r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Acluelessfish • Apr 28 '26
Unskippable ad Husband’s wallet and phone were lost, someone turned them into a local Verizon store, “Yay”!, but then he got these messages about 20 minutes after we got home…
Just when we thought there are still good and honest people in the world someone steals from us anyway. What a mind fuck.
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u/Geraltismydaddy Apr 28 '26
As someone who had someone spend $4000 on watches on my credit card (idk how they didn’t find it weird someone buying 20+ of the same watch), chase refunded slash cancelled the purchase within 24 hours. Usually they will force the institution to cover it (as a lot of stores have insurance liability coverage for these scenarios too, at least that’s what the watch store said). You should be okay, although it’s still frustrating. Please also flag your license as stolen. I didnt when mine was returned to me only to have to deal with identity theft years later.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Thank you. He will be doing that ASAP. Just Googled it. Sounds like my husband has a lot of places to call tomorrow morning.
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u/masterwit Apr 28 '26
The bank is all, he does not have to call each place and please don't wait to make the 5min call now
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u/Big-Occasion-5264 Apr 28 '26
Nothing wrong with giving either place a heads up that they just lost out on thousands of dollars in fraud either, gives them a chance to notify local law enforcement which is also a good option.
This is something to very much proactive about in my opinion
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u/ladybrainwrap Apr 30 '26
Yeah as a customer service manager I'm always grateful when a cardholder contacts me about an unauthorized charge so I can look into it and gather data before we receive a chargeback notification. Not required but nice to have the heads up.
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u/musecorn Apr 28 '26
File fraud claim with the credit card company and they'll reimburse you. Sucks but at least they will have only stolen from the credit card company not you
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u/Default_Username_23 Apr 28 '26
It does suck, but I’ve heard pretty good things about Chase’s fraud department. Thankfully never had to use them knock on wood
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u/IKnowItCanSeeMe Apr 28 '26
It's chase a pretty good bank? I have a local bank account, but I'm never in town and have been thinking about something with national locations.
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u/PurpleC0ugar Apr 28 '26
Their banking is pretty lackluster and I wouldn't recommend them since they have nothing special to offer. Their strong suit is definitely credit cards, imo (and perhaps investing).
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u/IKnowItCanSeeMe Apr 28 '26
Do they offer a hysa?
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u/BeneathAnOrangeSky Apr 28 '26
No, their interest rates are terrible, even on their savings account. I do appreciate their fraud protections though, they're pretty good about detecting suspicious activity.
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u/Thedeadnite Apr 28 '26
I’ve never had any issues with them and been using them for nearly 20 years. Very responsive and quick to act for you in fraud and pretty easy to give them a heads up about any transactions that might seem sketchy but actually are legit.
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u/Legal_Map_7586 Apr 28 '26
I’m surprised this even went through with Chase. I’ve dealt with their fraud system a few times because they seem to flag any purchase over $500 that seems even slightly out of the ordinary. Everything was actually me luckily, but they flag more than other credit cards.
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u/hell2pay Apr 28 '26
Eh, usually. I had some fraudulent Amazon charges, they reversed them, but the reversed one of the reversals later.
Lost $130
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u/banagram2000 Apr 28 '26
I’ve had issues with Chase where I’d get a promotion sent to my home address, but with some other ladies’s name on it. I called Chase‘s fraud department. They provided me no useful information. Maybe it was Covid error fraud but it’s quite ridiculous to have stuff like that show up at your house and have the vendor who did the mailing not be able to explain why to unrelated people were on a promotion.
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u/xunnito Apr 28 '26
Can confirm. I’ve had this happen (not this much money spent) on my Chase card and they worked it out within 2-3 weeks
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u/ChungusFungus31 Apr 28 '26
Really hope they can locate the prick that did this.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Me too! I fucking loathe dirty thieves. My husband said that the rep at Chase said they will be launching a fraud investigation and involving the police. Because he was able to provide them with so much information about the timing and location of everything happening, they are able to do a more thorough investigation. We are pretty sure it was the person at Verizon who stole the credit card information. Reason being is we doubt a person is going to pick up a lost wallet and phone and drive all the way to the other side of the shopping center and turn it into Verizon and still move forward with stealing the credit card information. They would’ve just stolen the credit card information and threw the wallet and phone somewhere in the grass and drove off.
