As you may have been following, my purse was stolen from a restaurant in Playa del Carmen, Mexico early April. Read about the nearly finished outcome here.
As I’ve been chatting with friends regarding the circumstances, I’ve discovered some interesting tips from them that I’ll be sharing.
When my purse was stolen, my Charles Schwab debit card was stolen. As someone from the United States, it’s uncommon that we use debit cards to pay for point of sale (POS) purchases at stores or online. It didn’t even cross my mind that my debit card could have been used by the thieves outside of an ATM. Here I was obliviously thinking that my debit card was safe… wrong!
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The thieves made $500 in online purchases using my debit card as POS before I was able to get the card shut off (in case you’re thinking I took too long, my phone was also stolen so I couldn’t log into the apps to shut things down immediately).
After chatting with my friend from the UK about this, she told me a tip on how she keeps her debit cards safe.
For cards that are solely used as a debit card for money from an ATM or bank, she keeps the cards locked on the bank website/app.
I thought, well… what about any direct deposits incoming or auto debits outgoing? When I researched it on the apps, I found that locking your card does not affect anything except using the card for ATM transactions and POS purchases. Everything else flows as normal.
So I have now locked my 3 debit cards. I also no longer carry them unless I am making a specific trip to the bank. (Americans- we need to get out of the habit of carrying our entire livelihood in a purse or wallet, it’s not intelligent and a real pain in the ass if it gets stolen.)
Now I just have to remember to unlock them from the website or app when I take a trip to the ATM. Slight inconvenience? Maybe. Worth the effort and protection? I think so.
What other tips do you have for protecting your belongings in the event of a theft?
