Due to the rampant identity theft and skimming of bank card information, many Chinese people have encountered cases where their credit cards and debit cards were fraudulently used. Despite not physically using their cards at certain stores, money has been withdrawn from their accounts. Ms. Xie, who lives in Flushing, had a similar experience on December 9th when her debit card was fraudulently charged over five hundred dollars on the Walmart website. Fortunately, after reporting the incident to the bank, she was fully compensated for the unauthorized transaction.
Ms. Xie received a warning text message from TD Bank on the evening of December 13th, asking if she was making a $504.29 purchase on the Walmart website. She promptly replied “NO,” stopping the fraudulent transaction before any money was taken. She commented, “Thanks to the bank’s alert message, the money was not stolen.”
However, it wasn’t until December 27th that Ms. Xie noticed another transaction on her statement from December 9th for a $525 purchase on the Walmart website. She had not made any online purchases there, and she did not receive any text alerts from the bank about this transaction, resulting in her debit card being charged $525 without her knowledge.
“There was an alert message from the bank that prevented one fraudulent transaction, but there was no notification for this one. I need to contact the bank,” Ms. Xie stated as she approached the TD Bank branch in Flushing to address the issue.
She questioned the bank, stating that she had been a customer for many years and her debit card was password-protected, so why was there unauthorized use? When the theft occurred, the bank did not alert her via SMS about the online purchase activity, leaving her unaware of her card’s unauthorized use.
After listening to her explanation, bank staff advised Ms. Xie to return home and wait. Upon checking her account at home, Ms. Xie discovered that the bank had credited $525 back to her account, fully compensating her for the loss.
Banks typically have a zero-liability policy for customers, providing protection for financial cards against fraud. According to regulations, banks monitor card transactions for potential fraudulent activities 24/7 and must provide transaction alerts (such as SMS, emails, or statements) for consumers to promptly detect any unusual transactions. If the bank fails to fulfill its notification obligations or take reasonable monitoring measures and a customer’s financial card is used without authorization, the customer is not held responsible for unauthorized charges.