Maybe you saw a suspicious charge on your bank statement. Or your debit card is missing from your wallet. If you believe your account is at risk, you need to act fast. Your money could be in jeopardy.
According to a 2015 American Bankers Association survey, banks lost nearly $2 billion to deposit account fraud the year before. The recent Equifax data breach highlights how consumer information is vulnerable and how that could put your financial accounts in danger. When faced with a compromised account, consumers can protect themselves by acting quickly in the short term and diligently in the long term.
1. REPORT POSSIBLE FRAUD WITHIN TWO BUSINESS DAYS
The clock starts ticking as soon as you realize there’s a problem. If you report a possibly stolen debit card within two business days of discovering it missing, the most you could be responsible for if someone makes unauthorized transactions is $50, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
But if you procrastinate beyond two days, you could lose up to $500 of your money. If you see unauthorized transactions on your bank statement, the window for reporting it to your bank is 60 days after the statement is sent to you. After that, you could lose all that was stolen from your main account and any linked accounts, with no reimbursement from your bank.