Debit card fraud has hit several members of the Milligan community this semester with actual and attempted charges totaling over $1,100.
Women’s soccer coach Lisa Buckley received a call from the debit card protection company Jan. 21 asking about recent charges. They had allowed a $104 purchase from Walgreens to go through, but subsequently denied $110 and $215 charges from Kmart and PetSmart, respectively. All three charges occurred in California.
Buckley thinks that her account information was stolen via the internet.
“Two days before my info was stolen I made an online purchase with Journeys,” said Buckley. “I’m guessing that’s how they got my info.”
Sophomore Chelsea Spivey noticed excess charges on her debit card totaling $599 from a Safeway in California on Feb. 2. She called Eastman Credit Union to block her card, but they had already noticed the charges and cancelled the card.
It took a day, but Spivey did get her money back.
“I went to the bank on Thursday but I didn’t get my money back until Friday,” said Spivey.
Holly English, another Milligan sophomore, went online to order photo supplies on Jan. 17 and discovered that her card had been blocked. Eastman Credit Union informed her that they had cancelled her card because of three attempted charges to her account from California totaling $150.
“Thankfully, they blocked the charges,” said English. “But I still had to get a new card.”
All three victims had to go to their respective banks to get new debit cards and sign paperwork ensuring that they did not make the charges.
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