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Debit card Fraud

My wife had her wallet stolen from her purse last Friday while riding on the
bus.  Somehow they reached in the bag and took out the wallet.  She just
found out about half an hour ago that one bank is holding her responsible
for more than $2000 in charges on that debit card.  Her bank account only
had $520 in it but the crooks made fake deposits for more than $10,000 and
thousands in withdrawals and charges.  It is so hard to believe the bank has
told her she will be responsible.  Their only reason given is that her pin
number was connected with some other numbers on her driver's licence, i.e.,
some combination of numbers using her birthdate and address.

She reported her visa stolen within and hour.  She understood the debit card
and the credit card were linked and especially since there is no listing in
the phone book for lost debit cards didn't panic.  The CIBC Visa person even
indicated she could relax because there had been no charges made to her
cards!

It was not until the next morning when she could get through to the police.
They suggested reporting the debit cards missing and my wife went to the
bank as they opened in the morning.  She arranged a meeting with the manager
for Monday.  The manager told her not to worry and that she would do what
she had to do and get back to her within 24 hours.  (24 hours later she said
it would be Friday morning at the latest.  My wife left a message for the
manager just before Friday noon but didn't hear back from the manager.  At 4
p.m. she called again and this time spoke with the manager.)
The manager said her bank balance was now minus $2400!  There was nothing
she could do but would try to see if they could catch the crooks!  So she
loses the $520 she had in the bank, all the bogus money the crooks deposited
and took, and even the paycheck that she deposited Monday just after the
manager told her everything would be OK.  Unbelievable!

The next unfortunate thing is that her paycheck will be automatically
deposited on Monday and the bank will probably suck it up causing her rent
check to bounce.  (Of course the bank will probably say they will give her
overdraft protection or a loan or something.)

Any suggestions for remedies?  I was thinking of some kind of letter to the
newspaper or something or perhaps some strategy that might achieve positive
results.  After all it was not a specific condition of the debit cardholder
agreement that she could not use her year of birth as a PIN.  In fact 4 of
10 people I recently asked also used their year of birth.  If it was a
condition they should have told her more clearly and cut out the crap about
how they monitor your cards for fraud or unusual activity.  She never took
more than $200 at a time in the past 5 years and suddenly there are
thousands all in one night!

Please help.