Credit/Debit card alert

Whenever I go to a restaurant and use my debit card to pay, I have never thought to look at the name on the card to make certain that it is mine. I look for the name of the card, but not my own name. Well, from now on you can bet that I will be checking to make sure that not only is the card from my bank, but that it is MY name that is on there.

A few days ago, our daughter went out to dinner with friends and paid her bill with her ATM card. The waitress took her bill, and then brought back the card and the receipt for her to sign. She signed the receipt and then put the card into her wallet, assuming it was her card. Later that evening, when she tried to use the card again, it didn't work. She thought that was weird and looked at the card and that was then she saw that it was some man's name on the card and not her own. Too late to go back to the restaurant because it was closed already, and also too late because whoever had my daughter's card was long gone.

She phoned the company immediately to report the missing card and they canceled it right away, which is what they told her anyway. She told them she had the other guy's card and they said to just destroy it and he would probably be calling and reporting it missing. (She didn't destroy it because that seems not to be her place to do that, and when she returns from her trip to Vermont, she will drop it off at the bank personally and let them do whatever they want with it.)

Later that day, when she was checking online to make sure no one was taking anything out of her account, she saw that someone HAD used her card AFTER she had reported it missing! They apparently do not realize they have someone else's card and are using it as a credit card, or they know they have someone else's and are using it purposely. So she phoned the bank again and told them about the charges, and that the card was supposed to have been canceled when she called the first day. They assured her it was now "really " canceled, and that it would take 72 hours to get the money problem straightened out! Good thing she isn't down to the bottom of her money, or the $100 that was taken out would have caused a big problem for her.

I just wanted to write about this so those who read this will make sure to double check their debit and credit cards immediately after making a purchase to make sure they have the right one with their name on it.

It's always something.