Would Identity Theft Protection Help?

[Frontier]

So, long story short, I've had my debit card number jacked twice in the past 18 months. I live off my debit card. Literally. I haven't used cash in forever. So when this happens... it's a bitch and a half. Because I'm then without my primary means of spending for 5-10 business days as they print a new one.

I'm wondering if having identity theft protection would render this a moot issue? IE, if my number got jacked again, it would let me keep my card? I know the answer is almost certainly no, but I wanted to ask anyway on the off chance it was yes... lol.

I may invest in such anyway, simply so that if this happens again, I can know about it a few hours sooner. First time I didn't know for 2-3 days. This time the one company the thief tried to buy from flagged my card so I found out when it got declined and I went looking for why, which was only about 12 hours after.

Also, I'd love to find the people who do this. As is, nothing happens to them. They only take X amount and the banks, while they say I'm free to file a police report about it, also say there is literally no point since the police will not do anything about a few hundred dollars that the bank themselves reimburse me for. Which just makes me mad because, yeah, I know cops have more important stuff to worry about and they're not gonna do a national man-hunt for some shlub who stole a "trivial" amount of money, but... still! It's the principle of these bastards getting away with their crime that bugs me...

 

[B.J.]

I really doubt the police would be able to anything at all, since most of these ID thieves seem to operate outside the US. I had someone try to buy $4K worth of lumber in the Dominican Republic on my card! That actually happened twice, and the first transaction actually went through. It's frustrating, but there is literally nothing I could do about it. It was even more worrying that we were on vacation with no way to buy gas to get home, since it would take several days to get the funds back in our account.

As for the ID protection, I couldn't tell you much there. My own bank is usually pretty good about flagging any weird transactions (right after I mentioned the one time they didn't! ), so I don't know what else that service would bring to the table.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I assume the bank reissued Frontier a new card with a new number. (That's what most banks do, isn't it? A number is stolen, they give you a NEW one.) And he got it jacked AGAIN?

 

[Scout101]

No, nothing it would do that would prevent you from getting your card stolen again. Make better decisions when choosing who to buy from online, don't use strange ATMs, not sure what's causing you to be targeted, but something out of the norm. Or just bad luck.

Service would just help you figure it out sooner, and prevent anything they did from hitting your score as much.

My recommendation would be to stop using your debit card for everything. Or anything, really, outside of banking at your home ATM. For everyday purchases, use a credit card. Pay it off in full every month, so in reality it works just like you're treating your debit card. Except you'll be able to find one that gives you travel rewards, or 1% cash back, or whatever so you get paid for using it, and no annual fee.

The big perk here is that when someone steals your debit card, you find out because they've taken money out of your account. It's gone, and account frozen. Your bank will work to get it back again, but the money could be gone a week or two, and that's bad if you need it. Or if it's more complicated and it takes longer.

With a credit card, it's still imaginary credit card money at that point, and has no relation to your checking/savings account balances. If you flag the activity as fraudulant, you're not liable for those purchases. Same amount of paperwork/investigation, but involves the CC company's money and not yours. Kinda a huge difference. Functionally, you won't notice any difference day to day, but in cases of fraud, your money isn't missing in the interim. And can always just have a second credit card in case something happens, so you can use the 2nd one for a week or two while you wait for the replacement from the first company.

Had my credit card hacked a couple times over the years, never had any issues. Freeze account, send me new card, and any questionable purchases just disappear. had my ATM card number stolen once. Was on vacation in the Dominican, used an ATM once to pay for a scuba trip from the resport ATM. 6 months later, they started taking the max out every day. Took me a week to notice, at which point they had like $7k of my money. Bank got it back for me in about a week, since it was obvious I wasn't in the Dominican at the time, but that experience was a heck of a lot more stressful than if the same thing had happened on my credit card....

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Identity theft protection schemes generally do little more than set alerts on your credit report with the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.) You can do this yourself, for free, I believe you just need to request it on a monthly basis (might be longer, I don't remember for sure.)

