Watch your accounts

[brad225]

Yesterday morning at about 11:00 we received a notification from our Bank that money from the Covid 19 Federal fund had been deposited into our checking account.

At about 2:00 PM we received another notification from the bank that a new vendor had been set up on our account and did we approve it.

We contacted the bank and told them we had not approved anyone. While on the phone they looked at the transaction and said it was an IP address coming out of China. The bank said it was fine and they had declined it.

Last night we looked at our bank account and found nothing out of line with our checking account but our money market account had a $1,999.97 debit.
The money had been sent to a Discover account. We have never had a Discover account or dealt with them.

If I made an uneducated guess I think it is there is a connection with the IRS.GOV payments program and the hacker. The fact that it happened within a couple of hours is to much of a coincidence.

Called the bank services last night and was told there was nothing they could do and to call our bank today.

I think we may be moving our accounts today.

[Mike]

Brad, this sucks! I hope you get everything figured out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shadowfax]

Bummer, keep us posted.

The Gifts from our good friends in China just keep coming (or going). I am starting to like the Middle East all of a sudden way more than China.

[UltraFast69]

Good that your aware. Hopefully things will sort out sooner than later.

Thanks for sharing!


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[brad225]

My biggest concern is, what about the families that are depending on the stimulus funds to feed themselves. How do they survive when this happens. Hopefully it doesn't.

I will keep you updated.

[joeinid]

OMG that’s terrible. Please keep us posted. Living off the grid is looking better all the time.

[Calvin]

This is horrible. Yes, I would be leaving that bank too. I would also be contacting the credit bureaus to have an alert put on my account. Identity Theft is at times the next step after such a series of events.

I hope this works out for you and your family. And thanks for the alert - we checked all all our accounts.

[asindc]

Thanks for the heads up, Brad. Hope it is all resolved quickly for you.

[Myles B. Astor]

I’ve had my accounts hacked over the years, most recently four years ago $20k from a savings account. Money was wired, 20 x $990 or so (always under $1000 so not to trip a red flag) to a bank in Poland. (Note if I send someone a $700 payment thru PayPal get a fraud alert???) I received 20 emails saying I had wired money and I initially dismissed them as spam. Luckily I did for shit and giggles check my account and found the money missing.

But the point I really wanted to make is that each time my bank (Chase) made good on the money within days. I’m sure your not the only one this has happened to. Banks have insurance for this. You might have to close that account though and open another one. They will probably also suggest filing a report with credit agencies because you might be a victim of identity theft. Crappy time for this to happen,

[Myles B. Astor]

Bummer, keep us posted.

The Gifts from our good friends in China just keep coming (or going). I am starting to like the Middle East all of a sudden way more than China.

Hacking is a world wide occupation. Many more hackers are in Eastern Europe, Roumania, Bulgaria, Poland and Russia. Pretty much every time has happened to me over the last 20+ years the money was routed through a bank in Poland. Like the time AMEX called me (back when we used carbon paper credit card forms) and asked if I had ordered 200 skate boards to be sent to Poland.

[Mikado463]

Hacking is a world wide occupation. Many more hackers are in Eastern Europe, Roumania, Bulgaria, Poland and Russia. Pretty much every time has happened to me over the last 20+ years the money was routed through a bank in Poland. Like the time AMEX called me (back when we used carbon paper credit card forms) and asked if I had ordered 200 skate boards to be sent to Poland.

Regardless, they're all scum, may fleas of a thousand camels invade their crotch !

Brad, sorry to hear of this, hope you get resolution soon.

[brad225]

Myles,
We were going to leave 5/3 Bank and use our accounts at Chase. That sounds about the same.

Time to start burying coffee cans on the property instead. First time I see one of the wild deer here with a shovel someone will be in trouble. I give them enough corn that hopefully won't be a problem.

[Shadowfax]

I’ve had my accounts hacked over the years, most recently four years ago $20k from a savings account. Money was wired, 20 x $990 or so (always under $1000 so not to trip a red flag) to a bank in Poland. (Note if I send someone a $700 payment thru PayPal get a fraud alert???) I received 20 emails saying I had wired money and I initially dismissed them as spam. Luckily I did for shit and giggles check my account and found the money missing.

