bank and stores responsibility for stolen check card, victim's right against bank and store in WI

La Crosse, WI Viewed 926 times. Posted about 1 year ago in Banking
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Stolen Check Card: Hello - my check card was stolen and a rash of unauthorized purchases were made with it:

6 total fraudulent purchases at a Walmart between 4:17AM and 4:43AM on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

4:17AM - $500.46

4:19AM - $320.46

4:36AM - $300.46

4:38AM - $350.46

4:41AM - $175.70

4:43AM - $272.73

Total amount = $1,920.27

I was told by the Walmart store that the purchases ending in .46 were likely money orders. I do not know how this was able to occur.

1) Why did the Walmart computer system not alert the check-out worker to the fact that these rash of purchases were taking place so quickly? In less than a 30 minute period, how could 6 separate purchases be made?

2) How many check-out workers were working at this hour? I would imagine that there would be very few. In that case, how could someone use my check card repeatedly with likely the same check-out person? And how were they able to use it once the account had already been emptied by them?

3) Was there no Walmart security noting this suspicious activity at this late hour? I have no idea if these thieves left the store and reentered to make these unauthorized purchases. Didn’t anyone at the store pick up on this?

I have filed a report with the proper authorities.

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Answers (3)

Anthony John Colleluori

Anthony John Colleluori

Contributor Level 7
This attorney is licensed in New York. Posted about 1 year ago. Flag as objectionable
I think these are questions not for a lawyer to answer, but for a lawyer to put to an employee of Walmart.

Good luck.
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Anthony D. Cotton

Anthony D. Cotton Avvo Pro

Contributor Level 5
This attorney is licensed in Wisconsin. Posted about 1 year ago. Flag as objectionable
I agree. You'd have to think this is an inside job; or else, horrible negligence on Walmart's part. Who have you filed a report with? Have you contacted the police department? Also, you should not be responsible for these charges with your credit card company.
1 2
Michael Forest Day

Michael Forest Day

Contributor Level 3
This attorney is licensed in California and 2 other states. Posted about 1 year ago. Flag as objectionable
I'll add a couple points. From your question, I assume that it was a debit card that was stolen and not a credit card. The bottom line on lost or stolen debit cards (credit cards, too, for that matter) is simple: NOTIFY YOUR BANK AT ONCE IF YOU DISCOVER THAT YOUR CARD IS LOST OR STOLEN.

First, I hope you contacted your bank promptly and notified them that your card had been stolen. For debit cards, federal regulation limits your liability to $50 if you notify them within two business days after you first learn that the card was stolen. If you don't notify them within the two business day period, then your liability can be up to $500. Most banks offer you more protection than federal law requires. Especially if your card was a Visa or MasterCard debit card, it's quite likely that you'll be able to recover all of the money provided you cooperate with your bank and use reasonable diligence.

Second, your questions are certainly reasonable ones. I agree that WalMart probably should have become suspicious. But the bigger culprit here was the servicer of your debit card (most likely your bank, but sometimes, small banks have larger ones service their card portfolios). Most banks have fraud detection systems that flag certain transactions as suspicious and instruct the merchant to take additional steps to verify the customer's identity (generally, someone at the bank will need to speak with the customer on the phone). Such systems probably would have flagged the third purchase from WalMart ending in .46 in a 30-minute time period.

Good luck; I hope you recovered all of your money.
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