Contactless Card Fraud - Police or Action Fraud

Caz3121

I had my contactless debit card stolen last week. Noticed fairly quickly (was on tube, used it to get on but was missing when I was getting off) cancelled the card with bank, however as there is not an immediate connection with contactless to bank there were a number of transactions made after cancellation.
My card is registered with TFL so was able to see the culprits journey history including times...which bus they were on at 4am and which journey they made on Saturday and I have the phone numbers for the stations for the CCTV records should they be required
4 contactless transactions were made in shops within 24 hours, Sainsbury's etc for small amounts and the banks fraud department have refunded these - I am aware I need to keep an eye on my statements (which I always do) for any further transactions
Bank cannot refund the TFL journeys as they refused payment (card was cancelled before these journeys made) but TFL are saying I need to pay and claim from the bank....(ongoing communication re this)

My question is, what would you do now?...are the police or action fraud going to be interested in someone spending <£50 on a contactless card. Are they going to bother getting hold of the CCTV records. Do I just log it and move on or just forget about it?

[Deleted User]

Get your money back and move on.

pogofish

Caz3121 wrote: »

I had my contactless debit card stolen last week.

This is the credit card board - debit card stuff goes in the banking forum!

MEM62

Caz3121 wrote: »

Bank cannot refund the TFL journeys as they refused payment (card was cancelled before these journeys made) but TFL are saying I need to pay and claim from the bank....(ongoing communication re this)

On what basis are TFL asking you to pay for journeys that you did not make?

[Deleted User]

I can see how frustrating this would be. There was an item on this last week on BBC's "Rip Off Britain" (probably still available on the iPlayer). They explained that the reason the bank can't stop them is that permission for the small contactless payments are made at the point of use; it doesn't have to go back to the bank for permission. The only thing that will stop them is when the card asks for a PIN (which it will do eventually - as a security check). However you should insist that the bank covers your losses from the moment you reported the card missing, and don't let them get away with it.

Just another example of banks shifting the risk to customers under the pretext of making it easier for them to spend (easier for thieves to spend also).

As for me, I'm trying to find a way to disable the aerial in my bank cards (which are used for the contactless transactions), without making them completely unusable. (Having to put in a 4 digit PIN every time seems a small price to pay).

Shakin_Steve

Can't you just ask your banks to supply non-contactless cards? Is there not an option for this?

[Deleted User]

Shakin_Steve wrote: »

Can't you just ask your banks to supply non-contactless cards? Is there not an option for this?

I've asked both banks that I have current accounts with (HSBC and Natwest) for this and both said they no longer issue cards that are not Contactless.

eddddy

Corona wrote: »

Just another example of banks shifting the risk to customers under the pretext of making it easier for them to spend (easier for thieves to spend also).

You seem to have mis-read the post.

OP says the bank has refunded all losses. There's no suggestion that the bank even made a fuss about it.

Caz3121 wrote: »

4 contactless transactions were made in shops within 24 hours, Sainsbury's etc for small amounts and the banks fraud department have refunded these...

But it seems that TFL (Transport for London - not a bank - the people that operate the buses and trains in London) are talking nonsense. But that's not the bank's fault...

(TFL are saying to the OP that the OP must pay them for the thief's bus and train journeys.)

Caz3121 wrote: »

...Bank cannot refund the TFL journeys as they refused payment (card was cancelled before these journeys made) but TFL are saying I need to pay and claim from the bank....(ongoing communication re this)

Caz3121

eddddy wrote: »

But it seems that TFL (Transport for London - not a bank - the people that operate the buses and trains in London) are talking nonsense. But that's not the bank's fault...

(TFL are saying to the OP that the OP must pay them for the thief's bus and train journeys.)

correct. Card cancelled on the Friday afternoon then the thief made 4 journeys Friday evening and Saturday.
TFL then tries to take the money from the bank but the bank rejects payment because the card had been cancelled so the thief's journeys are showing on my online statement as "outstanding fares" and TFL seem insistent that I need to pay it and claim from the bank but the bank cannot refund as no payment has left my account to refund.
Bank were great and refunded the 4 shop transactions straight away, I have fraud reference and am keeping an eye on statements (so far nothing else taken)

dresdendave

eddddy wrote: »

But it seems that TFL (Transport for London - not a bank - the people that operate the buses and trains in London) are talking nonsense. But that's not the bank's fault...

(TFL are saying to the OP that the OP must pay them for the thief's bus and train journeys.)

I was confused by this as it didn't seem to make sense.


Imagine if my CC was stolen, reported stolen and then cancelled. The thief then has a meal in a restaurant, presents my CC which is declined so he/she runs off without paying. Based on TFL's stance the restaurant would then expect me to pay the bill and then claim back the money from my bank.

agrinnall

Caz, did you report the theft to the police in the first place? If you did then presumably you will have a crime number that you can advise to TfL so that they have evidence that you didn't make the journeys. If you don't have that then they have nothing other than your word that you didn't travel, and they probably do have the right to seek payment from you. I'm pretty sure that you can head this off by going to them with the right information.