Fuel Card Fraud

mui7087

Help


My husband, a sole trader, has just discovered that his fuel card has been cloned and almost £2000 of fuel has been fraudulently taken. We was first alerted to the fraud when the fuel card company called to say my husband was spending more than he agreed allowance and was asked to increase his bond by and additional £500.00 We knew that this couldn't be right as his spend is almost the same amount every week. They suggested that he check his recent invoices. On doing so we discovered regular withdrawals of fuel from various garages at times and places we have never been too. We immediately reported this to the police who, via a personal visit, told us this had to reported on line, which we have since done. We have now been advised by the fuel card company that despite having insurance, there is a possibility that unless the police are successful with a prosecution, it is unlikely that we will get our money back. Surely this cannot be right? The fuel card has my husbands vehicle registration on it and is signed, yet the withdrawals all had different reg numbers. Has anyone experienced this and is it right that we will be left out of pocket??

vikingaero

I would be reading the T&C's/Agreement extremely carefully. After this consider cancelling the card/account and and direct debits.

arcon5

If it's a credit facility they are providing, surely it's them that s the victim of fraud and not the husband, thus them responsible for such a risk. Unless of course he has been negligent in any way exposing them to the risk himself.

mui7087

arcon5 wrote: »

If it's a credit facility they are providing, surely it's them that s the victim of fraud and not the husband, thus them responsible for such a risk. Unless of course he has been negligent in any way exposing them to the risk himself.

That's what I have said, he paid an insurance, but apparently it's only valid for 72 hours AFTER the crime is reported(?) What is the point in that? The card will be stopped so there would be no opportunity for it to be used, so could we then look at the 'mis-sold insurance' as it wasn't really fit for purpose.
Appreciate all the advice guys makes me so :mad: that we are working hard to make an honest living and someone can just wipe out any profit we make just like that

Iceweasel

I would reckon to some degree it would depend how long this has been going on for - as they might say you were negligent in not checking the invoices.

When was the first of these false charges?

I would be seeking legal advice as I don't see your husband has done anything wrong - it's not like he lost the card or loaned it to someone.

For me the important thing to stress is the card has the Reg number on it and should not have been accepted for any other vehicle.

Is the number embossed on the front or is it written in pen on the signature strip?

gardengull

I saw this on the telly the other day. Might have some advice for you...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b042vbb3/sign/fake-britain-series-5-episode-4

Season 5 Episode 4
Matt Allwright investigates the false job references that are available for sale online. He also examines the rise in the use of fraudulent cards to purchase fuel, and meets a dog with an unerring nose for bogus tobacco

mui7087

Iceweasel wrote: »

I would reckon to some degree it would depend how long this has been going on for - as they might say you were negligent in not checking the invoices.

When was the first of these false charges?

I would be seeking legal advice as I don't see your husband has done anything wrong - it's not like he lost the card or loaned it to someone.

For me the important thing to stress is the card has the Reg number on it and should not have been accepted for any other vehicle.

Is the number embossed on the front or is it written in pen on the signature strip?

The card has his registration number printed on it, not embossed but on the same lines as his name (if you get me ) The first false charge was 5 weeks ago. He does get emailed invoices weekly, but they are only printed monthly for the accountant. Some of the registrations numbers appear more than once. There is even an attempt at his registration number, but one alpha character is wrong and one numeric character is wrong. One would hope that the police can do something regarding the registration numbers but as we had to record the fraud online, there was no request for information. We've got a crime number, but have heard nothing from them since we lodged the crime on line. We can almost pin point the date time and location of where the card was cloned.

I was always of the opinion that if a fuel card had a registration number on it, then the card could only be used for that vehicle. Or am I missing something?

mui7087

gardengull wrote: »

I saw this on the telly the other day. Might have some advice for you...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b042vbb3/sign/fake-britain-series-5-episode-4

Season 5 Episode 4
Matt Allwright investigates the false job references that are available for sale online. He also examines the rise in the use of fraudulent cards to purchase fuel, and meets a dog with an unerring nose for bogus tobacco

Thanks - I have no words!!! I hope they catch the people who have targeted us. What gets me, is that the fuel card company seem un interested in our dilemma and are not sending out warnings. incidentally, cards only have metallic strips and not chipped. You'd have thought in this day and age the cards would be chip and pin.