Fraudulent use of credit card

supersaver21

I am slightly concerned that on 2 separate occasions I have used my credit card quite legitimately on-line at play.com and amazon.co.uk and subsequent to both these occasions an amount of 10p has been charged to my credit card by mypocketpal.com. Unfortunately, mypocketpal.com was not a legitimate expense and for some reason my credit card company suspected this and their fraud team rang me to verify the transaction. They said that since it was such a small amount, it should be queried with the cardholder. On both occasions I told my credit card company that I had not spent 10p at mypocketpal.com so they immediately cancelled my card and sent me another. As I say, my card has now been cancelled twice for the exact same reason. My concern is, why does this keep happening and is it happening to anyone else?

dzug1

Only a guess - but could it be something you inadvertently signed up to with play.com?

That would make rather less sense with amazon though

mypocketpal are in thw WAP phone business - ring tones, diary reminders, that sort of thing.

supersaver21

I'm certainly not aware of signing up to anything on play.com but I am currently emailing them to check this out. Thanks for the advice.

I guess as no-one else has responded so far that this is not a known issue for other people.

RobertoMoir

supersaver21 wrote: »

I am slightly concerned that on 2 separate occasions I have used my credit card quite legitimately on-line at play.com and amazon.co.uk and subsequent to both these occasions an amount of 10p has been charged to my credit card by mypocketpal.com. Unfortunately, mypocketpal.com was not a legitimate expense and for some reason my credit card company suspected this and their fraud team rang me to verify the transaction. They said that since it was such a small amount, it should be queried with the cardholder. On both occasions I told my credit card company that I had not spent 10p at mypocketpal.com so they immediately cancelled my card and sent me another. As I say, my card has now been cancelled twice for the exact same reason. My concern is, why does this keep happening and is it happening to anyone else?

Are you sure your use of your card at amazon and play is related to the charge? Could it be co-incidence, and the charges be on some pattern of time instead?

If it was something you could sign up to by not paying attention at one or both of those sites, we'd be hearing a lot more about it, just look at the screaming in the vent boards every few weeks every time that someone realises that ticking the "join amazon prime" box on amazon is likely to get them charged for, well, joining amazon prime.

Jemma-T

100,000s of attempted frauds every single day on credit cards. Doesn't matter how, why, when or who -or at least it shouldn't matter, or you'll never sleep.

Just check your statements regulalry and inform your bank immediately if there's a problem. And have a spare credit card for a backup.

supersaver21

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Are you sure your use of your card at amazon and play is related to the charge? Could it be co-incidence, and the charges be on some pattern of time instead?

If it was something you could sign up to by not paying attention at one or both of those sites, we'd be hearing a lot more about it, just look at the screaming in the vent boards every few weeks every time that someone realises that ticking the "join amazon prime" box on amazon is likely to get them charged for, well, joining amazon prime.

No I am not sure. It just seemed a bit of a co-incidence but maybe thats all it is. I'm not sure what you mean by "some pattern of time instead" as these small amounts were attempted against two different credit card numbers. I appreciate your comments though.

never-in-doubt

usually if someone wants to scam a card they start by taking small amounts to 'check the water'....

I'd be careful, report them to your card issuer and have them investigated....

RobertoMoir

supersaver21 wrote: »

No I am not sure. It just seemed a bit of a co-incidence but maybe thats all it is. I'm not sure what you mean by "some pattern of time instead" as these small amounts were attempted against two different credit card numbers. I appreciate your comments though.

Something strange going on then. I use both those websites and don't see these charges - believe me I double-checked after you posted.

I'd also agree with the comment that a low charge can often be a test to see if a phished credit card number is viable, but the question then becomes "how did both sets of details get out there and why haven't you been 'hit' properly yet?"

never-in-doubt

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Something strange going on then. I use both those websites and don't see these charges - believe me I double-checked after you posted.

I'd also agree with the comment that a low charge can often be a test to see if a phished credit card number is viable, but the question then becomes "how did both sets of details get out there and why haven't you been 'hit' properly yet?"

Both sets of details could be if the actual host PC is infected with a key stroke virus..... that is a very good logical reason and does happen. More than likely that the OP has bought stuff from home and his PC is infected so each card he uses, the data is captured....

The question i'd be prone to ask, did you ever clink a link within an email asking you to sign in? If so then sorry, you've been scammed and i'd get both cards reported as lost so you get new ones with different start/exp dates and CVV. Makes them void to the fraudsters :beer:

supersaver21

never-in-doubt wrote: »

usually if someone wants to scam a card they start by taking small amounts to 'check the water'....

I'd be careful, report them to your card issuer and have them investigated....

My card issuer actually reported them to me and never authorised the amounts as they suspected them to be fraudulent. However, they don't seemed bothered about investigating it any further. I asked if there was anything else I could do to increase my security and they didn't have any suggestions!! They just say cancelling the card should resolve the issue. However, if I have a key stroke virus then I guess I have a big problem! Shouldn't my free AVG security software pick this up though? I run it every day and currently have no viruses.

never-in-doubt

supersaver21 wrote: »

My card issuer actually reported them to me and never authorised the amounts as they suspected them to be fraudulent. However, they don't seemed bothered about investigating it any further. I asked if there was anything else I could do to increase my security and they didn't have any suggestions!! They just say cancelling the card should resolve the issue. However, if I have a key stroke virus then I guess I have a big problem! Shouldn't my free AVG security software pick this up though? I run it every day and currently have no viruses.

Well to start i'd be looking to cancel and get replacement cards - this will stop them initially. If it happens again then you'll know its the PC. As I said, you could have clicked a dodgy email or anything..... dont worry, you are not liable regardless.