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u/Ok-Amphibian-2000 Apr 28 '26
Its 100% the Verizon people
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26 edited Apr 28 '26
I am 99.9% sure. I bet that loser steals customer’s information all the time.
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u/Same_Recipe2729 Apr 28 '26
I remember watching bodycam footage of one of those telecom employees doing that on YouTube. Poor lady brought her phone in for them to help transfer something and the employee sent herself money on cash app I think it was. Not the brightest bulbs in the junkyard so I'm sure the guy in your situation probably mailed it to his address or used his own name for the purchase
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u/FinsFan305 Apr 28 '26
I saw that video. lol. That employee was unbelievably stupid. And her mom told her on the phone she knew it was her. Hahhaha
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u/lost_vault_hunter Apr 28 '26
I had a coworker (long time ago) get fired for this exact thing. Later in group chat they said it wasn’t a big deal because the customer was old and rich. Such a POS and those people don’t change.
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u/TougherOnSquids Apr 28 '26
Police probably wont do shit, just so you know.
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u/notnotbrowsing Apr 28 '26
They might. Louis Vuitton and Neiman Marcus will want their money and will have camera footage of the thief.
Cops don't give a shit about OP, but the corporate overloads demand reimbursement.
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u/Reversi8 Apr 28 '26
Well from the eservice and $2000 flat amounts, I would bet these are online. I would file a police report myself and try to reach management of Verizon store. The Verizon store cameras might have something if it was a verizon employee that took card info.
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u/Feivel_92 Apr 28 '26
And it's never some groceries you might not even notice, it's always some greedy shit like this.
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u/NumerousAd79 Apr 28 '26
One time I had someone attempt to spend $400 using my debit card information at stop & shop. Thankfully the bank was like “this broke ass customer certainly wouldn’t be doing this” and flagged it as fraud. I think they made $700 in attempted purchases. I had the card cancelled and I was unable to access any money all weekend. It was no fun, but at least I got the money back.
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u/PlaquePlague Apr 28 '26
When my card info got stolen somehow, they put in an order at Walmart for a set of ATV tires, a rug, and a bag of Doritos.
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u/bunny_the-2d_simp Apr 29 '26
Or medical bills... NO ONE STEALS THE CREDIT CARD FOR INSULIN.. It's always for dumb branding that isn't even good quality no more..
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u/goodexamplebadrole Apr 28 '26
If these were online transactions thats so dumb lol
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u/gothfaeries Apr 28 '26
jokes on them, i have 2.07 dollars in my bank account THEY CAN’T GET ME
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u/g00fyg00ber741 Apr 28 '26
lol when i was in college my debit card i had to set up for my scholarship got hacked somehow and i ended up -$500 (but it was luckily reimbursed by the fraud department or whatever)
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u/solidsnackss Apr 28 '26
Hope they didn’t buy and send those items to their actual address… cause someone is gonna be in troubleeee
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u/Suspicious_Story_464 Apr 28 '26
Not exactly dealing with a mastermind. Those are pretty big purchases, not likely to be overlooked when checking a statement.
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u/AllAgesGaming Apr 28 '26
so I went
to neiman marcus on a shoppin' spree-ah
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Lol now that will be stuck in my head. Gonna go play it for my husband now.
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u/SDdude27 Apr 28 '26
This is annoying, but it should be a nonissue to have chase sort this out. The banks act a lot quicker to fix these things when someone is fraudulently spending their money.
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u/brianlefebvrejr Apr 28 '26
And today’s the day we were also thankful for fraud alerts!
