Where did I go wrong??? debit card fraud

babyharry5

Woke up an hour ago and checked my bank account online as normal!
ATM debit of £130 taken out in Alessandria Italy in the early hours of sunday morning!
Spoke to bank immediately to dispute and they have been great - have referred transaction cancelled cards etc etc

Just wanted some advice on where I went wrong??
I always cover my pin when entering it and nobody (not even hubby) knows my number!
I shred every piece of communication that goes in the bin so am really at a loss over how I could have prevented this.
I know it's totally over the top but I am removing my monies this afternoon to another bank as just dont feel safe leaving it in there
I suppose I should just be grateful it wasnt more!
Is there any way that the bank have just debited the wrong account?? don't understand why more wasnt taken as there was quite a bit in there??
Just so you know - it definitely wasnt me - !!!! lol

Any suggestion/advise appreciated - thanks

Calchas

babyharry5 wrote: »

Spoke to bank immediately to dispute and they have been great - have referred transaction cancelled cards etc etc

I know it's totally over the top but I am removing my monies this afternoon to another bank as just dont feel safe leaving it in there

Any suggestion/advise appreciated - thanks

I don't remember the last time I had a good word to say about banks in general, but if you believe the bank has been great, removing the rest of your money to another bank is not necessarily the best way to show your appreciation.

Why not speak to the bank again, tell them of your concerns and see what they have to say?

Surely even the worst case scenario would be simply to open another account within the same institution.

babyharry5

hi thanks for taking time to respond!
when I spoke to my bank (RBOS account - main account with HSBC) they didn't have a clue about how it had happened.
So even though they have been really quick to report fraud, take details order new card etc I dont feel filled with confidence that this cant happen again.
I know it could happen anywhere but what if they take the rest of my pounds and I have to wait for the case to be sorted? then left with minimal pounds till they sort?

natweststaffmember

The likelyhood is that the new card will have a new PAN number(the numbers across the middle) and a new PIN number. The old card will have a stolen marker on it. The bank will refund you. Unfortunately the bank cannot explain how a card is cloned, it simply would be impossible to know. A pattern could emerge from cards that could implicate a retailer machine within the loop but that would be pure speculation on my part.

Fidget21

Hi there

This happened to my husband last month. However, he was a bit slower checking his account than you and they cleared it out right up to the overdraft limit. The bank were helpful and all money and charges have been reinstated.

In our case it happened when we were due to have new debit cards (not because the old ones had run out but just because they were updating the chip and pin technology or something). I received a new card but my husband didn't. Stupidly, I was more concerned about using my new card because the explanation for replacing it sounded so vague, we didn't even think to question why only one of us had received a card. So we believe the card may have been intercepted in the post. However, it could just be a case of one of our cards being cloned somewhere. It is so difficult to tell these days and this is now becoming the most common type of card fraud.

The fact that nobody knows your pin no. is irrelevant because they either use them in places where they do not need to use the pin or they have ways of getting round it....don't ask me how, I'm definately not that technical!! My husbands card was also used in Italy.

I don't know if it is worth changing your bank over this...they all seem pretty helpless to prevent it and all you can do is judge them on how they handle it after the event.

Belnahua

On the point of the bank being good; Capital One rang me up last week and told me not to use the card anymore as it's being stopped.

They then explained that the financial data was not considered secure at a retailer where I had used the card .

Apparently it's like the Cotton Trader's episode, someone had their database swiped/hacked or a shop was suspect of having their data used in cloned cards.

I have a new card, with a new number etc now.

I have also been told that if I want to find out the exact reason, then to keep in touch with their fraud department.

So, I am happy that Cap One have been proactively good in preventing fraud!

pandora205

It happened to me too a few months ago. The bank were great after I'd contacted them. (They'd stopped the card without telling me though which caused problems when I filled up with petrol).

They had no idea how it happened either. Nor do I... so it is worrying that it can happen even if you are careful.

My_World

Hi Babyharry,

Don't beat yourself up about hun, I don't think you've gone wrong anywhere. Chances are there's been a skimmed device in a cash machine you have used which picks up all card details and PIN and then clones the card. Like natweststaffmember pointed out your new card should have a different PAN and PIN, if not I would get straight onto the bank and ask this to be changed, as this is the only way to stop further payments coming out.
Unfortunately these days with new technology etc its difficult for any bank to keep up with fraudsters and know exactly how they manage to obtain customers details so I personally don't think changing banks would make to much difference as this could happen anywhere!

xLx

poet123

It has happened to most people, with many different banks,it is a problem with banking today,as long as the banks repay there is nothing any of us can do. Years ago banks had the opportunity to sort this out,but they thought the solution too costly,they would rather take the fraud.

Helix

Belnahua wrote: »

On the point of the bank being good; Capital One rang me up last week and told me not to use the card anymore as it's being stopped.

They then explained that the financial data was not considered secure at a retailer where I had used the card .

Apparently it's like the Cotton Trader's episode, someone had their database swiped/hacked or a shop was suspect of having their data used in cloned cards.

I have a new card, with a new number etc now.

I have also been told that if I want to find out the exact reason, then to keep in touch with their fraud department.

So, I am happy that Cap One have been proactively good in preventing fraud!

Natwest did the same with my card as well. Put a stop on it due to it being used in the same place someone else had been a victim of fraud before anything could happen to me. They wouldn't tell me where, but I narrowed it down to the local petrol station that had been found to be cloning cards or TK Maxx as a month after the card was cancelled they came out saying their customers details hadn't been secure for about 4 years.