Someone else using your cards

Tracewhy

zagfles wrote: »

If anyone uses your cards without your consent you simply have to report it to your bank, they put the amount in dispute and it is then up to the retailer to prove that you authorised the transaction.

The burden of proof is not on you to prove you didn't authorise the transactions.

yep I tried that, they were having none of it. 'Apparantly' its a common scam, people say wasn't me guv was a previous partner to get out of paying.

It seemed to all hinge on him doing it in the house we shared, apparantly if he'd done it outside the house they would have helped. And all 3 came up with the same answer without prompting so at the time I presumed there must be a loop in the law for this.

To be honest I'm not going to do anything about it now, I was curious as to what people thought. I was and am still shocked that it 'appears' to be a)a common scam b)a legit reason for them to get away with investigating. Although I can understand it would be a NIGHTMARE trying to prove it either way.

trikidy

callum9999 wrote: »

Under what regulation does paying a bill that's in your name possibly remove your right to dispute it?

Is there a particular reason why you're being so touchy over this? Even if it can't go anywhere it hardly seems an unreasonable thing to be seeking advice over...

I think he's saying, if you went to the court now, you wouldn't get far. As the courts would say since this date, you have been paying them off, and now you are claiming the debt is not yours. Which would not do her/his chances of winning very good.

But I think IF at the time, before you started to pay it off you took him to court you would have a much better chance than now.

zagfles

Tracewhy wrote: »

yep I tried that, they were having none of it. 'Apparantly' its a common scam, people say wasn't me guv was a previous partner to get out of paying.

It seemed to all hinge on him doing it in the house we shared, apparantly if he'd done it outside the house they would have helped. And all 3 came up with the same answer without prompting so at the time I presumed there must be a loop in the law for this.

To be honest I'm not going to do anything about it now, I was curious as to what people thought. I was and am still shocked that it 'appears' to be a)a common scam b)a legit reason for them to get away with investigating. Although I can understand it would be a NIGHTMARE trying to prove it either way.

The usual fob-off technique. Though not noticing the cards were missing for a year does sound suspect, especially if it ties in with when you split.

Were the cards being paid? If they got no payments for a year the CC company would certainly have been trying to phone you.

You say gambling sites - these are quite strict about ID these days, did he sign up using your details or his own? You usually need to provide proof of ID to them, some need you to send passport scans and similar (I've had to do that).

chattychappy

My opinion is this:

1) you were entitled to dispute the transactions with the CCs. It's not for you to recover the money from your partner. The CC would have to prove you authorised the transactions or take the hit (which they might pass onto the merchant). Either the CC or the merchant would be free to make a claim on your partner if they wish.

2) the police only really deal with criminal matters. The crime here is fraud - fraud by misrepresentation (or obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception under the old law) and the victim is the CC because it is their money. They could investigate the matter and with sufficient evidence the CPS could decide to prosecute. However typically they would only start an investigation in response to a complaint by the victim (ie the CC). Other bodies such as the FSA, SFO and even private individuals can start a prosecution, but that's not relevant here.

callum9999

trikidy wrote: »

I think he's saying, if you went to the court now, you wouldn't get far. As the courts would say since this date, you have been paying them off, and now you are claiming the debt is not yours. Which would not do her/his chances of winning very good.

But I think IF at the time, before you started to pay it off you took him to court you would have a much better chance than now.

Well I agree with that summation (this would have been hard enough to prove at the time, but I really don't think that's what they were saying.

They were moaning at them saying that she approved him to use the cards - she didn't - and that she should have called the police - she did.

Though it's suspect to wait this long, and the banks may be suspicious (though they should have it on record that she complained at the time, and there is a record of her complaining to the police at the time), is there technically a limit on how far back you can claim for fraud? I agree that if it went to court now it would probably go nowhere, but maybe it's worth enquiring with the bank now - there's nothing to lose.

Bravehearted_2

mynameistallulah wrote: »

Nothing like a thank you!

As you continued to pay the debt off, you accepted it as your own. If you did not accept it as your own, you should have reported it to the police.

A "thank you" for what? For the meaningless nonsense you posted? Or for not reading the original post properly?

Paying a cc doesnt acknowledge it is you that is doing the spending and can always be disputed. And she did report it to the police, read!

Are you merely posting so that people can 'thank' you. If so, at least provide 'thank worthy' posts.

No OP is obliged to give thanks for responses. Its down to personal choice and manners.

garynuman

It was one great lesson in watching your credit file

Or reading your CC statements?

Gaz

Ganga

If he had spent that much on your c/cards and they were max,d out surely the c/card companies would have been ringing you up every day or banging on your front door for their money? also you say he emptied your joint bank account? did you not notice?
The only way the cards could have been kept open was by paying the min. payment each month and as you state the card debt was 30k,he must have been paying about £750.00 a month,did you not notice the drop in your disspossable income every month?

Joe_Bloggs

The way I read the original post was that the police suggested a civil/ county court action against the ex-partner.
In the event of a court case victory there would still be nothing from the defendant as they would plead poverty due a gambling addiction.

J_B.

Tracewhy

ha ha, I do find it amusing when people read half a post thread. So just for clarity

1. I never used the cards as I'd cleared them and only used for emergencies.

2. The reason I didn't notice is because they were posting letters out but I left the house each day at 6am and he was disposing of the post. No way in this case of actually reading my statements!!! Also remember I said the cards were fully paid off so I wasn't actually expecting any statements.

3. They didn't have up to date phone num as altho I'd informed them innediately of my new address I didn't have a phone installed immediately and had forgotton to then inform them of the new number.

4. The only security details the gambling sites had requested (take into account we are going back 5 years) was the details on the card (ie CVV number, expiry etc) was my mothers maiden name and the billing addresses of the cards, both of course which he knew.

5. My query was 'IF I'd taken it to court at the time do you think I would have been successful'? I'm not considering taking it to court now, it seemed a mountain to climb to prove burden of proof then never mind 5 years later.

6. For thne people saying how did I not notice a joint bank account being emptied. I said 'I DID notice but thats another story'. That was easy to prove more difficult to sort but it was sortable and I did.