By Chris Agee | cagee@mineralwellsindex.com
Less than two months after a significant portion of Mineral Wells was affected by unauthorized credit and debit card use, several more instances of bank card fraud were reported over the weekend.
The widespread card fraud reported in August was tracked to an information breach at a local restaurant and resulted in unauthorized transactions across the U.S. and in certain other countries, affecting account holders at various local banks.
In contrast, fraud reports beginning Friday were limited to First Financial Bank customers with all unauthorized charges made in New York.
At least three account holders notified police of the fraud Friday, according to reports, and each targeted account showed multiple transactions.
One individual reported nearly $500 in fraudulent transactions, another account was accessed for $360 in charges, and information from a third account was used in two transactions for a total of $275 in unauthorized charges.
Local resident Jim Vines said his wife, Neda, noticed two unauthorized charges on their account early Sunday evening.
“She comes back and asked me, ‘Are you doing business with someone in New York?’” he recalled.
The two pending charges originated at an Islip, N.Y., grocery store Friday, he said, each for purchases of about $180.
Vines said he went to the local First Financial branch and cancelled his card, adding the situation has prompted him and his wife to alter their financial routine.
“What we’ve decided to do is ... go only to First Financial and draw cash and write checks,” he said, avoiding bank card use as much as possible.
Vines said the bank was very helpful throughout the process but he still plans to take precautions that would prevent a similar inconvenience in the future.
He noted that, upon approaching a MWPD officer to report the fraud, the same officer was finishing up a report from another victim of unauthorized card use.
“It’s impossible to say whether the recent fraud is related” to the bank card abuse in August, First Financial Bank President and CEO Ken Williamson said.
He said that, as the largest bank in Palo Pinto County, it makes sense that First Financial would have more reported instances of fraud, though the crime is an ongoing problem for all lending institutions.
“As more people use debit cards, that’s a risk we take,” he said, adding recent incidents might serve to make cardholders more vigilant.
“In today’s market, people are more aware of the fraud after the last incident we had,” Williamson added.
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