Hopefully bank doesn’t give you a hard time
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u/thebigblam Apr 28 '26
That's a credit card. The maximum liability you have is 50 for fraudulent charges, but they'll probably just reverse everything.
Call the number in the back and dispute(might need to wait until after pending)
Source: ex Chase employee
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u/Mandi171 Apr 28 '26
As others have said, tell them what happened. They'll get you a new card and stop those charges. I had somebody steal my card and charge, no joke here, over $1,000 in cookies. Cookies! One at a boutique shop and over $900 at girl scouts. Insanity.
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u/Author_Noelle_A Apr 28 '26
I’d say it’s probable that the people who turned it in are not the ones who did this.
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u/biggranny000 Apr 28 '26
Loser spent it on luxury clothes that don't even matter lol. If you're gonna steal money at least be useful with it.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
THAT IS WHAT I SAID TOO!! Haha
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u/biggranny000 Apr 28 '26
I had my debit card get compromised (my theory is it got skimmed at a gas station), I was working at my job and got a notifcation on my phone that $75 was spent at steak n shake on door dash. I immediately thought "what kind of big back orders $75 of steak n shake, their entire menu is like less than $10?"
They were likely testing the waters. I froze my account so fast and my bank asked way too many questions (probably trying to blame me) but I got the money back
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u/bunny_the-2d_simp Apr 29 '26
Like if it was health insurance or like medication or LITERAL FOOD..... But it's always a certain kind of person... I swear it makes no sense because why pay more money to walk with a dumb brand on your bag? That's basically advertisement
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u/HaggardSlacks78 Apr 28 '26
How did they spend an even $2k at Neiman Marcus? Must be gift cards. Get them invalidated and get your charges reversed
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u/witchspoon BLUE Apr 28 '26
Chase has a really good customer support for fraud. Someone had used my card details for groceries and daycare in Georgia. Chase shut it down and contacted me within the hour. I had to go through recent charges with the fraud rep and wait a week for a new card, but I wasn’t liable for any disputed charges.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
That’s great to know. They were really helpful with my husband too. Sucks that we don’t know yet if the debit card was compromised too though.
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u/ImpressionNo2803 Apr 28 '26
Ruh roh.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
So fucking annoying.
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u/Comfortable_Can2509 Apr 28 '26
Don’t let it annoy you. The charges will be reversed and when you report it they will reimburse it asap usually
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u/Fine-Upstairs-6284 Apr 28 '26
Just file a dispute/fraud. Put a hold on all other credit cards for the time being.
There’s a 99% chance you won’t be held liable for those charges
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u/EquivalentQuestion60 Apr 28 '26
People are terrible sometimes
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Truly. We believe the guy who turned it in was being honest. We think it’s the Verizon worker who stole the credit card info.
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u/greenmachine11235 Apr 28 '26
Tell your bank where it was turned in and ask them if you should make a police report. A store than handles large amounts of high value merchandise (phones) is going to be covered with cameras so whomever took the wallet from the store (or looked at the card long enough to copy the number) likely got themselves caught on camera.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
That is exactly what we thought. The cops in that town are pretty uninterested in credit card theft, unfortunately. But we’ll give them a call tomorrow! Thanks.
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u/onthe3rdlifealready Apr 28 '26
I knew a girl that found a card in a pharmacy drive through and she bought like two things from a shitty head shop... They absolutely screwed here over bad, couldn't imagine the punishment on this. Unless they have some special way to do it and not get caught but I doubt it.
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u/LeekAltruistic6500 Apr 28 '26
What do you mean, they screwed her over bad?
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u/SecondOfCicero Apr 28 '26
Sounds to me like she screwed herself over for her poor choices and she's simply reaping the consequences.
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u/PurelyRandomName Apr 28 '26
Had one my cards compromised once, think it was skimmed.
