A Darien woman who visited New York City with her family soon noticed suspicious charges on her debit card in the city — with almost $2,000 gone by the time she reported it to police.
The 40-year-old woman told police on Monday, Nov. 30 about the trip and that she used her debit card in the city. When she noticed charges she hadn’t made on the account, she notified People’s Bank, which froze her account. She was still in possession of the card.
She was able to distinguish her charges from the suspicious ones — 12 transactions totalling $1,959.08. The bank told her she wouldn’t be held responsible for the transactions.
Avoiding identity theft
- Here’s an online identity theft information brochure from Darien Police.
- The FBI has an Internet Crime Complaint Center set up to inform people and help victims.
- A federal government Web page on identity theft with some prevention advice (which doesn’t look like it would have helped if a store clerk steals the information, as it seems likely in this case), and what to do if you become a victim.