Worried about an unknown transaction

cmw1212

On saturday morning I checked my balance and £85 had gone out of my account, I had booked to stay in a hotel so thought it could have been that ( although it was quite a lot more than quoted) as I was passing the bank I popped in to ask but all they could tell me was the time the payment was made (2.20 am although realise that means nothing), anyway got to hotel but it wasn't them so this £85 is still a mystery, there is still nothing showing and I am 99.99% certain i have not spent £85 in one hit (was a card transaction)
I realise there's little I can do until I know who took the money but will I be able to get it back if it wasn't me... I just cannot think how it has been compromised tho, I only really use my card in shops like tesco.
Bank is Nat West.

grumbler

cmw1212 wrote: »

I realise there's little I can do until I know who took the money but will I be able to get it back if it wasn't me...

You will.

FRAUD WARNING for NATWEST ACCOUNTS springs to mind, but £85 is too small amount for this type of fraud, and it has to be a cash withdrawal that doesn't take long to show in the statement.

Essex22011

Ring telephone banking and raise a query on it, if it is fraud they will refund you but more likely they will be able to give you more information on the transaction that might remind you!

stclair

Essex22011 wrote: »

Ring telephone banking and raise a query on it, if it is fraud they will refund you but more likely they will be able to give you more information on the transaction that might remind you!

The retailer details will not be known until the transaction is complete and a narrative is showing on the customers statement until then its just a pending authorisation.

coldhandoff

You can ring them up at any time and the advisor will need to speak to a different department however you will be able to find out the retailer straight away.

stclair

coldhandoff wrote: »

You can ring them up at any time and the advisor will need to speak to a different department however you will be able to find out the retailer straight away.

Not all POS show straight away..... if they did real time transactions would be amazing especially for offline debit card holders.

Wyndham

I've had this sort of thing, and always when I've found out who it was, it's been genuine.

Do you have any recurring payments on the account? Something that may only be asked for once a year for example?

notbritishgas

cmw1212 wrote: »

On saturday morning I checked my balance and £85 had gone out of my account, I had booked to stay in a hotel so thought it could have been that ( although it was quite a lot more than quoted) as I was passing the bank I popped in to ask but all they could tell me was the time the payment was made (2.20 am although realise that means nothing), anyway got to hotel but it wasn't them so this £85 is still a mystery, there is still nothing showing and I am 99.99% certain i have not spent £85 in one hit (was a card transaction)
I realise there's little I can do until I know who took the money but will I be able to get it back if it wasn't me... I just cannot think how it has been compromised tho, I only really use my card in shops like tesco.
Bank is Nat West.

Had it actually gone out of your account or was it reserved and just not showing in your available balance? If it had gone then surely details would be known.

I stayed in a hotel this year which had been prepaid, but when I arrived I had to authorise an extra £100 to be reserved on my card for any extras, eg drinks. If I had not spent any extra then the £100 would never have left my account, but I did:rotfl:

cmw1212

Well after another trip to the bank and a call to the fraud team the mystery is solved... it was the hotel... a bit annoyed though why take the money and then charge at the hotel too? I mean it wasn't even like I used a third party site it was the IHG one, just glad for once I had plenty of money so it didn't make me overdrawn.

grumbler

cmw1212 wrote: »

...why take the money and then charge at the hotel too?..., just glad for once I had plenty of money so it didn't make me overdrawn.

As I understand, it was an 'authorisation', not 'taking money'. It does 'freeze' the money for some time and reduce the available balance, but AFAIK cannot make you overdrawn.

dalesrider

cmw1212 wrote: »

it was the hotel... a bit annoyed though why take the money and then charge at the hotel too? I mean it wasn't even like I used a third party site it was the IHG one, just glad for once I had plenty of money so it didn't make me overdrawn.

In case you don't turn up....
No matter what they only take the money once.

Hotels & Car Hire will always hold a certain amount, that often can be more than the booking.

stclair

The retailer details will not be known until the transaction is complete and a narrative is showing on the customers statement until then its just a pending authorisation.

The authorisation will show who the retailer is. So a call to the bank and talking to the people who know, will resolve the issue.

Not all POS show straight away.....

Given the OP knew their avaiable balance was £85 down, then it was showing on the banks systems.