Why You Should Always Keep An Eye On Your Debit Card–A StoryTime

To keep track of your money, you’ve got to keep an eye on your bank debit card.  This card is a link to your bank account.  Whoever has that card can get your money.  Here is how I found out why you should always keep an eye on your debit card. 

Want to know what happened? Keep reading!

The backstory

Back in 2018, I worked as a transaction processor for a well-known outsourcer. Some days on the way to work, I would stop at a burger chain restaurant that serves breakfast. 

I used to like this restaurant for all meals, but they did something that changed my mind about them.

When my daughter was a toddler, we went there for dinner one day.  She got a kid’s burger combo, and I got a regular burger combo.

I don’t trust restaurant hamburgers (you know, e. coli). I always tear them in half and check to see if they are done on the inside.  If there’s a speck of red, it goes back. If I’m at home, it goes into the microwave to be cooked a little more.  

Anyway, when we sat down to eat at home, I gave her her food and I took mine. As usual, I cut open my hamburger and saw pink. Then I looked at my daughter and wondered if her burger was all right.  So I reached over and cut hers open. Sure enough, the burger was pink in the middle.  Really? Who would give a half-cooked burger to a child?

Since then, I’ve only eaten one burger from there.

Now, their breakfast menu is pretty good. So I kept coming for breakfast. Weird, but yeah I like their breakfast.

What happened

Well one Friday morning, I showed up to get my usual. When I got to the drive-thru window, the manager who usually worked wasn’t there. It was the guy I’d seen working on the back line. Strange, but I figured he was filling in for the manager who had the day off.

The guy gave me the order total, and I handed him my debit card. Usually, the manager took about 15 seconds with it. Well this time, it took a little more time.

I looked through the window to see what he was doing. He was at the register so I didn’t think anymore of it. Finally, he gave me my card and food, and I went to work. 

Now this was the day before the Kentucky Derby. I’m from Kentucky and Derby Day is a big deal! My grandmother and I had a tradition where we would get some snacks and watch the Derby Day coverage on TV.

So the day before, I got some snacks. Then that Saturday morning I went back and got some more when I went to pick up my grandmother.

We came to my house and enjoyed the Derby coverage.  She loved seeing the fashions and watching the goings on. I loved picking my horse and cheering for him or her.

The following Monday, I got a call from my bank that a fraud alert had popped up on my account, and I needed to come in as soon as possible. It seemed that they wanted me to verify some charges. So the next morning, I went to the bank and met with a representative.  

Two charges which totaled $40 each had been flagged. At first, I thought ‘Yeah, those are mine’. The charges for each snack purchase had been around that amount.

Then a thought ‘I needed to know more’ came to me. As the rep and I talked more, she gave me a printout of the flagged charges. There were two charges for Friday and two charges for Saturday. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how many times I had been to the store on those two days.

As I looked closer at the printout, I saw what I think caused the fraud alert. The two charges that were made on Saturday morning were thirty minutes apart, and one of them was made in a city over an hour away.  There was no way I could make those two charges.

I checked the Friday charges. Sure enough, it had been made in the city that was an hour away.

I told the rep those two charges weren’t mine, and the bank reimbursed the amount of the false charges. 

The thing that gets me is I almost approved those charges because they were so close to the amounts I had made. I’m glad I followed that feeling that made me pause and look deeper into the issue.

The lesson I learned

The lesson I learned is to always be mindful that there are people out there who try to separate you from your money. I should have prosecuted the guy but I didn’t. I just had the bank change my account number and issue a new card.

So if you are with a bank and they have a fraud alert feature, take it. It’s good to have an extra set of eyes on your bank account.

The takeaway

The importance of keeping your eye on your bank debit card is a big one because it is the gateway to your checking account. The fact that it can be used as a credit card adds a danger that your checking account can be cleaned out in no time. 

There are people out there who are always scamming, and scheming how they can get money from you. 

If you lose your debit card or even your credit card, call the bank or credit card company and get a new one. Yeah, it’s a hassle, but it’ll pay off in the end. 

Just saying.

If you have any tips or comments, feel free to share them down in the comments section. Your feedback is invaluable! Thank you for reading.