New Orleans, La. -- Some residents in two parishes are leery about using their debit and credit cards after thieves raided their bank accounts by stealing their account and pin numbers.
"Last week when I went to a breakfast shop to get something to eat. My card was declined, thought it was an error on their machine, went to another business in the local area and the attendant behind the desk knew me and told me that my card was declined," said Wendy Benedetto, a realtor and St. Charles Parish council member.
She immediately knew something was wrong and contacted her bank, which in turn told her it had de-activated her debit card after noticing suspicious purchases in Texas and abroad.
"They told me that people were using my card -- someone used my card out of the country," Benedetto stated.
"I got an email from my bank one night saying that I had fraud on my credit card, went ahead and called the bank directly and they said they were having point of sale purchases anywhere from Texas, California, Canada," said Webb Jay, also of St. Charles Parish.
He would then make another disturbing discovery.
"A few days later I found out that I had fraud on another card, so it's been an ongoing fiasco basically," Jay stated.
Others in the area who did not want to be interviewed on camera said they too had their bank accounts attacked by thieves.
"All the way around it is inconvenient, there are forms you got to fill out, you know, your funds are tied up," Jay said.
Jay does online banking and buys merchandise online. However, that may not be how his account was invaded.
"My bank tells me though that they don't seem to think that's where the issue was, they think that it's some kind of purchase that I made locally," Jay further stated.
"We've had a few people to come forth, and feel that they may be a victim and we're in the process of researching those right now to determine where it may have originated from," said Captain Pat Yoes of the St. Charles Parish Sheriff's Office.
The bank account invaders have been busy in St. Bernard Parish lately, too.
In a press release, Sheriff Jimmy Pohlmann said since Monday there have been about 30 reports of unauthorized ATM withdrawals through stolen personal identification numbers, or PIN's. St. Bernard authorities are focusing on a gas station where a large number of affected cards were used, as well as banks.
Federal agents say skimmers are easily affixed to ATMs to steal account and pin numbers. Yoes said electronic fraud is becoming more and more commonplace. He said consumers must keep close watch on their bank accounts.
"They really need to pay really close attention to their credit card bills," Yoes stated.
"I'm still waiting on receiving new cards, so I'm pretty limited in, you know, having to use cash," said Jay.
Federal authorities say people should shield their hand when putting in their PIN's because sometimes thieves put cameras and mirrors near ATMs.
