Dude, bummer! Any idea how it happened? I mean, did the bank screw up, or did someone steal your account info?

I’m banking with INGdirect.com, myself, and I love it. Best savings account interest rates evar. I have a checking account at a local credit union. I used to be with Washington Mutual, who were pretty good.

One habit I’ve developed is to check my bank accounts online every day or two. This is because I have a ton of automated deposits/withdrawals, but it has the added benefit of letting me know if anything weird is going on. I mean, a credit card will ping you if you’re using it oddly, but a bank account? I have never had one contact me about large withdrawals.

In the past, before I started checking online regularly, I had overdraft issues where I’d miscalculated and wouldn’t realize I was overdrawn until I had racked up a ton of fees (because banks, of course, don’t tell me by email that you’re overdrawn… they do it by post, which takes days). Credit cards are way more vigilant about fraudulent charges, presumably because they happen on credit cards more often than on bank accounts.

Best of luck getting it straightened out.