Just had my very first Fraudulent Transaction

byb3

To be honest I'm quite shocked. I am very careful about these things, and have absolutely no idea how my details could have been taken.

Fortunately the fraud department at EGG flagged it before they let it go through, so I have to commend them highly on doing a good job.

It turned out that someone tried to use my card for something called 'Click and Buy' in the United States at 10.30am this morning, and also something to do with Mastercard which I don't remember exactly what the guy said.

Looking back at recent transactions I haven't even used to card for two weeks, the last being a Subway in Manchester.

I signed up to the money management website Kublax just this weekend, so I am also very suspicious that it could be that. I had considered Kublax to be an incredibly secure website, but the fact that two days later I get fraudulent activity on my card may be more than just a coincidence.

I am cancelling my Kublax account just to be safe, and changing all of my internet banking details. I am also much more reluctant to pay via card now, my whole world has been turned upside down!

Moggles_2

I would draw comfort from the fact that Egg rejected this fraudulent transaction, because it wasn't part of your usual spending pattern, and contacted you promptly.

There's risk attached to everything but, in general, credit cards are the safest way to purchase goods/services. (If you carry cash, it could be nicked. If you use cheques, they could get altered - assuming you can find a retailer that still accepts them)

With today's online facilities, it's never been easier to check the transactions posted to your account and, used sensibly, CCs have many advantages, IMO. Makes sense from a credit history point of view too

jetpacker

That website could well have all the best security features for protecting user data. But that's not to say it is invulnerable to hackers/ online fraudsters, who are increasingly sophisticated at getting round firewalls etc. I also fell victim on my Barclaycard, but the activity was so unusual -- £2,500 was racked up in the space of half a day -- that Barclaycard were onto it straight away. They blocked the card, called me and then just wiped the debt. Phew! The other time it happened to me was on my Debit card and that was my pwn stupid fault. I left my card behind a bar in a hotel in India, i.e. left the card for the tab I was building up. A week later, when I most needed to withdraw cash, I found my account had been maxed out with online purchases of flights, coupons and god knows what else. Again, the bank (Lloyds) were understanding and just refunded the cash.
Simon

Chrysalis

I entered my address as blah on a payment page, and was shocked the payment was approved, was only for 2 euros but shocking.

TFD_2

I had a Barclaycard unused for a year - used to buy a case of wine from Majestic, and a few weeks later was used on gambling websites.

Barclaycard were straight onto me, and cleared off the fraudulent transactions really quickly.

It's not something to get too distressed over - this is one good reason to use a credit card rather than your main debit card online, as if something does happen, it's the banks money they're spending not yours.