he didn't have his card just his number, I took the order and talked to my manager who called the police. The police setup a little sting in the retail area and when the costomer took the goods from me they busted him. Apparently his car was loaded with goods he used somebody elses credit card.
It was very exciting to see somebody get caught for taking advantage of another.
I did feel somewhat responsible for accepting the order over the phone with out a credit card, though. I guess thats why they have the little pin on the back now.
Enough of topic...
In the original post I beleive you said he shipped the stuff from Walmart, so the police have his address?
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Like everyone has said you should be able to not just get all the money back but also cancel every overdraft charge that was a direct result of the thieving A-hole. Try not to sweat it, and hopefully the bank will pursue this piece of trash on criminal charges.

Prior to switching to Bank of America I had my card and info used much in the same way you've been. The big problem for me was the banks I'd been using. No notice on strange charges and they certainly didn't stop all transactions once the account was in the red. They just let the punks run wild. I even had a case where some punk ran me $2000 into the red. Now that i'm with BoA I get a call, email, and text immediately when strange activity is suspected and they put a hold on that transaction for 48 hours to give me time to dispute it. I've only had 1 case of ID theft with BoA and they were very quick in resolving it. They even let me know they got the punk arrested.

Sorry if this sounds like a commercial but for me everything has been great with them. I hope your situation is resolved soon and you get all your money back bro. The worst part of all of it is the violation of trust you feel. Have a drink and a nice smoke and try to relax my friend. :-)
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Well...
I got my card canceled at Visa.
Went to the bank and made sure it was canceled. Filed a dispute and got a new card.
The whole thing is going to take about 7-10day to wash... as soon as I get the Police Report I filed today (that will be done on Monday...).

The bank said they will wash off the NSF fees once the ordeal is cleared. But Im not sure how far into the negative I can go before they cut me off......

I emailed Walmart and have to fill out and fax a fraud form.

Looks like I will get my money back from Walmart maybe faster than the bank and Visa. But thats just a guestimate.

I know there were only three employees in the bar/resturant. So I narrowed down to two.... The owner will be getting a phone call soon.

I was hoping VISA would refund the money right away, but it being a Debt card, they told me I had to take up the loss with the bank and the bank would take up thier loss with VISA and VISA would do an investigation... but Im thinking for $324... VISA is just going to write it off as a loss.

So, I have all my basis covered and looks like one way or another, I am going to get my money back. Its just a matter of time and who (Walmart or Bank) is going to give me my money back.
If Walmart gives me the money back, I hope the bank will wash the NSF fees also.
Just hope Walmart doesn't try to refund the money to my closed debt card....
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Got my new debt card. Got paperwork from Walmart to file fraud claim, got police report.

Now, I need the police officer who did the report to sign the walmart fraud papers.... and he works nights and I work days and Im still out my $325......
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Sorry to hear that dude...seriously find a new bank. This is completely ridiculous that you have to wait to get your money back. Maybe I missed it, but what bank are you using now?
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Sorry to hear about your situation Shawn. I'm glad you were able to get it resolved... Too bad you had to take a day off to do it though...
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This sucks Shawn, keep us updated.
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Originally Posted by thebayratt:
Now, I need the police officer who did the report to sign the walmart fraud papers.... and he works nights and I work days and Im still out my $325......

That is absurd. I have investigated literally hundreds of cases like this and never have I been asked to sign an internal document for the the store. Do not be surprised when the officer declines to do so. Wal Mart is the worst when it comes to cooperating with law enforcement (in my humble opinion). You should see how fun it is to try to get some images from their security cameras or copies of transactions. But I'm sure you will eventually get all of your money back. I hope whoever lifted your card gets busted. Best of luck, Brother!
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All you're supposed to need is the fraud affidavit supplied by the debit card company.

The thing about stealing numbers is simple. There is a guy with a wireless connected laptop waiting on the swiped info from the mole inside the restaurant. They swipe your card through their wireless scanner and it transmits all the info to his laptop. The mole then contacts the laptop guy and provides PIN # and such. Before you have cranked your car, a duplicate card has been made elsewhere and someone is already charging your card up. It's way too easy these days to steal credit card info. A restaurant employee can make 100 times his wages in one week stealing numbers.
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