But the point I really wanted to make is that each time my bank (Chase) made good on the money within days. I’m sure your not the only one this has happened to. Banks have insurance for this. You might have to close that account though and open another one. They will probably also suggest filing a report with credit agencies because you might be a victim of identity theft. Crappy time for this to happen,

I had my identity stolen several years back. I kept getting a recorded phone message about my account ending in XXXX. I did not have an account with those numbers and ignored it. After 3 or 4 calls, I decided to answer just to see what was going on. It was Citi Bank, who holds the cards for Home Depot. They verify accounts created.

So what happened is someone got my info there or somewhere and opened up a Home Depot Credit Card with my name, addy and all info needed. As soon as it was approved, they changed the mailing address to a non existing one. They rang up thousands of dollars of stuff from HD but Citi cleared it all up and gave me 7 years of Fraud Protection.

All in all, once they found out who I was, they gave it back

[still-one]

Thanks for the heads up. I check my accounts almost daily so I would hope I could catch anything in a timely fashion. No stimulus checks coming here so that is one avenue closed off for rip off artists.

[brad225]

Yea, it is temporary money. With the next tax return we will be paying it back.

[Shadowfax]

Yea, it is temporary money. With the next tax return we will be paying it back.

Ha, My wife and my joint check is just about enough to cover my taxes for this year. But, I get to make 1.2% interest on it for 2 months before sending it back.

[Mr Peabody]

From what I've seen the Stimulus money does not have to be paid back.

Anyone who becomes a victim of ID Theft your go to is www.ftc.gov FTC will tell you everything to do and how to do it. If you have IDT with IRS you can even file the required form online there, where IRS is paper only.

It's really upsetting to have your accounts hacked into.

[sleepysurf]

Brad, is it possible your initial "notification" was really a "phishing" email (or text) that you (or your wife) clicked, which then took you to a "spoofed" Fifth Third Bank website, and got you to enter your username and password?

See... https://www.foxbusiness.com/technolo...timulus-checks

If you had "opted in" for email (or text) alerts from the bank for all transactions over $XXX (including the virus relief deposit), you would have also received a notification for the fraudulent transaction. If not, it was probably a "phishing" scam.

Of note, I have been getting MULTIPLE "phishing" TEXTS the past few days (probably emails too, but my provider is filtering those out). I have clicked on a few of the SMS texts (via my Android phone, so as not to install malware) just to see where they take me. They all take me to "spoofed" websites (UPS, Amazon, etc.) trying to get me to log in.

It's pretty clear the hackers have not been furloughed during this pandemic!

I hope your bank reimburses you quickly.

Also, make sure to use 2FA (two factor authentication), as at least the minimum security measure for all your financial institutions. I would also check your Credit Reports over the next few days to make sure you're not a victim of Identity Theft.

[brad225]

[QUOTE=Mr Peabody;301635]From what I've seen the Stimulus money does not have to be paid back.

I agree but an income change that the IRS hasn't figured out yet wil. I don't have a problem giving it back.

[brad225]

[QUOTE=sleepysurf;301638]Brad, is it possible your initial "notification" was really a "phishing" email (or text) that you (or your wife) clicked, which then took you to a "spoofed" Fifth Third Bank website, and got you to enter your username and password?

See... https://www.foxbusiness.com/technolo...timulus-checks

If you had "opted in" for email (or text) alerts from the bank for all transactions over $XXX (including the virus relief deposit), you would have also received a notification for the fraudulent transaction. If not, it was probably a "phishing" scam.

That is a good point Alan. Donna and I both got a text from 5/3 saying the funds were there. There was nothing to open other than the initial text. Neither of us thought to ask the bank if they sent it to us.

[brad225]

So, were opened new accounts and notified everyone that receives direct payments.

Spoke with the fraud department. They have acknowledged it was their mistake and we will be reimbursed the funds.

How is it the accounting dept can debit you account instantly but the fraud dept takes 10 days to credit your account?

Yes, I know the answer. This was a rhetorical question.

[Swisstrips]

One point to make IMHO is not to do any banking via phone/mobile, regardless how convenient it is.

Have a secure wkst at home for banking / sensitive sites and a password app stored locally NOT on cloud for those sites. As well as a SS lock from all 3-4 bureaus.