Fraudulent transaction blocked on "Frozen" card - Should I get a replacement card?

Fingerbobs

I have a number of credit cards, and I keep them all "frozen" (via the option in their respective App) unless they are cards I use every day. 

I've just had a text message from Lloyds to say that they have declined a transaction on my credit card because the card is frozen. 

The transaction was of course denied, so the attempted fraud was unsuccessful, but I'm now wondering whether to report the card as "lost or stolen" and get a replacement card. 

Advice appreciated. 

DullGreyGuy

Really depends on what the transaction was... if you've forgotten your home insurance renews today and it was being paid for by your Lloydscredit card then you need to be urgently contacting your insurers to make payment not cancelling the card.

Fingerbobs

DullGreyGuy said:

Really depends on what the transaction was... if you've forgotten your home insurance renews today and it was being paid for by your Lloydscredit card then you need to be urgently contacting your insurers to make payment not cancelling the card.

Definitely attempted fraud. I don't recognise the merchant name, and web searches find no references to it. 

DullGreyGuy

What is it? There are frequent posts about "unrecognised transactions" from various travel insurance providers because it goes through as the parent company each year which is nothing like the name of the brands it sells under.

Fingerbobs

While I appreciate people are (presumably) trying to be helpful, I have to say it is rather annoying that the only responses I have had to this question are implying I have made a mistake and that the transaction was legitimate. Nobody has yet answered the actual question.

The merchant name appears to be three random words selected from a word list and concatenated together, and when entered into a search engine together produce no results. I presume this was done so that the fraudster could track whether this was being discussed online, which is why I don't want to divulge the words.

It's possible the alert text message was fake, and there was actually no attempted transaction, but I think this is unlikely as it contains the correct last 4 digits of my card number, and the card is indeed frozen.

Jami74

If this happened to me I would contact the credit card company via the app/number on back of card/website (ie not a number given in the text) and tell them. I don't know if they would supply a different card or do something else but I would want them to know there had been a fraud attempt on my card and provide me with reassurance/new card etc.

Edited to add: if 'the bank' called me about an attempted fraud on my card, I would be very suspicious and hang up without talking to them... and then call the number on the back of the card.

born_again

Fingerbobs said:

While I appreciate people are (presumably) trying to be helpful, I have to say it is rather annoying that the only responses I have had to this question are implying I have made a mistake and that the transaction was legitimate. Nobody has yet answered the actual question.

The merchant name appears to be three random words selected from a word list and concatenated together, and when entered into a search engine together produce no results. I presume this was done so that the fraudster could track whether this was being discussed online, which is why I don't want to divulge the words.

It's possible the alert text message was fake, and there was actually no attempted transaction, but I think this is unlikely as it contains the correct last 4 digits of my card number, and the card is indeed frozen.

As someone who deals with this. It is not a case of implying you have made a mistake. It is trying to check if it could be a genuine recuring transaction that has been forgotten about. Eg, the number if people who claim Amazon Prime, is fraud, as they have forgotten they subscribed to it is amazing 🤷‍♀️
Believe me, it happens a lot & better to cry wolf, than not.

But TBH Lloyds should be telling you that the card will be replaced. That is standard practise when fraud has been confirmed.
So if they have not said so, then ask to get it done.

Fingerbobs

Just to update on this - I didn't take any action initially in case it was just a one-off. But the exact same thing has just happened again, at about 10pm Sunday evening while I was watching the telly, the card in question sitting in a desk drawer in the next room. This time an attempted purchase from "TradeInn" which is a site I'd never previously heard of and have certainly never used. Again the attempt was blocked by the card freeze. 

Immediately reported card as "stolen" (closest option available, even though I still have the physical card) via the App. New card on the way. 

born_again

You really should be contacting them to confirm the transactions as fraud.

surreysaver

Why would you report the card as stolen when that's not the case? It makes you look suspicious. You're reporting a card as stolen after transactions have been made that you haven't made. That's suspicious behaviour.
Just tell them the truth. 

Fingerbobs

surreysaver said:

Why would you report the card as stolen when that's not the case? It makes you look suspicious. You're reporting a card as stolen after transactions have been made that you haven't made. That's suspicious behaviour.
Just tell them the truth. 

There's no option to do that in the app. The only options are "lost" or "stolen". The card details have clearly been "stolen".