Credit card fraud. Blimey!
Discussion
I got a mysterious letter from my bank's fraud ops department at the weekend asking for me to call them. No reason given. Back in August I found an odd transaction for £534 that I knew nothing about. Got it refunded, end of ...I thought.
Apparently Stratford (London) police have arrested an oik with one of my card's details on him, dating back to March. Cue thorough review of bank statements ...and I found more odd transactions. Totalling a four-figure sum.
I am careful beyond careful with my cards and on that basis don't tend to pay much attention to the statements. The money will all come back of course but it's taught me to pay a lot more attention to the monthly statements. Apparently it's bent shop assistants that are compromising card security, even in these days of Chip & PIN (my card in question is a Chip & PIN).
The scrote didn't have the PIN but even with the card number and expiry date he's been able to buy air tickets and settle London parking fines.
Round of applause for the BiB and the bank.
Apparently Stratford (London) police have arrested an oik with one of my card's details on him, dating back to March. Cue thorough review of bank statements ...and I found more odd transactions. Totalling a four-figure sum.
I am careful beyond careful with my cards and on that basis don't tend to pay much attention to the statements. The money will all come back of course but it's taught me to pay a lot more attention to the monthly statements. Apparently it's bent shop assistants that are compromising card security, even in these days of Chip & PIN (my card in question is a Chip & PIN).
The scrote didn't have the PIN but even with the card number and expiry date he's been able to buy air tickets and settle London parking fines.
Round of applause for the BiB and the bank.
If you have online banking it's easy to check your statements every couple of days, I check my accounts every morning. Living in London getting scammed is inevitable. Iv'e been had twice, once when I paid for a round of drinks at a bar using my card and once with a dodgy cash machine.
I always check my statements and if i ever have any large transactions going through the CC people ring me to verify,i welcome this,as for the fraudsters i think its about time me implanted them with a chip so if ever they typed in a CC # that wasnt theirs or they handled a card that wasnt theirs then it would momentarily give them an electric shock.
timmy30 said:
If you have online banking it's easy to check your statements every couple of days, I check my accounts every morning. Living in London getting scammed is inevitable. Iv'e been had twice, once when I paid for a round of drinks at a bar using my card and once with a dodgy cash machine.
I check mine daily too. I disagree about inevitable scammage in London, it goes on in all large cities.
ZR1cliff said:
i think its about time me implanted them with a chip so if ever they typed in a CC # that wasnt theirs or they handled a card that wasnt theirs then it would momentarily give them an electric shock.
Excellent ! Even better if we could apply for a card with increased voltage !!
6 months ago as I was checking my online CC statement , I realized there was a £270 ($500) charge from an online casino in the States.I rang the CC company to query this very transaction and figured out I was a victim of fraud.The CC company said it will investigate it BEFORE refunding the money which could take up to 2 or 3 weeks.I was fuming at their attitude(especially when the operator told me "IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME" 
I got the details of the actual casino and I rang them pronto and told them that someone had used my details to gamble online.After checking my details against this mysterious new member , they refunded me the money immediately and apologized ( all done over the phone), and before I hung up I gave them a lecture
about their own security checks before proceeding with a card transaction ( checking full name , address etc..) as my actual name was not on their clients'list.
My CC company(What comes out of the chicken arse) issued me with a new card/number the following day , then I recieved a letter from their fraud department 25 days later! disgusting! I binned it as i resolved the problem myself within 2 hours.
Just shows!
>> Edited by allnighter on Tuesday 8th November 13:48
I got the details of the actual casino and I rang them pronto and told them that someone had used my details to gamble online.After checking my details against this mysterious new member , they refunded me the money immediately and apologized ( all done over the phone), and before I hung up I gave them a lecture
about their own security checks before proceeding with a card transaction ( checking full name , address etc..) as my actual name was not on their clients'list. My CC company(What comes out of the chicken arse) issued me with a new card/number the following day , then I recieved a letter from their fraud department 25 days later! disgusting! I binned it as i resolved the problem myself within 2 hours.
Just shows!
>> Edited by allnighter on Tuesday 8th November 13:48
Goldfish?
The one time I got scammed was only for a couple hundred quid. It was sorted promptly.
My mate got scammed for a fitted kitchen in Venezuela. He got sorted quickly but only found out about it when he got caught short and really needed his card to have some money available.
I agree with the online banking though, makes life very easy as my paperwork abilities are pretty pi55 poor.
My mate got scammed for a fitted kitchen in Venezuela. He got sorted quickly but only found out about it when he got caught short and really needed his card to have some money available.
I agree with the online banking though, makes life very easy as my paperwork abilities are pretty pi55 poor.
