On December 3rd, Stephanie, a Chinese immigrant and resident of Nassau County, was skeptical about using the ATM at her 7/11 in Garden City. She had seen warnings in the news about credit card skimming that had taken place in New York City. She inspected the ATM with scrutiny, looking for any signs of tampering, and, once it seemed all clear, inserted her Excluded Workers Fund debit card and withdrew $400. It was the first time she had withdrawn money from the account, and it would also be her last.
Stephanie, 35, who decided to use an alias, is one of numerous Excluded Workers Fund recipients whose disputes of unauthorized transactions have been denied after they filed reports of credit card skimming. Documented spoke with three recipients who disputed their unauthorized transactions and were told that no error was found. For Stephanie’s case, Documented reviewed police records, transactions, and audio conversations and confirmed that $14,176 had been taken from her account. Two other individuals lost between $3,000 and $5,000 each but did not want to speak on record in fear that it would affect their appeal.
