cantstayhome

Going through mail today that had piled up recently, I discovered a notice from Bank of America of a wire transfer out of my account. It occurred while I was in Italy (but 2 days before my card was stolen). Anyone know of any reason why any of my legitimate transactions from that day could or would have been treated as a wire transfer? Seems fishy to me and I can't get anyone in the wire transfer department until Monday....

LoveItaly

cantstayhome, is this transfer an amount of a check you wrote? I ask because when I pay my US Bank credit card bill via check they now do an electronic transfere from my checking account to their account. They sent a notice in advance that they would start doing this.

Also, I would think your bank would have a 24/7 800 phone number that you could call that would be able to answer your question.

sandi_travelnut

Did you hand your card over to a person at a restaurant, store or hotel while you were there? If so, it could have been copied while it was out of your site. Mine was. Your card doesn't have to physically be in someone's possession to be used. Just call as soon as you can Monday and get it taken care of. Our account was cleared of about $3k 2 weeks after returning from Italy in 2000. BoA not only took care of replacing the moeny, they "fronted" us about $500. for expenses for a couple of days till the investigation was completed.

cantstayhome

Thanks for both of your resposes.

LoveItaly - nope, didn't write any checks. I don't even carry a checkbook at home! I have to speak to someone in the wire transfer department specificallly and it is open only M-F.

Sandi - yep, we used the card at a restaurant that day. It was our only negative experience with dining in Italy the entire week. We tipped more consistent with Italian, rather than American, custom, not that the waiter even deserved a tip that night. He said when he delivered the check, "Service is not included." We all muttered after he walked away, "Apparently not." All out of earshot, I swear! As we were leaving, the waiter said to me "Is that it?" as he pointed disdainfully to the cash left for him. I offered to take it back if he found it not satisfactory.

Hope to find out Monday where this mysterious transfer went.

jody

I have had the same experience as Loveitaly...checks to certain accounts often show as transfers.

I find it very convenient and reliable to use BofA online to check my accounts for activity

cantstayhome

Need to emphasize, that this isn't just a transfer out of one account to another - we do that all the time. What I got is not just a notation on my account statement, it is a special notice of a WIRE transfer. An entirely separate piece of paper all on its own.

Typically they need special authorization for a wire transfer to occur. I've done one only once in the last year and that was after we returned so I could make my SEP contribution on time - got such a notice for that one, too, but that one was mine!

LoveItaly

I understand cantstayhome, what you received is not an electronic transfer but a wire transfer. You of course will need to contact BofA first thing Monday morning. Since you didn't authorize this transfere you will be reimubursed but what a pain in the you know what!

I have a friend in Italy that went to NYC recently..he works for one of the largest financial institutions in Italy. The seminar in NYC was regarding all types of financial frauds.

I sometimes wonder if just changing US dollars to Euro before leaving for Italy wouldn't be good versus using ATM and credit cards. I know, the exchange rate, carrying cash around etc., but honestly it would certainly eliminate fraud. No flaming please, I am not going to do that..but just couldn't help commenting.

Cantstayhome, please post back on this thread of yours and tell us what the final results are. Best wishes to you.

BTW, can't help but think if one has payments made automatically from their checking account to different vendors this problem you have could certainly cause one to be "overdrawn" couldn't it?

ira

Hi C,

>Anyone know of any reason why any of my legitimate transactions from that day could or would have been treated as a wire transfer? <

What did you do that day?

Maire

Cantstayhome - sorry about your problem; hope you get it worked out. I would like to avoid that restaurant, if you would feel comfortable mentioning it.

janisj

You probably can't know for sure until Monday - but to give you an example of what Loveitaly and jody are talking about -- when I pay my Discover Card bill by check, it shows up as a transfer on my bank statement. In fact I can't even get/see the check # when I call the automated accounts line or when I check it on-line. It looks/acts exactly like a direct transfer when it is actually a check.

