VTR1000.ORG

Am currently going through a mini-crises. I have just been notified by my bank that there has been unusual spending activity on my main current account, and having checked my statements in depth, can now confirm that I am being defrauded.

Almost £1000 has been debited from my account in the last 2-3 weeks, in various transactions (the largest being £500 to Travel money), including Trainline and iTunes.

My bank thinks that it may be someone who has cloned my debit card (so much for Chip & PIN being secure).

I am embarrassed to say that I did not notice this behavior, and only noticed the £500 transaction when I went through my statements (even though it happened at the beginning of the month).

The morale of this story, and warning to all, is to check your bank accounts weekly (as a minimum). Be absolutely vigilant when paying for goods or using a "hole-in-the-wall" (shoulder-surfing). Only use a credit card when buying online.

Will I get the money back? I bl**dy hope so, though this has yet to be confirmed.

Be careful out there folks!

Zakalwe wrote:I am embarrassed to say that I did not notice this behavior, and only noticed the £500 transaction when I went through my statements

I notice when £5 leaves my account cos it means i am ususally overdrawn! Thanks for the tip mate and good luck with getting the money back!

Mark

I was really annoyed with my bank, NatWest, about a year ago as i went to pay for £20 of stuff at my local supoermarket, only to be told my card was no good and I couldn't pay. Embarrassment at the queue, paid another way, rang the bank that night.

They didn't know why and I was so annoyed with them until the next morning when I had a letter from their fraud prevention department, who had been alerted to someone trying to ascertain if my account was "live" by requesting a £10 authorisation in another town. The bank closed the account and card at once and nothing went out of my account.

My annoyance changed to immense gratitude that they were so proactive.

On a separate note, I may be doing some mentoring soon and as such have to submit to the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks; fine, except their form asks for all bank details, NI numbers, copy of passport etc to be returned in an envelope marked "CRB etc" so any numpty could intercept it and have my full identity in one go. Needless to say I haven't provided ALL the information in one go and have pointed out the irony of the situation to them!

Thanks for the warning Zakalwe

I hope you get your hard earned reddies back

Chris.

Stratman wrote:
On a separate note, I may be doing some mentoring soon and as such have to submit to the CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks; fine, except their form asks for all bank details, NI numbers, copy of passport etc to be returned in an envelope marked "CRB etc" so any numpty could intercept it and have my full identity in one go. Needless to say I haven't provided ALL the information in one go and have pointed out the irony of the situation to them!

I carry out a lot of CRB checks in my job and we never send them out with anything to identify what is in them. Ours go to the a room number at the county council offices who forward them to the CRB.

I had a problem with my card being cloned over the internet recently. Barclays had that account closed down the same day and I got the money back. They are very good at spotting abnormal usage.

i had issues a year or so ago with an american express card i'd cancelled months before,seems like our "eastern call centre friends" didn't actually cancel my card,but left it open???!! Next thing i knew was when my wife applied for a card & was contacted by their fraud dept. about my credit status,apparently i owed 'em air fares to Bangladehli or somewhere, (must've been local cos it was only £400 or so ) Got it sorted i think,well ididn't pay anything apart from 20 or so calls to 0870 no.s with a different eastern call centre contact each time!!
Cheers Steve