Is it fraud or isn't it...?

ellissa

I received my Halifax CC statement last week and I have to confess I never check them but on this occasion something made me check it. I found 2 transactions totalling over £300 which I had not made. I called Halifax and they said they were made in France and my pin was NOT used. I had been to France in that month but had left 12 days prior to the transactions being made. The only time the CC came out of my purse was when we checked into our hotel and they asked for a swipe for extras. This is standard practice in hotels across the world I believe. The CC was not used at any other time during my trip.

Halifax and myself are guessing that the hotel stole my details. However Halifax are saying that because I handed over the card, it cannot be treated as fraud even though I did not authorise the transaction. AND we are not certain this is when the details were taken it could just be coincidence, someone in this country may have taken them and be spending my money abroad!

This seems very wrong to me. Are Halifax correct???

jonesMUFCforever

No they are not.
You are not responsible for any transaction that you did not authorise.

The swiping of a card as you say is commonplace worldwide in hotels and car rental companies.

What does the narrative of the transactions say?
Ring them back and insist that they take your complaint seriously.

dzug

Are the transactions AT the hotel where you stayed - or elsewhere in France?

At the hotel there is a (very weak) argument that you authorised them - elsewhere it's definitely fraud.

ellissa

dzug wrote: »

Are the transactions AT the hotel where you stayed - or elsewhere in France?

At the hotel there is a (very weak) argument that you authorised them - elsewhere it's definitely fraud.

Nope they are on random french internet sites!

ellissa

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

No they are not.
You are not responsible for any transaction that you did not authorise.

The swiping of a card as you say is commonplace worldwide in hotels and car rental companies.

What does the narrative of the transactions say?
Ring them back and insist that they take your complaint seriously.

It says where the money was spent which is 2 different websites. After much persuasion Halifax closed the acc and re-issued a new CC but will only treat it as a dispute, not fraud. How do I ensure that a) I am not liable for the money b) the money does not accrue interest?

sassybooboos

i recently had a fraud on my debit card barclays account.

some cheeky so and so paid off their credit card and topped uptheir phone twice.

i reported this to the police so i could get crime number then asked barclays for a claim form.

as i believe they have to prove that it was you that did those transactions on your card.

barclays reinbursed all the money within 2 weeks of it going out of my card.

hope this helps

ellissa

sassybooboos wrote: »

i recently had a fraud on my debit card barclays account.

some cheeky so and so paid off their credit card and topped uptheir phone twice.

i reported this to the police so i could get crime number then asked barclays for a claim form.

as i believe they have to prove that it was you that did those transactions on your card.

barclays reinbursed all the money within 2 weeks of it going out of my card.

hope this helps

It certainly does - clearly next time I should use Barclays and not Halifax!

NickX

Very poor service by Halifax.

The onus is on the Banks to prove that the transactions are not fraudulent. They should refund your money.

There does appear to be less support coming from the banks at present if the transactions are "Chip and Pin", but this case seems clearly to be fraudulent usage of your card number.

If necessary report to the police, and demand that Halifax refund the fraudulent transaction. If they are not very helpfull, you can always threaten that you will take the case to the Ombudsman.

Bambywamby

Halifax are totally wrong, of course it's fraud.

PBA

ellissa wrote: »

It says where the money was spent which is 2 different websites. After much persuasion Halifax closed the acc and re-issued a new CC but will only treat it as a dispute, not fraud. How do I ensure that a) I am not liable for the money b) the money does not accrue interest?

Sounds like you're getting the wrong end of the stick. A Visa dispute is the correct thing for them to do, as they'll be getting in touch with Visa to claim the money back from the merchant. It's their internal procedures that mean this is treated as a dispute rather than fraud, but the end result is the same, they're looking in to it and getting the money back for you.

Eydon

ellissa wrote: »

b) the money does not accrue interest?

I seem to recall that once a transaction is officially put into dispute, it isn't used in the calculation of your minimum payment and no interest will accrue on it - but you'd be better to confirm that directly with the Halifax.