Unexplained transactions on my Halifax Credit Card

damker7

I have a Halifax Credit Card used solely for the purposes of balance transfers.  I've had it since 2022. 

I've never used it to purchase anything nor has it ever been linked to any online account or app.

It is not a shared card.  I keep it in my wallet.

On Tue 7 Oct, a £10 transaction came out, appearing to go to "AMAZON", further details within the Halifax banking app state the Business Type as "Misc and speciality retail stores" and "AMZN Digital" is also recorded.

On Wed 8 Oct, the same thing happened.  A £10 transaction as per details above.

I discovered this on Sat 11 Oct and put a 'full freeze' on my card to prevent further transactions.

Halifax have a 24/7 messaging facility within the banking app operated by a 'virtual assistant' (VA).  I provide details on these transactions, and the VA directs me to calling Halifax.  I can't given the time of the night.

A day later, I use the 24/7 messaging facility again in an attempt to speak to a real person as I unable to get through to the fraud team.  I get through to a real person (lets call them Halifax Person 1 or HP1) and confirm my details.  HP1 asks me if I recognise the merchant to which I say 'yes, as it appears to be Amazon, however this card has never been added to my Amazon account or any account for that matter, and that I do not recognise the transactions.'  I then answer what I imagine are the default 'go to' security questions for Halifax to rule out things. 

I reiterate that no one has my credit card but me, no one has the details but me, it's stored in my wallet, I've not signed up for subscriptions, etc, etc.

HP1 confirms they've sent a request to Amazon to prevent any more payments to them and that the block will be in place for 13 months. HP1 then asks me to "contact Amazon to permanently cancel the continuous payment authority as the agreement is with the merchant and not the bank."  

The person is then instantly replaced by the VA who starts the whole chat over again with the usual questions as if I've just started a new chat.  VERY FRUSTRATING.  

I then request to speak to a real person again and get "We'll reply to your message as soon as possible (usually within 30 minutes".  "You can close the app while you wait.  Just make sure you have device notifications on, etc....."

I get a message from another person (let's call them Halifax person 2 or HP2).  HP2 asks me to confirm the last four digits of my credit card, they ask if I recognise the 2 transactions.  I ask if HP2 can see the original messages above with HP1.

They reply "Rest assured, we are here to assist you and will ensure your query is resolved during this chat.  However, to investigate further, we'll need to ask you a few more questions."

HP2 asks if I want them to block this merchant from taking future payments.  I respond by saying I believe this process has already been started by HP1 and that I want the money returned to my account and that I want to lodge a complaint.

The next reply 3 hours later is from another new person (Halifax Person 3).  They state they are from the Fraud Credit Complaints team and are reviewing the previous chat and want to know the reason for my complaint.  I provide all the same details all over again.

The next response is 3 hours after HP3, and comes from Halifax Person 4 introducing themselves. This is 10.30pm at night and the app didn't send me a notification so I don't see it until the next morning.

Their response is:

"We can raise a fraud claim for you today.  Please be aware I'll need to cancel your card and order a replacement.  Raising a fraud claim will mean you'll lose your rights to raise this as a dispute.

If the merchant comes back and provides evidence that payment was not made fraudulently then the amount will re-debit and we'll ask you to contact the merchant directly to resolve.

Are you happy for me to cancel your card and raise a fraud claim?"

Again as I don't see this until the next morning, the above message has a follow up message from HP4 at 3.40am telling me as they haven't had a reply from me in some time, to reply with the message with the information requested.  The chat is ended by a Chat bot telling me I can start a new chat any time.

I respond confirming to proceed with the fraud claim and cancelling the card and sending me a replacement.  No response comes back just the VA looking to initiate a new chat.

I call the fraud team from an option within the app (that must highlight to the person taking my call who I am), on Monday 20 October literally minutes before the server outage that affected many companies globally.  They ask me to call back as their system goes down live during the phone call.

Can anyone shed some light as to how these payments could have been taken?  I was at a music concert on Sunday 5 October followed by another concert on Monday 6 October.  Is it far fetched to believe my details could have been picked up by standing in close proximity to someone with a device made to collect details?  This is the only thing I can think of, as my card is not lost or stolen, no one else has access to it (i.e. not a shared card), I've never used it to purchase anything and just keep it in my wallet.

The other thing that is frustrating me, was the request from Halifax for me to contact Amazon to cancel reoccurring payments.  This card is not linked to my Amazon account, it's never been added as a payment card, how do you even broach this with Amazon when the card isn't even a payment option within my account and those transactions do not appear in my account.  I have an Amazon prime subscription for £8.99 per month paid by my joint bank account with my wife with a different bank.

damker7

To follow up as I forgot to mention it above, I've just received my statement for the month, so I'll probably end up having to pay that money into the account to clear the balance.  I'm just thankful it's only £20 in total but it's the principle of the whole thing and how this has happened that is really getting to me.

damker7

These images do not include personal details but is a screenshot of the transactions:

damker7

Is it unusual for Transaction Type to be "Not Available"?  Is it even Amazon?  Surely you'd need the 3 digit security code?

Jackie1813

Amazon digital is usually a charge for Video or kindle unlimited.

born_again

Anyone else in the household have a Amazon account that you may have used your card to pay for something with?
As Amazon will default to another card if main one has expired & not updated.

You really need to speak to Amazon & check your account with them.

lr1277

born_again said:

Anyone else in the household have a Amazon account that you may have used your card to pay for something with?
As Amazon will default to another card if main one has expired & not updated.

You really need to speak to Amazon & check your account with them.

This to me raises a point. Do you actually have an account with Amazon?

If not, I think the mistake was made when you were asked if you recognise this retailer. By replying Yes, you told Halifax that you had an account with Amazon and you have ordered things from them in the past.

If you have never ordered anything from Amazon (or its associated companies), then you should have said No.

I realise most people know who Amazon are, but that does not mean they have ordered anything from Amazon or are a customer of Amazon in some way.

That is why Halifax are pursuing the rejection line instead of the fraud line.

If this is the case, I would agree with any statement that the question was poorly worded.

Boohoo

damker7 said:

These images do not include personal details but is a screenshot of the transactions:

AMZN digital means digital games and software, Prime video and Digital/E gift cards according to Google.

As the OP says the card isn't linked to Amazon further investigation is needed.

Grumpy_chap

Could the OP have made purchases at the concerts they attended which are a pop up store using an Amazon store behind the scenes?

Nasqueron

If you are certain it's not you spending or a subscription on an account linked to your card, call 159 any time, day or night, and you get through to the fraud team at the relevant bank who are 24/7