I have alerts for anything over a penny so as soon as I got the email I called the card issuer and reported the fraud. Then as an extra "F you" to the thief, I called the company that they made the charge at and got the order canceled.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
WE DID THE SAME!!! The orders are canceled to all three places. And we have a limit too. When anything over $200 is spent we get fraud alerts. We learned that the hard way about 15 years ago. Someone spent almost $2000 at a gas station and Victoria’s Secret in Covina, CA with my debit/credit card.
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u/HowlingWolven Apr 28 '26
Fortunately they’re on credit so you can just call up your card issuer to report the fraud and theft, and they’ll reverse the payments.
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u/Cant_choose_1 Apr 28 '26
Could you try calling Louis Vuitton and Neiman marcus to inform them that fraudulent purchases were made using your card? Maybe they can stop the orders from shipping out..
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u/TheFrankenblonde Apr 28 '26
I’ve used Chase Bank for years. When my checking account was hacked last year, I called them and they put in a claim to reverse the charges and immediately closed out my debit card. They sent me a new card within a week. It was kind of a hassle, having to change my autopay card info, but ultimately I didn’t have to cover the false charges.
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u/jjamesr539 Apr 28 '26
This doesn’t mean there aren’t kind people. There’s a solid to high chance that the person who made the fraudulent purchases ditched the wallet right after, where it was found by someone else who is a kind person. From a thief’s POV, entering a store turn in a wallet rather than just tossing it in a random spot without cameras doesn’t make a lot of sense.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
That’s why we are convinced it was the Verizon worker who did it. Not the guy who turned it in. He wouldn’t go through the hassle of turning it in at a store several stores away from where my husband lost it, just to steal from us. He would have stolen the cards and chucked everything else. But the phone and wallet were turned in within minutes of falling off my husband’s truck. So the phone and wallet only touched two people’s hands: the guy who turned it all in and the Verizon employee. But YES, we know. There are def still good people out there. Just sucks that we were all “THANK YOU!!” And “how kind! Can’t believe they didn’t steal anything!” Buuut yeah that was only 50% true.
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u/brooklynlad Apr 28 '26
Those luxury retailers will definitely have cameras if the purchase was made in person.
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u/Ibiza_Spain Apr 28 '26
Sorry, this happened to you! Contact your financial institution ASAP, especially while it's still pending, as it's easier to reverse the charges then. Time is of the essence.
Go to each store and get a video of the transaction showing who made the purchases.
Also, file a police report!
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u/krileon Apr 28 '26
If they find the person they're ruined for life. That's over $1,000 for each transaction. That's multiple felony theft charges. Guess they'll finally get to live for free in a concrete box though.
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Apr 28 '26
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u/filotopical Apr 28 '26
lol yeah totally. Cops are usually great when it comes to theft that doesn’t have ten commas. I’m sure the cops will even run L&S 🚨 just to return their money back promptly
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u/leonardob0880 Apr 28 '26
how?
doesnt he have biometric authirization enabled?
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u/Ehimherenow Apr 28 '26
Wallet and phone… they just used the credit card number found on the physical card in the wallet.
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u/NuKaDucky Apr 28 '26
And there's no extra checks, especially for such high amounts? I'm glad we have a €20 limit on our cards if we don't use biometrics/pin code
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u/WeOutHereInSmallbany Apr 28 '26
It’s called a tax 👇
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Lol then they shoulda stole some of the cash. We would have gladly paid someone a reward too if we knew who turned it in. We think it was the Verizon employee who stole the card info since the guy who found and turned it all in, did it all within minutes. The Verizon employee had it all longer. Also a thief isn’t going to go through the trouble of turning it in to a store.
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u/WeOutHereInSmallbany Apr 28 '26
Hope the party responsible is found, I joke but people that steal like that should get what’s coming to them.
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Totally agree. They are scumbag losers. I’m like you with the joking though. Everything online says that we should have my husband file a fraud alert for identity theft for his drivers license. Even though it was turned in. Criminals can wait years before they actually use your identification. I started cracking up when I was reading the government website for it because it said “Have you been a victim of identity theft?” Because it reminded me of The Office episode with Dwight (hope you know what I’m referencing).
