Fraudulant use of my debit card! Help please

Savvybunny2009

Wanted to place an order with Debenhams this morning with my debit card and i tried twice and the card was declined, thinking this was Barclays being over zealous as usual I phoned and asked to be put through to the fraud department.

I then discover that in fact that my card has been fraudulantley used, firstly to make a payment to Oxfam (cheeky beggars) and then a payment for almost £200.00 to a paypal account which is posing as a seller of baby items.

I havent used my card anywhere except Debenhams and it would not surprise me if their systems were hacked or accessed as they often have problems on their site, in fact I started to get suspicious when a payment went through without needing verisign - first time ever? Yes it was the official site too.

My bank did not let the second payment through luckily but the first one did. My card has been blocked and the will be re issueing another one (which I shant ever use online again I may add) but the fraudsters would not be able to set up a direct debit with the old card details would they, I have never had this happen before?

Also I was under the impression a card had to be verified etc etc to make a payment via paypal, can anyone shed any light as to what may have happened? That card was already registered to a paypal account so how did it go through?

Also I sent some items to be returned, it seems they will only credit the amount back to the original card, will I ever see my refund?

opinions4u

Savvybunny2009 wrote: »

I havent used my card anywhere except Debenhams and it would not surprise me if their systems were hacked or accessed as they often have problems on their site, in fact I started to get suspicious when a payment went through without needing verisign - first time ever? Yes it was the official site too.

Are you saying you have never used your card anywhere else, ever? The theft of details could have taken place months ago and the recipient may have remained dormant for a time before committing the fraud.

My bank did not let the second payment through luckily but the first one did. My card has been blocked and the will be re issueing another one (which I shant ever use online again I may add) but the fraudsters would not be able to set up a direct debit with the old card details would they, I have never had this happen before?

Does the old card have your sort code and account number on? Direct debit fraud is relatively rare ... we share our sort code and account numbers with anybody we send a cheque to.

Also I was under the impression a card had to be verified etc etc to make a payment via paypal

Not always.

can anyone shed any light as to what may have happened? That card was already registered to a paypal account so how did it go through?

A card can be registered to more than one account (I don't know the specifics about PayPal though).

Also I sent some items to be returned, it seems they will only credit the amount back to the original card, will I ever see my refund?

You will see your refund and your bank will reimburse you for the fraud. It will take time, but at the end of the process you will not be out of pocket.

I've never had a problem with the Debenhams web site. I think you should review your anti-virus software, clear out your cookies and review all the security aspects of your computer.

Debt_Free_Chick

Are you sure your PC is secure?

Oggyoi

At a guess the Oxfam payment was to check to see if the card was working, before going to use it to defraud you by making purchases.

As for only using it at Debenhams, is that just online or offline too ?
Cards are usually cloned at smaller shops/garages etc.

( This made me smile: When I was a kid, my dad got me a shiny black box for saving all my 50p pieces in.

I was 14 before I discovered it was the electric meter. )

Savvybunny2009

I only used my card online at Debenhams, being a relatively new card I haven't used it anywhere else yet and I use cash in stores as relatives have had their cards cloned instore.

I wouldn't have thought they would have my sort code and account details as my bank card was never taken to have the details copied, they wouldnt be able to get this information elsewhere with my debit details would they?

We have antivir which is active alongside the standard firewalls, it is possible it may have been compromised but surely it would have told me being active and the computer is scanned everyday and nothing suspicious has come up.

Thank you for your repy, its very helpful to someone who has never been in this situation before, I really appreciate it

missile

It could be a dishonest employee at Debenhams selling your details?

Fraudsters know the sort codes and I believe they generate random account numbers and make small test payments.
When they strike lucky and a small payment is approved, they hit your card for a much larger ammount. It seems like this may be what happened to you?

I had £1 charged to my credit card for PP 1368 Expuse for £1. When I complained, I found out it was membership fee to a company in Luxemburg authorised by signature. Most of us don't check our stements as often as we should and a £1 charge is easily overlooked. I think I might have remembered if I had been in Luxemburg last month!

Unfortunately, it seems there is no way to protect yourself 100% and this is the risk we run for the convenience of using plastic.

missile

opinions4u wrote: »

I don't know the specifics about PayPal though.

If you have details from a cloned debit or credit card it would be easy to set up a false Paypal account with funding from the card. Then you can send money to a.n.other Paypal account.

Savvybunny2009

I think you may be onto something with the £1.00 theory as that was the first transaction followed by £10.00 and then a very large sum afterwards.

Popped into the branch today to discuss and they are sorting it out, luckily the large amount was declined and the two smaller payments are being investigated.

From what I gather it was a lapse in the security of Debenhams but I cant be 100% sure what happened so I shant be using my new card online anymore, which probably is for the best as you never know who is accessing your information... no matter how careful you are.

What annoys me is that obviously the people who do this kind of thing have some sort of computer skills, why not get a good job and earn your money instead of stealing that which belongs to others? I hope karma sorts them out preferably in the guise of prison bars or something as appropriate.

Thank you all for your comments, it helped keep me from panicking in such awful circumstances.