Action 9: Prepaid Debit Card User Was Fraud Victim

None — Brenda Lowder said 30 minutes after buying a prepaid debit card at Walmart and loading it with $500, she went home to activate it.

She said she called Green Dot MoneyPak to give the number on the back of her card, only to be told there was no money in the account.

"I said, ‘How can this be? I just put $500 down on that card,'" Lowder said.

Lowder wondered how someone could have gotten her account number, when she didn't scratch off the strip until she got home.

Lowder said Green Dot had been investigating for six weeks, but after 20 calls, she couldn't get answers.

"They said, ‘Our specialists are working on it, our specialists are working on it,' every time I'd call them," Lowder said.

Action 9 got in touch with Green Dot, and a company spokesperson said it was a case of fraud. The company said someone went online using her PIN information and transferred the $500 out of her account just 30 minutes after Lowder bought the prepaid debit card.

The Green Dot spokesperson said customers should protect themselves by always checking their card package prior to purchase to ensure the number hasn't been tampered with.

After Action 9 got involved, Green Dot sent Lowder $500 on a prepaid card, plus an extra $100 as goodwill.

Lowder now has advice for others who put cash on cards.

"Just be careful," she said.

WSOC