PLEASE HELP... Debit Card Fraud Advice

doctorMICHY

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can advise me as I am pulling my hair out here..
I tried using my debit card yesterday to pay for my tesco shopping and the card was being declined.. I couldn't understand why as I had money in there and had an available overdraft too, So I called the bank....

My bank (abbey) advised me that my Visa Debit Card had been used for two transactions to 'Travel lodge' both amounting to around £500 on the 7th March 09, which I didnt make!!!! These amounts are both still pending on the account and various phonecalls later including to the Fraud dept at Abbey, they say nothing can be done because the payments haven't cleared through the account yet.

Now, these transactions have wiped out my balance and my overdraft leaving my account in minus, which means I have nothing and with two small children to feed, it's a nightmare.

All Abbey advised me to do was to call Travel lodge and get them to search for the card number or even bookings made in my 'card name' but after speaking with them tho wouldn't even entertain the idea unless security authorised them to do so.

I just wondered if anyone had any advice.. Can the payments be stopped before they clear? Could I request for my bank account to be cancelled right now so the payments can't go through?

I am a little worried as I had issues with Play.com during Christmas for giving all my personal customer details to someone else by mistake. I have since complained to them but they won't investigate and i think possibly this latest incident is connected.

I just don't know what to do next...

Please help

Michelle

Rafter

Michelle,

Call Abbey. Get them to authorise a local branch to give you some cash and issue a new card to you urgently.

Also ask the fraud department to take responsiblity for transactions that obviously aren't yours and allow you to feed your children!

R.

chuckmanley83

Your bank should handle this. Also, never ever give your pin number out to anybody! Get a new card like the people above said.

doctorMICHY

thanks guys, off down to my local branch tomorrow to try and sort this thing out

James

I'd also report this to the Police, get a crime reference or incident number and give this to Abbey.

The police maybe reluctant but insist. Reason for this is if these transactions become disputed, then this adds power to your elbow.

Aslo keep a note of who you spoke to and when plus a copy of any letters or emails you've sent, or send.

I'd also ask Abbey (pref in writing) how these fraudulent transactions were authorised. Adding that this will enable you to take the appropriate steps to safe guard yourself in future.

Good luck.

pippy100

Hi,
I had the same thing happen to me a few years ago and had pending amounts on my account which were fraudulent. Mine was through my Nationwide account so don't know if it differs depending on your bank/building society. But as soon as i realised i rang the nationwide as it was at night and they put a stop on my account i then went into the branch the next day and i filled a form out which they faxed to there fraud department and advised me the amount i was disputing would go back into my account while it was under investigation which was done if i remember a few days later. As for the pending amounts they never hit my account as they were stopped in time. we spoke to our local police who advised there is nothing they could do and couldn't give a crime number as the fruad team are dealing and is a matter for the bank etc.
It was a terrible, frightening time and i'm sorry to hear you are going through the same thing, but i think you should get your money back into your account in the next few days while they investigate which may not be helpful if you need it in a hurry.Hope you get it all sorted.

hippey

James wrote: »

I'd also report this to the Police, get a crime reference or incident number and give this to Abbey.

The police maybe reluctant but insist. Reason for this is if these transactions become disputed, then this adds power to your elbow.

Aslo keep a note of who you spoke to and when plus a copy of any letters or emails you've sent, or send.

I'd also ask Abbey (pref in writing) how these fraudulent transactions were authorised. Adding that this will enable you to take the appropriate steps to safe guard yourself in future.

Good luck.

The police will not give out a CR number for this type of fraud unless the customer takes the direct loss, the fraud offence is towards the bank - the customer is mearly a witness to it.

The bank *may* report this using thier established single point of contact process with the police, or bulk reporting. More than likely they won't bother.

Police sometimes will take ATM fraud reports due to the nature of the offence, but often they get classified as CRI's and not Theft / Fraud. Card fraud is a massive problem and more so with chip & pin as the customer is left more alone than ever when it goes wrong.

James

hippey wrote: »

The police will not give out a CR number for this type of fraud unless the customer takes the direct loss, the fraud offence is towards the bank - the customer is mearly a witness to it.

The bank *may* report this using thier established single point of contact process with the police, or bulk reporting. More than likely they won't bother.

Police sometimes will take ATM fraud reports due to the nature of the offence, but often they get classified as CRI's and not Theft / Fraud. Card fraud is a massive problem and more so with chip & pin as the customer is left more alone than ever when it goes wrong.

Similar things have happened to quite a few people I know. The most recent suffered from a £3000 loss, he reported this to the Police (got an incident number) and they were very grateful. It highlighted other cases in the vicinity that had gone unreported.

I think a U turn on reporting Card Fraud is imminent as the following statement from a DS (commenting on e-crime) says it all:

“If you are a victim of a crime, you report it to the police. If you don't, it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t get tackled, and we don’t get the resources in the future to fight it,”

I would suggest that the first victim is the cardholder whether or not they end up picking up the loss.

Re Chip and PIN - I absolutely agree with you on libaility shift.

hippey

Yes, he got an Incident number, not a crime number.

Currently the home office have strict counting rules on crime, so police will only accept CR's from victims of card fraud which is currently recognised as the banks.

This is not to say it should not be reported to the police as if a pattern starts to grow then police can act on intellegence. For instance, lots of reports all pointing to a local petrol station etc...., BUT it will more than likely be recorded as intellegence and not crime.

doctorMICHY

Well thanks all for your advice and comments..

I have called the bank today and quite a few transactions have cleared this morning which I wasn't even told were pending.

Such as repeated transactions to Domino pizza in Wembley, (I live in Stevenage so it isn't that far away) tesco mobile, itunes, touchtone and a £2.00 transaction for Tesco's... This one concerns me a little but as I presumed all these transactions were done over the phone or internet, but surely a £2.00 transaction for Tesco must've have been done instore. Aren't they all chip and pin nowadays? Does this mean they have a replica of my card or indeed my PIN ?

One quick question for you guys... Do you know if these companies that took the payments, for eg, travel lodge and domino pizza are required by law to give me information as to what was paid for.
I mean surely I am entitled to know that information as it's my money at the moment until I claim it back that has paid for a stay in Trave Lodge and indeed many Domino Pizza's!!!!!!
You think I could put the pressure on these companies and quote something they would have to give me some info?!

Please help x

BruceyBonus

Now the transactions have appeared, you can contact the fraud department (not customer services) to dispute them.

Have you given your card number and/or PIN to any phishing websites?