It can be very confusing the first few months an account starts this.

jsmith

In order for a wire transfer to occur it is necessary to have your bank routing number and the account number. These are not numbers that appear on a credit or credit card. Wire transfers are authorized by the sender not the receiver.

Don't blame a restaurant, hotel or other vendor where you used your CC. They can make a spurious charge but not access your bank account for a wire transfer.

surfmom

What JSmith implied, therefore, is that a check is needed for the correct information.

Did you have any checks stolen? Lose any? Thrown away any old ones?

jsmith

Meant to say credit and DEBIT card.

I just checked my bank accounts online and all show the name of the party on the other side of the transaction. These are identified as Direct Deposits, EFT and ACH. One of my banks is BankAmerica and I can't imagine they would not show a wire transfer online since they show all the others.

cantstayhome

Well, the plot thickens. Actually it doesn't, I just have the benefit of a bit more info. after checking on-line and speaking to hubby, as well as a good stiff cocktail (not that this is driving me to drink, it's just Saturday that's all).

It is odd, as every other debit to the account, as jsmith indicates, includes info. on the recipient or a notation that it is fees, etc. This one just says WIRE TRANSFER and has a reference number.

I agree with jsmith that a card doesn't contain the routing number, etc. for the bank, but I am not convinced that there is not some method by which a clever criminal can get enough information to do what they need to do to get your $! My aunt's purse was stolen just last weekend (from her home while she was sleeping upstairs - creepy!) and her checking account was wiped out that same night. Nothing in the bag had her pin #, the pin wasn't her first name or her address or something hokey like that, so clearly there is a way for someone to access or override a pin. Even if they had used a check and went to a sketchy check cashing agency, the transaction wouldn't have posted until Monday for her, so it had to be electronic.

Do I, however, think that means that someone kept my CC number and accessed my account to authorize a wire? Could have happened, but if it did, they presumably would have been smart enough to take more money than they did. Will just have to find out Monday what it was. The other possibility that just occurred to me is that maybe forgetful hubby did something the Friday before we left that didn't post until Monday. He doesn't remember doing such a thing, but anything is possible.

Maybe the restaurant wasn't at fault, but I wish I could blame them anyway, they were so obnoxious. (joke) With the disclaimer that I am not accusing the restaurant I am about to name of engaging in fraud, but merely expressing my opinion that our waiter gave us bad service on the night we dined and was rude about the size of the tip, as Maire wanted to know, it was something (hostaria maybe?) Costanza. Feel like they pegged us as tourists and just did one thing after another to take advantage of that and nobody wanted to make a fuss, as we were a big group and nobody on vacation wants to be the bad man who gives the waiter a hard time.

Ira, did nothing out of the ordinary. Ate at Tre Scalini for lunch, and the Costanza place for dinner. Didn't buy anything else with a card that day, used cash to buy my kid a soccer ball so hubby and I could take turns chasing him while the other ate at Piazza Navona.

Was really just curious as to whether anyone had previously seen an ATM withdrawal or some innocuous item turn up as a wire out for some odd reason. I've now checked all my ATM withdrawals and the amounts don't match up, even when fees are figured in. Oh, well, will just have to wait Monday, but will follow up here, as requested.

Thanks for all the thoughts!

surfmom

cantstayhome, good luck with this.

Kudos to you though, for not freaking out, just thinking through things, asking some questions, doing some detective work, and remaining calm. Hopefully, it will all be solved with no further probems.

keep us posted.

cantstayhome

I learned long ago that freaking out doesn't solve anything. I was once turned down for a job because because apparently the non-hiring interviewers thought I wasn't excited enough about it. I was, I was, I just didn't look like I'm excited! Thanks, surfmom.

WillTravel

CSH, how much is this transfer for?

cantstayhome

Not enough to freak out about $255 or so.

WillTravel

True, but I'm sure you'd still rather have the $255 .

I really doubt this is related, but did you do a wire transfer at any point for an apartment? That's the main context I seem to hear about wire transfers now.

cantstayhome

No, but a good thought. We stayed in hotels and paid by credit card, but not on the date the wire went out.