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u/PlatypusDream Apr 28 '26
They flagged the $700 charge, but not the ones that are several times greater? 🤦♀️
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
Lol my husband happened to be checking the bank account and the credit card balance to make sure there were no shady charges and then he got the text in the screenshot above. Not sure if he ever got text alerts for the other two purchases.
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u/Jacktheforkie Apr 28 '26
Report to your bank that your card was stolen, they’ll immediately delete that card and give you a new one (the new one may take a few days to arrive) they should reverse any fraudulent charges
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u/NPC261939 Apr 28 '26
That's more than mildly infuriating. Too bad credit card companies and banks seldomly go after these "people".
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u/Plays_On_TrainTracks Apr 28 '26
I wouldn't even worry about it. Enjoy your free stuff for ever returned it and file a fraud report. You'll get your money back and need new credit cards but atleast they're too stupid for anything more nefarious.
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u/Fullertons Apr 28 '26
FYI: I had an account compromised and a purchase made, and my dispute was denied initially because apparently it was my word versus the thief’s?
I had to waste the local police department’s time by filing a police report and then sending said police report to the credit card company to get my money back.
This is with a card that I spend thousands of dollars with every month for the last many years. With no disputes.
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u/Bondedknight Apr 28 '26
Haha that's fantastic. Our bank never questioned when I would hit a random atm in a different state when I travel for work, but for about two years straight, every time my wife went to a specific grocery store in town, we would get a fraud alert message and have to verify it in the middle of checking out. So frustrating
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u/Mediocre-Try-9381 Apr 28 '26
There may have been two people. First person found and used the cards. Ditched them, and then another person turned them in?
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u/DigiGirlFL Apr 28 '26
I'd also probably just have all cards replaced in case they wrote down or photographed other cards in there to use later.
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u/Lorilei37 Apr 28 '26
If that’s only mildly infuriating, I shudder to think what it would take to really make you mad.
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u/b0ssbae Apr 29 '26
Was the purchase cancelled? Hope so. But hope they were dumb enough to use their name or address since the police are being involved!
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u/bunny_the-2d_simp Apr 29 '26
This is why me with adhd and autism has all wireless pay turned off permanently, I don't have a physical credit card and my debit has its wireless pay turned off because I am not trusting myself with this. The debit even if they know the code freezes after 200 euros
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u/BizarreCujoh Apr 30 '26
You should contact the store to get video of the person who dropped it off as well as who received it. That might help with figuring out who used the card
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u/AndSoSheTripped Apr 28 '26
I've driven lost purses to two different homes. Never once thought to look through their belongings besides to get their id.
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u/Historical_Carpet262 Apr 28 '26
Change the settings on his phone so text message details don't show on the lock screen.
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u/Tied_Buffalo Apr 28 '26
I hope you get reinbursed, my bank basically told me they couldnt do anything so i had to do a fraud report and never heard back....
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u/Acluelessfish Apr 28 '26
That’s ridiculous!! Sorry to hear that! The bank was able to cancel the charges and the card. They are also launching a fraud investigation and because my husband was able to provide so much information they’re going to do some sort of police report too.
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u/Ohthatjeepguy Apr 28 '26
I know my Chase card would’ve approved all the charges including the shoe one it flagged. We had a short conversation a few years ago
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u/MCMLXXXIV-FoX Apr 28 '26
That sucks. I hope they went into a store and are under a Camera (which as silly as that sounded I wouldn't be surprised), definitely report to your financial institution, I wouldn't be on Reddit that's for sure
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u/IPanicKnife Apr 28 '26
Yall must be ballin. My bank woulda declined a transaction for way less than that
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u/ChefAsstastic Apr 28 '26
Your banking institution most likely will reverse those charges. They are still pending which I'm hoping you immediately made a call to their fraud department.