Get Gephardt helps Roy man hit with over $4K in fraudulent charges

ROY — Mike Gilbertson loves picking the blues on his guitar, but recently, it seems he got picked over by identity theft. Gilbertson says someone somehow got a hold of his debit card number and racked up over $4,000 worth of fraudulent charges.

"I did not make those charges, nor did I authorize anybody to use that card," he said.

A GuitarCenter charge was very much made by Gilbertson, but he says dozens of other charges — from Hibbett Sports, a $773 charge from Lowes.com and a $265 charge from Vivid Seats — are not his. And those pale in comparison to the 79 individual charges he got hit with from Google.

"I have no idea what that's about," he said of those charges. "It makes me sick to my stomach when I see this happening."

Gilbertson uses a Direct Express debit card. It's how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pays benefits to retired service members.

He says two weeks after filing his fraud claim, bank representatives told him that his claim was denied – case closed. He says he was told he did make all those charges. It's a riff this guitar player says does not jive.

"They're making me like, I'm the criminal," he said. "And I'm the victim."

Turn to KSL Investigators

So, Gilbertson decided it was time to call me.

Now, the KSL Investigators found the Feds do require Direct Express debit cards to have same "consumer protections as a traditional bank, including fraud protections." So, we reached out to the bank that administered Direct Express at the time Gilbertson got hit with fraud, Comerica, to ask why he's responsible for those charges.

While they declined to comment to KSL, he says within days he got his $4,048 back.

"It's a ton of money to me," he said.

In general, if you report unauthorized transactions on your debit card to your bank within two business days, the most it can hold you responsible for is $50. After two days, that limit is $500. But if you wait until after 60 days of an unauthorized transaction appearing on your statement to report it, you're responsible for the whole amount.

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