Anyone file a police report on attempted fraudulent purchases before?

[italianqt]

I had $655ish (that I know of, in the last few days) attempted to be charged to my debit card. I have been getting calls from Visa Fraud Protection ever since a few days after I stayed at a particularly crappy place in Fresno (forgive me, I was with a bunch of broke musicians, heh) about four weeks ago. I noticed my available balance and current balance had nearly a $700 difference, so I called the bank to see if it had something to do with all the gas stations I've stopped at recently (been on the road every weekend for the last month, literally) putting that "$200 hold" on my account each time. Nope. Apparently there were 7 charges. 4 $1 charges to Apple Online (hope they got some good songs!), $1 to blizzard.com, $299 charge to Ann Taylor Loft and $349 to Kenneth Cole.

My friend works for the bank I belong to but she can't get too much information besides where the charges were made from. Luckily she can find a way to push my rent check through so it doesn't bounce (the $655 may not be reversed in time), but she did say she hasn't seen fraudulent charges this high so I should file a police report. I have never had to do this before so I'm not really sure how to even go about it when I'm only speculating on where the charges came from.

Anyone have any advice on how to do this? I'm in Cali, if that makes a difference.

[OdysseyDesign]

Someone got a hold of my husbands debit card #. There were over $100 in petty charges like the Apple store, blockbuster, etc. Then bam they tried to buy a $2000 computer system!  Our bank put a hold on it and called us to verify the transaction. Needless to say we were shocked  We went through all the amounts and the bank stopped all them all. We did not file a report with the police but instead let our bank's fraud department handle it.

[Kimmiekins]

My partner had her credit card stolen. There was charge after charge - for gas, of all things. Visa is the one that realized the odd charges, and called immediately. They canceled the card, but many charges were made quickly. We watched, and let them know each time there was a new charge (as I said, the card was stolen). Eventually, every cent was returned ($450 or so), once they were deemed to have been fraudulent charges. She didn't need to file a police report, as it was the bank/Visa that handled that end of it all.

Make sure to call the bank and let them know what's going on, more so than your friend, I'd think.. I'm surprised they're not doing more? I'd also contact the Visa, and let them know (beyond them calling you). You should get every cent back, if/when it's determined that the charges were fraudulent. The most important part is to let them know ASAP when it happens.

[italianqt]

I apologize for not being more specific, I already called the bank and had the debit card cancelled. I was texting my friend who works there while I was on the phone with them and she said that it's an unusually high amount and might be worth filing a police report. I've never dealt with this before so I figured I'd ask.

[Kimmiekins]

Oh, okay! Well, in that case, I guess you could ask the bank if you should, but I believe, most often, they are the ones filling a police report.

[MsMagpie]

My card company encouraged me to do so. I just called the non-emergency number and told them what happened, and that my card wanted me to file a report. A lot of police departments have emails for that type of stuff now too.

[trubandloki]

I say call the  non-emergency police number and ask them how to go about filing a report.  It is probably a very good idea to file a report and at least have a record.

[NutKitty]

Yes, file the report.  If anything went wrong later, it is really good to have it on record. 

[Marybelle]

I think it makes it easier for the bank to file claims with their insurance (after all, someone has to pay for this stuff!) if there is a police report on file.  I'd call the non-emergency number, make the report, get a report number, and then give that report number to your bank, so they can reference it. 

[italianqt]

Great, thanks guys. I'm going to go to the bank after work to do the formal dispute and get a new debit card, then I'll call the non-emergency number. I had no idea what number to call.

And seriously a day without a debit card? Awful. I had to ask my friend/coworker to buy me lunch since I never carry cash!

[Lmbswimmer]

Here you go:  http://www.sandiego.gov/police/help/nonemergencies.shtml

[italianqt]

Aw thanks you saved me the google effort! I appreciate it!