Stolen Debit Card

Teapot55

A friend (not the same person I posted about last year) has had his debit card stolen at least twice. The thieves are using the card details (not the PIN) to set up accounts with JustEat, Amazon, Apple etc

Our friend reports the thefts to his bank and in each case has had the money refunded to his account but what practical measures can he take to avoid this recurring? Moving away from a bad area would be ideal of course but not happening soon. 

Brie

Well he could stop having a debit card presumably.  Can he have something on his phone instead so harder to steal?

swingaloo

Stop the cards, get a new one and look after it better. You say 'at least' twice, how many times has it actually happened. 
I would have thought that after the first time your friend would have taken measures to prevent it happening again.  The bank will not continue refunding his money if he continues being careless with his card.

danco

I have several debit cards that I don't use and have frozen them all. Might that help? Of course he would have to unfreeze the card if he wanted to use it and then refreeze it, which might be too much of a hassle.

GeoffTF

He can set up an account with only a limited amount of money in it, use the debit card attached to it for every day spending, and keep any other cards well hidden away. I would not use a mobile phone to make payments. If he carries a mobile phone, keep it well hidden away.

elsien

Where is he having it stolen from? 

Just needs to be more careful where he keeps his card and who he lets anywhere near it.

Teapot55

Brie said:

Well he could stop having a debit card presumably.  Can he have something on his phone instead so harder to steal?

Unfortunately he doesn’t have a smart phone. 

Teapot55

GeoffTF said:

He can set up an account with only a limited amount of money in it, use the debit card attached to it for every day spending, and keep any other cards well hidden away. I would not use a mobile phone to make payments. If he carries a mobile phone, keep it well hidden away.

That’s a good idea about the limited amount of money. Thanks. I’ll suggest that to him. 

PixelPound

Are the thieves known to your friend? Having a card stolen once is bad, having it stolen "at least twice" is surely a red flag. Do they live in a shared house and leaving the card laying around. Frequenting places where it's at risk?

Use a card that has no number on it and with a bank that has no overdraft and rejects any payments where there are not enough funds on. 

Olinda99

from what you say the debit card is being used to set up accounts online - in other words not being used for spending at shops etc

one thing your friend can do is scratch off the CVV on the back of the card having made a note of it of course should they need it

going even further scratch off the last four or last eight digits of the long debit card number again having made a note of them should they wish to use it themselves 

finally use a bank that allows you to turn off contactless

PixelPound

Olinda99 said:

from what you say the debit card is being used to set up accounts online - in other words not being used for spending at shops etc

one thing your friend can do is scratch off the CVV on the back of the card having made a note of it of course should they need it

going even further scratch off the last four or last eight digits of the long debit card number again having made a note of them should they wish to use it themselves 

finally use a bank that allows you to turn off contactless

Chase has no numbers on but a lot of the main banks, e.g. Barclays HSBC now have cards that are not embossed, so scratching off the numbers should work