My debit card's been eaten!!

[Yorkie]

Well my card's not so much 'eaten' as fallen victim to an attempted fraud!

In another thread on mains droppers, I mentioned a handy looking 30 Watt 1000R rheostat on e-bay from a firm in China, and that I'd attempted to order a couple via paypal, but the order was rejected. I thought nothing more of it and assumed that the problem wasn't with my card, but with the seller or Paypal. Then this morning I rang ESR to order some bits, again using my debit card. Shortly afterwards Steve at ESR (nice chap - very efficient and obliging), rang to say that my transaction had been declined, so with that, I smelt a rat, and hotfooted it to the bank to ask what was going on. The teller input my card details, called the manager over, they had a mutter between them, printed off a letter and said 'here's a copy of what's in the post to you - your card has been blocked by the Fraud Detection Department and you need to ring them right away to discuss your transactions.

I duly rang the Fraud Detection Dept, and they asked me to reel off my last 20 transactions, which I did. They then said 'So you haven't had a £40 top-up on Vodaphone? (No - I'm not a Vodafone customer). 'And you haven't booked a hotel room in America?' (No - I last visited America in 1994 and will never go again unless I'm extradited on some trumped up charge'). And you didn't order £2,468 worth of Jewellery. ('No - I don't wear jewellery and though I love my wife very much, she's not a fan of expensive jewellery either, nor do I have a mistress to support)'.

'Just as we suspected - someone has your card details, so we blocked the two latter transactions, and though the Vodafone one went through, that too will be cancelled'.

Phew, that was a relief!

What impressed me most about this is how on the ball they were to pick this up - what a load of grief I'd have ad if they hadn't and I didn't find out until my account had been drained. Apparently most credit and debit card fraud is for transactions for goods and services where the cardholder isn't present, so no PIN number is needed, and often, that's how I use the card myself. This last week or two online and over the phone I've bought a bandsaw, ordered theatre tickets, booked two hotels, a B&B, Eurostar tickets to Paris, items from the V&A gift shop, several lots of stuff from B&Q, things on E-Bay via paypal, diesel for my car, and so on. The card worked fine up till Saturday, so in just two days, the bank was onto these crooks. I asked what alerted them, and the guy explained that where fraudulent use is attempted, the fraudster first makes a small transaction to see if the card works, and if it does, another slightly larger transaction, the quickly afterwards, a whopper. Even so, I wouldn't have thought that it would cause red lights to flash at the bank, given that I often make large as well as small transaction for a diverse range of goods and services.

The irony of all this is that there will be those who will say 'it's why I never order stuff online, yet most of this fraud, and I suspect that's so in my case, is where you give your details over the phone. They've got your name, date of expiry of the card, the card number, and the three-digit CVV security number on the reverse of the card. That's all they need - no PIN No, no hacking - all very low tech.

It's mucked my day up somewhat - when I learnt of this from ESR I was up to my neck in muck and bullets jet-washing the front drive, so had to down tools and go off on a frolic to the bank. All sorted now - the card is destroyed and a new one will arrive in a couple of days. It won't in any way deter me – the convenience a debit card gives me far outweighs the occasional drama. Rather than concern me about the risk, it's bolstered my confidence in the bank - they haven't had a good press this last few years.

It’s put paid to my ‘water sports’ today, just as I was having fun, acting my shoe size - not my age. (See attached pic taken from the bedroom window - boys will be boys!).

So the jet-wishing will have to continue tomorrow.

Bother said Pooh, when he looked up his name in the dictionary.

[Aerodyne]

Mmm. I had a similar experience last Christmas but one, David. The bank got on to this quickly too, but not before several thousand pounds had gone and the account drained. A new card and all bills cancelled. I never got to know how it was done but it seems likely that it wasn't an internet fraud, more likely someone taking credit card details in a shop or restaurant.
I am rather puzzled, though - don't you use Paypal on Ebay, and if so, how did the fraudsters get your card details? I've always assumed that Paypal didn't divulge such information.
Tony

[Joe]

I assume that David's attempted PayPal purchase was the first which the bank had blocked.

- Joe

[Shaman]

Hi David, so sorry to hear you too have been robbed, i changed my password in a certain Safe site.. The funny thing is i kept getting email,s titled "you have changed your, Email with this account, i have a certain prog to protect against keyloggers, not fool proof may i add, but its used by banks so its as good as i am going to get. Never put your bank, card details on a computer, they can i understand access your hardrive, to recover items stored there. Also have you used your card at a cashpoint, some have extra cameras and card readers installed over the top and keyboard of the ATM, this happened near me at the Co-op, it was found out and the person was caught. and as Al said some Resteraunts etc have extra card readers for this purpose, its getting very hard not to get robbed blind via the internet or shop or ATM....Regards.....Alan.

[Andrewausfa]

I never got to know how it was done but it seems likely that it wasn't an internet fraud, more likely someone taking credit card details in a shop or restaurant.

Or a fraudulent employee at a credit card clearing bank.

Andrew

[pwdrive]

I don't have any plastic at all, but that's not to say you can't lose money, years go I lost virtually all the money I had to a one legged Vietnam Vet. in a card game on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic, but that's another story....

Lawrence.

[Andrewausfa]

I never got to know how it was done but it seems likely that it wasn't an internet fraud, more likely someone taking credit card details in a shop or restaurant.

Or a fraudulent employee at a credit card clearing bank.

Andrew

PS Sorry David, I forgot to add I have the badge, so I know how annoying this is.

[Yorkie]

As Joe says, the attempted paypal transaction was the first one that the bank stopped. I guess I'd have received a letter from the Fraud Team yesterday, except it's a Bank Holiday, so there was no post. I mentioned it to my younger son this eveninig and he told me coincidentally, that the same thing happened to him last week. The HSBC Fraud Team rang him to say that someone had attempted to make a purchase and had input the wrong 'Secure Code - Verified by Visa' number which alerted the bank. The rang him at work on his mobile to ask if it was he who had tried to make the transaction and when he said no, they cancelled his card and sent him another.

No-one has lost out in my case - not me, not the bank, not the firms involved, apart from he only transaction that went through - the £40 Vodaphone top-up which the bank will stand. The hotel and jewellery transactions were denied by the bank. The loser in this case is the fraudster, which is as it should be, but they'll keep at it no doubt.

[Andrewausfa]

Mine was 12k on a card balance transfer. The banks fraud people rang me two days after it popped up in their system so they said but I was on holiday. Why they accepted someone walking into a bank in Yorkshire pretending to be me and processed the transfer in the first place I'll never know. But I do know how the details of my card got into his hands.

Andrew

[ed731pdh]

Be aware that you don't have to use your card to be subject to fraud. One method is to obtain a block of sequential number and try each number set on a one by one basis until one pays up. That's a live card so will be done again and so on. Skimming is very rare, getting your number via obtaining a large bundle of numbers is very common.