Finding out who made unauthorized debit card purchase?

Question

A couple of days ago I made a purchase at a T-Mobile store, I just found out my bank card was used to make unauthorized purchases on line but it did not go through due to the missing 3 digit security number. The last purchase I made was at the T-Mobile store and checking with my bank a purchase was made a the same mall with sprint. However, I have my card. How could my card be ran at a store when I have my card, can someone run your debit to make a purchase without your card at a store? My best assumption is someone at the T-Mobile store used my card number to make purchases with "friends" at the Sprint store, other attempted charges to my card were all attempted phone purchases. I reported with the credit bureau, what is the next step or best solution to finding out who made these unauthorized purchases and who manually entered the unauthorized charge without the actual card?

Answer 1

They won't tell you who did it. You didn't mention whether or not you've already reported this to the issuing bank- if not, do so asap! They will cancel the current card and send you a new card with a new number.

Answer 2

Odds are you won't find out.

The normal process is that some uses a fake card reader to swipe your card data.  Either you ran your card (unknowingly of course) through a fake keypad, which records your card data and your pin, or (if the card left you hand at any time) somebody ran it through a second reader and a hidden camera watched you enter your pin.

Criminal gangs then use the data to make fake cards that are just as usable as yours.

Scary, huh?

In any event, it may have been anywhere you've used the card in the last while, not just that day.  But it's been my experience that the baks and police won't tell you who or where it happened, for fear of compromising court cases apparently.  If yours has been nabbed, they will want to replace it with a new one, and so it begins again.  While they are at it, they'll also replace the cards of anyone else who used the suspect store(s).

So as I said, you'll probably never know what happened.