Scout's method is the one I use. I try to avoid using my debit card--which is tied to my credit union account--for anything except essentials like rent and bills. Everything else goes on a credit card I pay off every pay period. I have multiple cards, but the one I generally use has been used fraudulently on 3 separate occasions. At no time was I on the hook for any of those transactions. And I get 1.5% cash back on everything, which ain't bad.

In person, it's probably best to deal in cash as much as possible. Online, use a credit card for everything you can, and your debit card only for what you must.

 

[Scout101]

Outside of trying to get money out of the ATM, really nothing you MUST use your debit card for, so why not protect yourself by using the credit card?

Why wouldn't you use the credit card for rent and bills? Unless they won't take it for some reason, would be nice to get 1.5% off of those bills each month...

I use my credit card for almost everything, and rarely pay cash. If it's something really small, or lunch with a group, and drinks at a bar usually, but outside of that, on the card. Convenient, don't have to carry as much cash on me, and get paid for doing it. Seems silly not to.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Outside of trying to get money out of the ATM, really nothing you MUST use your debit card for, so why not protect yourself by using the credit card?

Why wouldn't you use the credit card for rent and bills? Unless they won't take it for some reason, would be nice to get 1.5% off of those bills each month...

Actually, I realized I use direct bank transfers for those, not my debit card. And no, they don't take credit cards! Of course, the credit cards themselves have to be paid with direct bank transfers, too.

I use my credit card for almost everything, and rarely pay cash. If it's something really small, or lunch with a group, and drinks at a bar usually, but outside of that, on the card. Convenient, don't have to carry as much cash on me, and get paid for doing it. Seems silly not to.

Yeah, I hate carrying cash. I only use it for in-person transactions when a credit card isn't accepted. Most places around here take credit, but there are a lot of mom & pop places that are cash-only.

 

[darkshadow0001]

How about do like what others have said, use your debit card for essentials, but instead of using a credit card, use cash. That way you don't have a bill to pay and your safer that way. Or maybe get a paypal card and have money in there.

 

[Scout101]

Which is the opposite of what we just said, but without the plus side as far as I can tell. Using the Debit Card exposes it to fraud, which is how this whole thread came about. if he'd used his credit card instead, it's much easier to get out of the problem, and you don't risk any of your money. With a debit card, your money is GONE, and then you're working with the bank to try and recover it. Credit card, you just agree that you aren't paying for those fraudulant purchases, all fixed.

Unless you have no self-control, there's zero risk with the credit card. If you have the cash to buy gas, then you can pay with a credit card, and at the end of the month, you pay off the credit card with that cash. Digitally, so you don't have to go get cash all the time. There's no BILL that's unique to anything because of the card, it's just a collection of all the things you would have paid cash for over the month. People that get in trouble are those using the card, and then spending the cash on other stuff because hey, extra cash. Then they don't have money to pay off the card, and it's Obama's fault or something. And carrying lots of cash isn't necessarily super-safe all by itself.

Used as I describe, just no risk, and less effort. Plus you get paid actual cash from the credit card company for doing so. And I've never paid a fee, penalty, or anything of the like. I just swipe for everything, and when the bill comes, it gets paid for out of my checking account. Essentially, I AM paying for everything in cash, just once a month and digitally rather than having to physically hold it and go to the bank all the time. Plus the credit card company pays me to do it, and it's more convenient. You just never buy anything that you can't pay off immediately, and you're all good. I CAN write a check or go get cash, the card is just much easier. And the credit card is much safer and rewarding than the debit card, which has risks. I like the layer of a company between me and the seller of an item (or fraud). With a debit card, they're in my actual checking account; with a credit card, it's just imaginary money at that point, and my savings are right where i left them.

If you have severe issues with self-control or budgeting, may not work, but likely neither is whatever you're doing instead, either. You can try to idiot-proof any budget plan, but idiots are just so creative.

Feel free to go full-retard and do the Ramsey 'cash in envelopes' thing if needed; there's certainly a subset of people that can't handle anything else. But if you're past the point of trying to force yourself to save, and just figuring out the easiest way to make transactions, the way I'm discussing is by far the easiest. And without the entire problem that created this thread.