bank details stolen? Help

little_green

ughhhhh I can't believe i'm writing this.

So my other half has just noticed on their bank statement a transaction from cdkeys/paypal dated in the past few days for £15. Neither of us has ever used cdkeys website previously to purchase anything & don't know of any family or friends who would have either as they would have had to ask permissions/details/passwords & no one has, similarly no one has had access to the card which has remained with my OH the whole time. Therefore i'm guessing the only explanation is fraud? that someone, somewhere, somehow has gotten hold of the card details? or potentially accessed the paypal account. Strangely on checking transaction history on paypal there is nothing listed. OH has now closed the paypal account (as unlinking the card was not an option).
To make matters more complicated, my other half is out of the country for the next 2 weeks with only that debit card as a source of money.
I'm very worried about the money that currently remains in that account as i'm assuming who ever has stole the details could clear the account? Could OH send the money from the compromised account to another account with a different bank? Or would the person be able to see what account it has been sent to & therefore have even more information!?

help/advice appreciated.

[Deleted User]

Yes money could’ve transferred but if you report fraud they may freeze the account

AnotherJoe

I suspect its actually quite unlikely your bank details have been stolen so that someone could relieve you of £15.
And, having done that and found that they can indeed take out £15 without you noticing, do nothing else.

Paypal, sure someone may have gotten into that, it seems to happen frequently.
An alternative, which I've found on most occasions when I've had something unknown on my bank account or credit card, is an irritating company who think its reasonable to use an account with a completely different name and location to charge you.
For example, couple of years ago, I live in (lets say) Reading and had a meal at "Freds BBQ restaurant"
Some weeks later, having forgotten all about that, there was an entry on my credit card for lets say (i forget the exact details) "Acme Financial Services in Maidenhead"
It took some time and googling to track down it was the restaurant.
So, sorry for the rambling but do check it wasnt an amount that can be linked to a valid transaction.

AJGuy

I’ve seen CDKeys pop up on my statement before, I’m sure I bought a game off steam or something... do check that it’s not a valid transaction first, raising a fraud case can be very inconvenient.

Check both of your PayPal accounts in the transaction sections if you can find the transaction it will state what was purchased, if you cannot find the transaction or still do recognise the transaction contact PayPal and advise them of your issue, you may be able to deal with this without touching your bank card if it was just the PayPal account which was compromised.

As a precaution, when your partner comes back have all cards changed, you can ask your bank to send new ones out first and when activated the old ones are cancelled.

little_green

Out has now closed their PayPal account so not sure we can now Raise the issue with PayPal.
We have checked everything and neither of us has made any sort of transaction for the amount of £15 recently. Neither of us even game hence having not used cdkeys or steam before. We cannot account for this money in any way despite wracking our brains

Also rebthe comment about how someone wouldn't steal such a low amount of money, from what I hear its usually quite comment for the person to text the account with smaller transactions before then making a bigger one.

AJGuy

You will still be able to contact PayPal regarding this transaction, give your bank a ring and ask for the transaction ID, then go to PayPal and query it.

If you’re absolutely sure that the transaction was not made by you or your partner you need to act quickly, you have a duty to or the bank will not protect you.

Is your partner with someone else? If so have some money transferred to that person, if they can be trusted of course.

Alternatively, empty the account and when your partner requires money transfer the amount within minutes of him needing it, keep that balance at zero at all other times.

Contact the bank and explain your situation, most major banks have the ability to send emergency cash (depending on funds) abroad if a card has been lost/stolen/cancelled.

little_green

If oh transferrs money from the account to another (safe/uncompromised) account will the person who has stole the card or bank details be able to see the info of the account the money is being sent to ??

AnotherJoe

OP should have changed bank account access details so that situation should not arise.

AJGuy

They may at worst see the sort code and account number but apart from being able to set a direct debit up they will be very limited to what they can do. Remember direct debits are easily cancelled and any payments that have left the account are protected.

They would also need direct access to your bank account through your banks website... they would have done a lot more damage by now if this was the case so I believe they only have your card details.

little_green

Hi folks just wanted to update on this.
2 further transactions have been made £45 & £120 this time. Perhaps over the weekend as they only showed on oh statement dated 4th but by this point oh had already reported fraudulent activity on the account. Following the 2 larger sums of money OH phoned the bank. They have cancelled the card but not frozen the account. OH has transferred pretty much all money from the compromised account to a savings account with the same bank (currently dont have any other accounts hence couldn't move it to a different bank). The bank said because the transactions are listed as paypal, paypal need to investigate but having contacted paypal they say because the transactions do not show on the paypal account they cannot do anything. Have told the bank this. All 3 come up as visa purchase. 2 are cdkeys the other is KLIMBRAMAID.

What are the chances OH will get the money recovered?

Also just to add that nationwide are a total faff with the card reader etc. It's actually lucky OH has the savings account wtih them & not just another bank account outwith NW bc you cant transfer money to a non NW account without putting your card in the card reader. Now given OH is out the country & didnt take the card reader as didnt plan on having to transfer money out of that account.... but it'd be really sh*t if the money was essentially stranded IN that account bc of NW ridiculously impractical security processes!! Be interesting to know how things would stand in that case... Just hoping the perpetrator can't get access to the savings account.

I'm assuming since the compromised account now has almost zero in it (wtih no over draft) if the stealer tries to purchase something then the card would be declined due to lack of funds?

I online bank with various banks & NW is by far the most hassle.

[Deleted User]

little_green wrote: »

I'm assuming since the compromised account now has almost zero in it (wtih no over draft) if the stealer tries to purchase something then the card would be declined due to lack of funds?

Only if there is no OD facility and the transaction is not made offline.