Card Theft & Cash Withdrawals

musey

Hi

I wonder if I can get some advice for my aunt. She is in England following a house purchase but normally lives in Eire.

She had a phone call tonight from her husband who had just received a credit card statement from their NatWest credit card showing many cash withdrawals from various places in Ireland and then in England. So far they total £2600 but the statement only goes up to 4th August so there may be more. The card is now cancelled.

After the initial shock had worn off it appears that this is a card they rarely use (last authorised use Feb 06) she does not even keep the card on her purse it is for emergencies and is filed at home. It would seem that their Australian lodger stole the card from the house and has been merrily making his way around Ireland & England withdrawing cash as he went. There are transactions in Bath, Bristol, London as well as several small Irish towns.

My aunt is over here and all her paperwork pertaining to the card is over there, she is natuarally distraught and wonders if she has any form of protection from the card issuer. We cannot understand how the card issuer has not question this series of completely uncharacteristic and unusual withdrawals without contacting them.

They have no direct proof that the lodger stole the card but the conincidence is too much to ignore, should they come clean with the issuer and inform them? She has never used the card with the pin number, doesn't know it is it possible for him to have somehow got the pin number re-issued? Any suggestions on how to present this to the card issuer to give them maximum chance of recovering even some of the money?

Thanks guys.

C_Ronaldo

id tell the card issuer and inform the police,

thats my opinion though

ronnie_2

At least you have had the card cancelled now, its quite possible that the lodger perhaps got the pin number from her mail? or she maybe kept the pin number with the card
The only thing she can really do is get in contact with the police and have the lodger charged with fraud/theft - she may be lucky in getting the money back but its not very clear cut, phone the card company and speak with there fraud department in the morning.

Moral of the story keep your cards safe and on your person, and trust no one!

musey

The lodger is no longer there he left around 20th July so unless the British Police are prepared to try and find him, I say that as all the most recent transactions are in Britain there's not much they can do in that area. I am sure she didn't keep the pin with the card I can only think he somehow instigated a new pin being sent out & intercepted the mail.

I guess when dealing with the credit card company honesty is the best policy.

Astaroth

I am a little confused - given Natwest do not operate in Eire and their website states you must be a UK resident how has she even got the credit card?

James

Musey, sorry to learn of your Aunt's experience. I echo C_Ronaldo's advice.

Do you know if Eire has anything like our Consumer Credit Act? If they do, then in theory your aunt should be protected - re PIN negligence.

But even Banks in UK are passing the Buck on Fraud.

No PIN = No access to cash = No liability issues.

If there's no equivalent of the CCA in Eire then if I were your aunt, or an Eire credit cardholder, I'd have my Chip and PIN credit cards replaced with Chip and Signature immediately. UK cardholders can make an informed decision - PIN or Sign.

MrChips

Not sure if my experience is relevant but here goes...

I got back from a holiday in Turkey and checked my internet banking 3 days later. I had made a cash withdrawal using my Nationwide debit card on my penultimate day, but my statement showed 4 consecutive withdrawals!

I assumed this was a computer glitch and went to check at my nearest branch straight away. They confirmed they were genuine transactions with a PIN entered. The three extra fraudulant ones totalled £240.

When I got home, I looked for my card and discovered it was missing. I filed a claim with them for the stolen cash, and after making me fill in a questionnaire (which among other things asked me where I kept my PIN written down - nowhere of course), they gave me back the cash. They were very good about it, even writing to me to say they "hoped the bad experience hadn't put me off Nationwide Building Society" - quite the opposite To this day I have no idea how the thieves got my card and my pin, there was no one about when I made that final withdrawal!!

Anyway, my advice is report this to NatWest straight away and ask their advice about what needs to be done to get the money back.

musey

Have spoken to aunt and her husband has phoned NatWest as she is 2nd card holder on the account and he is the principle. The fraud dept have implied (although nothing in writing) not to worry they are investigating and will sort it out. The NatWest card is from when they lived in England, NatWest are aware they now live in Eire as they deliver the statements there so no worries on that score. Seems transactions total just over £4000 so I really hope they get it sorted. Will keep things updated.

arnie&caseysma!

Musey, the only advice I can give is as follows:

Your aunt has done the right thing by informing Natwest and getting them to sort it out. The banks generally have their own fraud department to investigate these things. The only other thing I would advise her to do would be to contact the local Police where she is at the moment and advise them of all the different transactions. The police in England will be able to take a statement regarding all the transactions in England and then should pass it out to the force/station convering each transaction area. It could be rather complex so may just be left up to the bank to deal with as they are the actual complainer regarding the crime(s) if they are refunding the money into your account. Undoubtedly she will want this person stopped and if possible convicted of the crime(s). Fingers crossed that something is done about him and quick.