Identify Theft at Tesco Store

LizzieS_2

janceyb wrote: »

If it didnt work in tescos, logic dictates something happened before tescos. if you get that poor girl fired you are a horrible person. I hope I never have to deal with someone as closed minded as you.

The assistant will not be fired unless Tesco can prove she is at fault. The first part of your post is more accurate of what is more likely to have happened.

This is the time of year when card crime will be much higher - more criminals will be trying their luck.

Make sure you shred all documents with your name, address & account numbers on - your paper waste is high risk.

A few shops seem to be having problems with their chip and pin machines - it could be volume of requests going through at once across the country or they've bought carp readers.

Most tills have the option for the cashier to swipe your card, with you still using the chip & pin machine to enter your pin - always watch your card whichever shop you are in so you see exactly what a cashier does with it.

spankymonkey_2

i have heard that there has been a lot of problems with skimming and it seems to be happening at asda machines.

kazmeister

Although not quite the same kind of incident - it was Tesco !

My friend text me today to say her card had been cloned and the only place she had used it recently was in a Tesco cashpoint machine.

Think I'll check my accounts online before I do anything else.

DigitalJedi

Ann_S wrote: »

I went to the kiosk checkout and put my debit card in the machine entered what I know was the correct PIN and this was rejected as 'incorrect PIN', I tried again and it came back rejected as 'incorrect PIN'.
The assistant then commented that this had been happening to quite a few customers during the day and asked me to give her my card so she could swipe it before trying again. She then handed me back my card and asked me to insert my card in the machine for me to try again. The PIN was again rejected and locked.

For the card reader to reject a perfectly valid PIN just so the cashier can then use it as an excuse to "skim" your card would suggest that she has somehow managed to fiddle with the electronics inside the card reader.

This would be pretty difficult given the anti-tamper security measures in place and the fact you'd notice if the casing was broken, the electronics not working or a skimming device attached which would then make it look completely different to every other checkout.

Also, the checkout woman would have then had to rewire the unit back to the original state before the next member of staff took over the till which tends to be an hour or two so they can have their scheduled breaks.

This is of course at the same time attaching some wireless card reader to the main till so when she swipes your card it would be relayed to an accomplice sat presumably for hours trying to look inconspicious in the car park with a laptop.

All of which in plain sight of lots of customers, other staff and a plethora of CCTV camera's.

Not saying its impossible but that sort of expertise would go way beyond your average Tesco's staff. No actually I tell a lie. Its pretty impossible.

I do not expect to be a victim of identify theft when innocently doing my shopping at a Tesco store.

And they don't expect to be accused of being an identity thief whilst serving customers but there you go.

silkcutblue

Yes, it's not identity theft.

My card was rejected numerous times because two weeks ago my bank decided that my orthodonist (that I've been paying every month for a year) was fraudulantly using my card. Even though I was there, and the pin was correct, and it was the same damn payment I always give at the same damn time I always give it.
My card was then HELD and the case sent through to the fraud dept.

however, the fraud dept didn't bother contacting me for four days - when I kept getting my card knocked back despite me logging online to check my healthy balance.

It's Christmas. Banks are now even more paranoid and silly.

Tescos skimming? Doubtful indeed. There are numerous cameras pointed at the tills. To hack the pin terminal would be the same as hacking a cash machine, while not impossible, highly improbable.

More likely is the bank put a hold on stuff days ago and didn't bother telling you.

OR.

The pin terminal not being able to connect due to bad line/possible high traffic due to Xmas/other many factors. This often shows up as card declined or other rubbish error messages. (esp with City Bank)

Let's not go around saying TESCOS and their employees are involved in a card skimming ring UK wide. Not on unless you have amazing amounts of proof.

Annie._2

Since I started this thread, I have not even had so much as an acknowledgement to my letter from Tesco's Leatherhead.

I had a problem in one of their stores with my debit card and I would have though the courtesy of a reply, if only to offer their regret at having my card cloned, would have been a nice jesture, but no, they ignore my letter.

As I have said, I take care of my debit card and never let anyone touch it, this assistant in Tesco took my card out of the machine before I even had a chance to protest.

If they are innocent, let Tesco prove it, come back to me with their explanation from an official company representative.

I am sure they have an official company representative who looks at these forum and most likely have an alert if anything Tesco is posted.

Tesco have a lot to do to restore my confidence in their checkout security.

geordie_joe

Ann_S wrote: »

I had a problem in one of their stores with my debit card and I would have though the courtesy of a reply,

No, you think you had a problem in one of their stores, the rest of the world think different.

Ann_S wrote: »

As I have said, I take care of my debit card and never let anyone touch it, this assistant in Tesco took my card out of the machine before I even had a chance to protest.

Read the posts in this thread, many of them explain what the checkout person was doing, and why they would not have been stealing your card detail.

We can see that you had your card details stolen, and have got it into your head that it must have been at the last place you used it. Again, post in here explain why it would not have been the last place that you used it. It doesn't matter how careful you are with your card, most cases of card fraud come from people buying your card details, not getting them from the actual card.

Ann_S wrote: »

If they are innocent, let Tesco prove it, come back to me with their explanation from an official company representative.

That's not the way it work in the UK. Here everyone is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. You have accused someone of committing a crime, it is up to you to provide proof of this, they don't have to do anything.

Ann_S wrote: »

I am sure they have an official company representative who looks at these forum and most likely have an alert if anything Tesco is posted.

I doubt they do have reps looking in here, but if they did all they would see is someone who won't listen to reason.

Ann_S wrote: »

Tesco have a lot to do to restore my confidence in their checkout security.

They will never be able to do that, as you think they are guilty and you won't listen to any other option.

storminabuttercup

not wanting to seem like i am jumping on the band wagon but this post was started 14 days ago - takin into consideration postal strikes, the catch up plus the xmas postal rush - i would be more suprised if you had recieved a reply by now - most companies endevour to reply with in 30 days of receipt of letter........something to think about

Storck

As this happened about 2 weeks ago when a number of banks had problems with all their authorisation systems maybe it was that. Off the top of my head I can not remember which banking group it was, but HBOS/Lloyds springs to mind, might have been one of the other major ones. If it was during that time, they didn't find out for two/three days, then that could explain why it came up wrong pin. As for the unauthorised use, was it in a shop, on internet or over the phone?

As for the poster about Tesco cash point they are not run by Tesco but by RBS.

geordie_joe

Storck wrote: »

As for the unauthorised use, was it in a shop, on internet or over the phone?

A quote from the OP in post No 3

The assistant took my card from me and swipped it after the PIN was rejected twice. Less than two hours later my card was used in a store and cashback was also requested on the transaction.

Less than two hours to get the details of the card, put them on another card and get to a store to use it. Got to be a record!