Moon Twp. Woman Victim Of Debit Card Scam
MOON TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Amy Brisco, a Moon Township mother of three, says she was surprised to see a $10.99 charge from her debit card on her recent online PNC account.
"I thought it was my fault. I probably swiped it, didn't even think about it and forgot to put it in my checkbook," she said. "But then I looked at the place, and I thought, 'It's not right, something's not right.'"
A call to her bank and some online investigation determined she was the victim of fraud from something called the New Sport Shop.
She's not alone. Scambook.com found complaints from more than 80 people already involving Bank Of America, Regions Bank and PNC Bank.
"When I realized that it was something that I didn't do and it didn't have anything to do with my purchases, I called my bank and they knew immediately what it was from," Brisco said. "They said they had a lot of complaints from the same company."
You don't have to lose your debit or credit card to be the victim of fraud. That's why PNC Bank says check those statements very, very carefully and if you see something that's wrong, call them right away.
With the prevalence of online banking, finding something wrong on your bank statement seems to be growing trend.
In Market Square, several people said they too have been victims of banking crimes.
Lloyd Stackhouse of Mt. Lebanon says it pays to be aware of your account activity.
"A lot of times I would blame my wife, but once I asked her and she said, 'No.'
"I was wondering, 'Did the bank do it or did somebody else do it?' And I found out it was actually coming from somebody else," he said.
Julie Waight of Jeannette says she was also was a victim.
"It was like an international charge from the United Kingdom, so they stopped my debit card and the transaction didn't go through."
Brisco found the scammer's phone number was fake, but she searched the New Sport Shop online, concluding the theft was from Nigeria by way of Michigan and California.
But her best news was when her bank made good the loss.
"PNC Bank had no problem covering it," she said. "They apologized and said they were going to try to investigate it."
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