Touch wood, only been scammed once (3 transactions) and the bank wasn't too helpful. I'd been in North America and had 3 lots of expensive flowers charged to my business account from Hamburg.
Now try to explain that away when your wife's the financial expert!!! Anyway had to take hotel invoices, hire car invoices and flight tickets to the bank (not mail!) and they then agreed that I couldn't have been in Hamburg at the same time.... unhelpful obstructive bureaucrats.... needless to say I'm no longer with that bank/CC coy!!!
Now try to explain that away when your wife's the financial expert!!! Anyway had to take hotel invoices, hire car invoices and flight tickets to the bank (not mail!) and they then agreed that I couldn't have been in Hamburg at the same time.... unhelpful obstructive bureaucrats.... needless to say I'm no longer with that bank/CC coy!!!
I got a call from my cc co recently querying a £74 Western Union transfer. As soon as I confirmed it wasn't my transaction,a hold put on the account aand a new card and pin number were dispatched, which arrived within 3 days. So a large 
for them. Plus they also rang to query when i ordered a watch from TokyoFlash - when i confirmed it was me they released said transaction. So smiles all round for Marbles.
Ali
for them. Plus they also rang to query when i ordered a watch from TokyoFlash - when i confirmed it was me they released said transaction. So smiles all round for Marbles. Ali
I'm mega careful as you can imagine, especialy given the experience that comes with my job. I had a dodgy transaction from when I was on my honeymoon this year. To be fair, HSBC were first class, suspended the sum (about £230) for interest purposes, sent me letters keeping me up to date with their efforts to ask the retailer to send them copies of the transaction etc... and then refunded the money fully with no quibble. I guess I've been fairly lucky as that's the only one I've had.
It seems these frauds are often for sums of circa £200ish. Substantial and very worthwhile for the fraudster but not enough to ring the alarm bells with the card company. When I put the £3000 deposit down on the Cayman S on my CC, Tescos sent me a leter the following day! Most reassuring I feel.
Some colleagues I know who work in this area will never pay for anything with a card. They get out say £200 in cash from a trusted ATM and pay cash for everything.
It seems these frauds are often for sums of circa £200ish. Substantial and very worthwhile for the fraudster but not enough to ring the alarm bells with the card company. When I put the £3000 deposit down on the Cayman S on my CC, Tescos sent me a leter the following day! Most reassuring I feel.
Some colleagues I know who work in this area will never pay for anything with a card. They get out say £200 in cash from a trusted ATM and pay cash for everything.
Not ever been scammed, but have been caught several times where retailers have made mistakes and there seems to be nothing you can do about it.
The latest one (seems to be the same format) is that they reserve an amount of credit from your account, realise they've keyed in the wrong amount so void it and start again. For whatever reason, both amounts are then showing as gone from your available credit and the original (incorrect) one hangs around for an unspecified amount of time until the card issuer decides that it is out of date.
In the meantime, you're potentially stuck with little or no available credit left on the card. Why can't the consumer dictate what happens? Surely if you tell the CC company not to honour an incomplete transaction they should do as you tell them and un-freeze the reserved credit?
The latest one (seems to be the same format) is that they reserve an amount of credit from your account, realise they've keyed in the wrong amount so void it and start again. For whatever reason, both amounts are then showing as gone from your available credit and the original (incorrect) one hangs around for an unspecified amount of time until the card issuer decides that it is out of date.
In the meantime, you're potentially stuck with little or no available credit left on the card. Why can't the consumer dictate what happens? Surely if you tell the CC company not to honour an incomplete transaction they should do as you tell them and un-freeze the reserved credit?
timmy30 said:
If you have online banking it's easy to check your statements every couple of days, I check my accounts every morning. Living in London getting scammed is inevitable. Iv'e been had twice, once when I paid for a round of drinks at a bar using my card and once with a dodgy cash machine.
Thing is, the more you use online banking, the more you are liable to be exposed to fraud.....
Not so fast pdV6... I happened to have installed a keylogger on your PC a few days ago! Here's some of the transcript I've had so far.
[start]www.google.co.uk[enter]schol[backspace]ol boys in their pe kit looking coy[enter][user selected first match][user clicked back][user selected second match][user clicked "trial membership"][user selected visa]57947889
I've stopped it there so as not to show your whole CC number... scary, huh?
[start]www.google.co.uk[enter]schol[backspace]ol boys in their pe kit looking coy[enter][user selected first match][user clicked back][user selected second match][user clicked "trial membership"][user selected visa]57947889
I've stopped it there so as not to show your whole CC number... scary, huh?
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