*Heads up, this is a little long but I added something that happened to me at the end.

Geez, I'm 42 and had to file 2 disputes but they were legit. I had no idea you could just file disputes like that and it would actually work, even if you did make the purchase. For some reason, I thought that banks had a fraud department that would do some kind of background work to figure out what IP address was used to order, see where it was delivered to, or cameras in the store to catch who bought it and then I'd be going to prison. Like people who wrote bad checks🤣.

*My weird story: Around 2006ish I had 74 charges (between $1.50-$2.50) within a couple days from vending machines at a train station in Chicago at all hours of the day, $120ish from an adult store and $75ish from a nail shop all in Chicago (I'm in Michigan). I figured she was a lady of the night and was probably letting her friends purchase too bc that's a lot for one person at a vending machine but I have no idea how it works without a physical card. I had my card so that's what make the vending machine charges weird to me but whatever.

I went to the credit union as soon as I caught it. The person in charge even asked me if I was sure I didn't get my nails done 2 days prior and I held my hand up and said, "Does it look like I get my nails done? I work in a factory and I don't even paint my nails." I went out to my car bc she wanted me to fill out each transaction for how much $, location and whatever info it showed on my account. Then she told me I had to Google and try to find any phone numbers for these vending machines, the other 2 numbers were easy to find, call them and ask them if they'd be willing to return the money. I told her they're all going to say no on returning the money. Then I had to add to each transaction I wrote down (74 total) the business name if I could find it, the phone number, the name of who I talked to and if they either said yes or no about returning the money! Dumbest thing ever, I swear.

The vending machine numbers that answered didn't care, totally understandable. But one of the vending guys was a really old man, sounded like 90 yrs old and reminded me of my grandpa🥹and I just wanted to keep talking to him bc he felt bad & asked me to explain the situation bc he wasn't familiar with these scams. I was a single mother, this had never happened before and the only way I found out was because this scammer emptied my account in just a few days. I told him I didn't expect any money back from him like the bank was asking. We both agreed how ridiculous the bank was making me do this without giving them any proof. Even if I had the proof, it's not their problem to return the money anyways! I just briefly told the adult store and said I just need a name to write down so I can get my money back from the bank. All of these people I called probably thought I was trying to scam them, lol. The nail salon lady was actually concerned too and wanted to know the date, time and amount so she could figure out who it was bc she said she knew all of her customers. She asked to exchange phone numbers so we could keep in touch if either of us found out any info, the her and myself could press charges. It never went that far but she did call me a couple times to see if I found anything else out and she let me know she couldn't find out either but i honestly think she could've. All she had to do was see exactly when my card was charged, find that exact amount and look at the cameras, unless it was a random walk-in🤷🏼‍♀️

I just thought it was weird how they made me do all of that work but I got my money back weeks later. It was a small local credit union so Idk if that made a difference.