Unrecognised transaction on Credit Card

Elmy

Hi all,

I was checking my credit card account this morning and noticed a transaction for £465 which I was pretty sure wasn't one of mine. The payment was made to H & H Bancroft Ltd in SE1. I googled them and came up with a wine merchant addressed in London, SE1. Now, I was 100% sure it couldn't have been me!

I phoned up the CC company (HSBC VISA) to tell them. This is what happened:

The gentleman I spoke to asked me all the usual questions like did I have the card with me, etc. I told him, yes I did and that it never leaves the house as I only ever use it for online transactions. I also don't know the PIN number as I have never had to use it. When he looked further into the transaction, it showed him that the transaction was made using CHIP & PIN. Of course, I reiterated that the card had only ever been used for online purchases as far as I recalled (actually, I remembered afterwards that I used the card twice last year in America but both times I signed for them and the card never left my sight). I mentioned my internet search on the company name and that it is not a company that I would use. He cross checked this for me and came back to say that the type of company that they had it down for was a computer games company - not wine merchant.

I asked him to confirm that the purchase had indeed been made using CHIP & PIN. He checked it again and confirm, yes, it was made in store using CHIP & PIN. He then proceeded to asked me if I had a partner who also used the card - NO. Did I have any sons who would do this (what bloody cheek!) - NO (he laughed sheepishly at this question and I could hear a comment he started to make trailing off as he could tell I wouldn't be amused with what he was implying).

To cut to the end, he said someone should call me back within 10 days and that this should take up to 3 months to dispute. In the meantime, I will be charged interest on this £465 and will only get it back if the transaction is successfully disputed.

Oh, and another thing: after I got off the phone, I realised he hadn't mentioned anything about cancelling the card. I called them up again and was told that someone was looking into my case but the card actually wouldn't be cancelled. If any purchases are made on the card in the meantime, the necessary checks will be carried out.

How does this sound to everyone and do you have any advice you can offer? My concern is that if the purchase was made using CHIP & PIN they will put the blame on me somehow.

jonesMUFCforever

Who is the card with?
To be told that someone would ring back within 10 days and not offer to cancel the card is out of order IMO.
I would have expected for them to send you something to confirm that the disputed item was not carried out by you, and then for either the amount to be taken off your account pending investigation or ringfenced so that you should not pay it or be charged interest on it.

OrionSuperNova

What Barclaycard did with me when this happened was to send me a dispute form for me to sign and they cancelled and reissued a new card.
They suspended the payment - and interest - and the amount was removed about 10 days later.

Something sounds very strange here.

You need to phone them and ask for a dispute form to be sent out to you.

If necessary report to the FSA.

Elmy

The card is an HSBC VISA. I just rang them again and spoke to a lady who confirmed that my card has not been cancelled and would I like to cancel it - well, of course (I'm slapping my head for not doing it yesterday)! She also told me that the purchase was not made using CHIP & PIN but using 'payment verification not performed'. I don't know what that means. She couldn't give me more information than that. Also, I would have to pay up the £465 or incur interest - which I said there is no way I can pay that amount of money for a transaction that is not mine. She said that she would put this in her notes.

Okay, so my card is cancelled and I have to wait for a phone call in the next 7 - 10 working days.

Elmy

They didn't mention anything about a dispute form so I don't know if it is the norm to have one of those sent out.

jonesMUFCforever

I would imagine that payment verification not performs means that someone has software that generates card numbers until they hit the jackpot and they get one that works.
It also shows IMO that the beneficiary is either in on the fraud or their security is extremely lax.
My opinion is that you will get your money back but the way they have gone about it is disgraceful!

I would telephone not HSBC's credit card division but the main bank's complaints department.
Unless things have changed drastically in the last few months (eg you are no longer supposed to contact police now as credit card company ''decide'' whether to get them involved) they should deal with this for you swiftly and without you having to pay for it and claim it back.
(Wouldn't paying for it be an admission that it might have been you doing the purchase - otherwise why pay etc etc).

If you still don't get satisfaction then I would certainly take my business elswhere.

SarahNeedle1872

I had a dodgy transaction on my Morgan Stanley card a few months ago. When I phoned, the man asked me all the questions as u were, but cancelled my card while I was on the phone. They sent a declaration for me to sign to say that it wasn't me (that arrived 2 days later), and once they had it back, I got the money credited back to my account, with no interest charged. No need to contact the police either.
The whole process took approx 2 weeks, so 3 months sounds like a long tiime to me...

ontheup_3

On working lunch last week they had a woman(i think she worked for visa) on about credit cards , as she stated that there was no longer a need for the customer to contact the police as the credit card comapnay file it with the police

James

I'm sorry to say that this could be the start of a very long and drawn out dispute - simply because a PIN could have been used with a valid card. (I can't understand why the first person told you that the transaction was verified by PIN - did it say this on your statement when you checked it?). The good news for you is that if what the HSBC lady said is true, 'payment verification not performed' then Bancroft will have to pay for the cost of the fraud and not you.

What to do.

Ask HSBC to explain if the transaction was authorised by a PIN, or a signature ,or if it was just your card details that were used (could have done this on the phone). If your PIN wasn't used - you're safe. The retailer will foot the cost of the fraud. If your PIN was used try the following:

Tell your story to the press - try this link.

Let us take on your Chip & PIN fraud case.

Visit your local Police station and insist they record this as a crime. (as of 1 April 2007, card holders no longer report card fraud to the police, but it's still a grey area, so insist, saying your Bank doesn't believe you).

Contact H&H Bancroft Ltd and ask them if they have CCTV - it's a long shot, if they do, tell the police and your card issuer. It will be more power to your elbow

Ask HSBC to replace your card soonest with a Chip & Signature Card.

Drop me a Personal Message - I might be able to help. if you don't get a reply from the press link.

Cute_'n'_Quirky

As Sarah says above - it takes a couple of weeks.

The card was NOT used with a valid pin, nor with the security number from the back.

The OP should approach the police herself and state her case - who knows whether the bank have done it for her or not, since they haven't done any of the reporting correctly.

jonesMUFCforever

James has a little thing about Chip and Pin - from the hundreds of his posts I gather he is not in favour of it.
As your transaction is not C&P you can safely ignore most of his post.

You will get your money back.