Credit Card Scam - Bucharest

SMS61

Hello All,

New to the forums and just wondered if I could get some guidance.

My nephew (28) and a group of his friends went to Bucharest for the weekend. It did involve a lot of alcohol.

On his return, he found that £2700 had been taken from his Monzo card and £270 had been taken from his Santander card. One of his friends lost £900 on his Santander card. They had been in the club and did use their cards to buy drinks but nothing like those sorts of figures.

As soon as he knew he reported it to both companies and Monzo has refunded the £2700 to his account. Santander has declined his claim and that of his friend. They say that he authorised the payment.

When I googled it, this is a known scam in bars in Bucharest especially with groups of young people from other countries who have been drinking.

Does he have any rights to get his money back from Santander? Is the fact Monzo has paid it back relevant to the same type of claim to Santander?

I said I would speak to them and appeal the decision (he has given his consent to them for me to do this) but I would like to check first if he does have any rights.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

born_again

If they are Chip/pin transaction then no. They authorised the payments.

I would expect that Monzo could reverse the refund as well. Once they look deeper into the transactions.

Sadly, the fact that this may be well know, does not mean that the bank should fund someone for not noticing the amount entered when paying.

SMS61

Thanks for letting me know. It wasn't chip and pin but he did have a text on his phone - I suppose that is regarded in the say way as chip and pin.

Is it worth reporting to Action Fraud do you think just from the perspective of another scam in that city?

Jemma01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81939670#Comment_81939670

i would report it, it helps with analysing where and how scammers move about, and merchants that are fraudulent. You might not feel beneficial to you directly, but it would help the overall.

As for the different responses, they all have their own policies. HSBC didn't refund my sister on an Amazon scam because she clicked on a phishing link! In your child's case, it appears that he authorised it, being drunk or not is not relevant to the bank.

Thing is, he might have been so drunk he offered everyone a glass in the club! Who knows!

TadleyBaggie

The misnamed “Action Fraud” is now called Report Fraud:

https://www.reportfraud.police.uk/

SMS61

Thanks to you both for the advice. Very grateful

SMS61

Hello Again,

He has just told me me that the Monzo didn't send and authorisation text - the charge just went straight through. I suspect that is why they did immediately refund his money! I am hoping this means it won't be claimed back from him.

Another of his friends has discovered that he has had £16,000 taken from his card - apparently his card is some sort of International credit card so he may well not have any protections.

I have reported it to Report Fraud so hopefully, with so many examples of the same scam in Bucharest, something may be done.

Thanks again for all of your advice and comments!

eskbanker

Realistically I can't see anything coming from reporting this to an arm of the UK police, if the only connection is that some unwary UK punters may have been fleeced (albeit with little apparent tangible evidence that this actually extends as far as being a criminal matter rather than a civil one) when abroad in an entirely different jurisdiction, a fate which presumably befalls victims from other countries too.