Credit Card Fraud

[SteveT]

Atila the gooner wrote:Barclays in my experience are rubbish at most things.

That is where we part company atila, Barclays are brilliant at charging for absolutely everything, for making it as difficult as possible to get your own money out of their clutches, and for trying to get hold of anyone of value to discuss your account problems.

[spadetownboy]

only one way to get around it, have two cards. I have a switch/maestro for my current account and very rarely use it. i actually use a solo card for any transactions basically transferring cash onto the solo account, so that if the card is ever cloned theres only ever ?100-200 on it anyway

[Ladygooner]

Pleased to report that Barclays refunded me after two weeks. Must make sure I choose more carefully where I fill up with petrol...............

[louisiana]

I don't buy petrol or buy using debit card on the interweb or use internet banking (I use telephone banking), and my debit card has never been compromised in 20 years.

My company credit card was one of thousands compromised in the last Fasthosts debacle (thousands of customer details stolen) - HSBC rang to tell me before any loss occurred (they were clearly working their way through a list of hundreds of their own customers), then I had to get my card cancelled and another reissued, which was a pain as I was travelling at the time.

It makes sense not to store CC details on websites: if it's a large organisation, they'll have good defences and data protection but will be a major target for worldwide thieves 24/7. If they're small, their security and data protection may not be sufficient.

[Jeremy]

jumpinjackflash - I called the ED police station a while ago regarding this exact issue, and they simply were not interested.

I've always bought petrol with cash since, whenever possible.

[scotslass]

Someone took ?1,500 out on my cards - Eurostar to Paris, trip on the London Eye for 4, shopping spree in Mango all within 48 hours. Fortunatly I was living in Alaska at the time and FirstDirect knew this, so when I called in a panic they were really helpful and I was fully refunded within a week

[scotslass]

How typical is that. I am the last one to post and last night my card was declined in Sainsburys. Phoned First Direct to be told that I am actually having a holiday in Germany this week!! Cards now stopped and no cash for 7 days - quiet weekend for me then:'(

[SeanMacGabhann]

if you are with first direct I can't advise strongly enough the text service - getting daily updates really helps you keep an eye on any dodgy activity

[lozzyloz]

Scotslass, any ideas where your CC details were taken?

FD are generally very good although I noticed that last month they'd actually tried to defraud me on my CC statement.

I'd paid of the balance in full before the final date, yet a charge for interest appeared on the following statement. When I called to query it they said that there was a computer error and they were looking into it. Strange I thought. If I hadn't checked my statement I would've just paid the new balance and heard nothing from FD?!

If you use FD Visa I'd recommend you check your last statement.

[Keef]

A friend of mine had his card cloned this week, and he doesn't tend to use switch, just cash machines... He does use petrol stations in ED mind.

[scotslass]

Will get on and check the Visa as well.

Don't know how they cloned the card - got told they had used a card to withdraw cash in Germany!! Only ever seem to use it in Sainsburys or Somerfield so completely baffled how they managed it.

On another side to this, when I spoke to FD last night they put me on hold to go through to their Fraud Dept and ended up talking to someone in India. Found this out when I started asking questions that she didn't have answers too and got told 'Madam if you listen to me I am telling you the information'!! My response "but the information is not related to my question" (6)

[mlteenie]

Call me a little slow, but how exactly do the scum get your details in the petrol staion? I thought they neeed your card for half an hour or so, or is it as simple as retrieving the information swiped through. And doesn't the PIN factor make things more difficult?

[Keef]

If it's a cash machine, they can actually put a cloner in front of the card slot, so you're running your card right through it. Apparently some of the petrol stations have had cameras rigged above the counter to pick up people's PINs.

[Asset]

mlteenie - you're a little slow.

[Pickle]

My card was cloned at a certain ED petrol station a while back, and then used for a spending spree in Egypt. Thankfully RBS noticed before I did, and the money was refunded immediately. Needless to say that petrol station no longer receives our patronage, unless we're totally desperate and have cash!

[lorraineliyanage]

Barclays were quick at investigating and refunding the cash from fraudulent activity on my account, about a week I think.

Citibank, however, were useless and never refunded anything :(

[bean_and_legumes]

Got a phone call from my Natwest bank the other day (they had to try twice because i thought it was a scam) to ask whether i had been using my card in United Arab Emirates.... which i hadnt been. Luckily, the criminal in question was declined twice from using the card, which is lucky. My card was canceled and i received a new one the next day.

Natwest are brilliant with some things it seems!

Anyway... ive never been to the Texaco garage...but it worries me that if this place is culpable then why is nobody aware/its shut down? seems all very casual to me.

[Quaywe]

OK folks here's the real deal: Banks cancel cards (even while you're on holiday!) to protect themselves and merchants, not you. You're not responsible for the fraud, which is why you always get your money back (eventually). The banks are responsible for wearing the debt temporarily and eventually the merchant that authorised the fraudulent transaction will wear the cost.

If the merchant (i.e. petrol station) wants to stop this kind of crap happening they will make sure their infrastructure is secure and they don't have dodgy employees swapping out their POS kit for modified versions that skim cards. They'll also make sure their CCTV camera's don't point at the POS device so PIN details can't be captured by the employees with access to the CCTV kit.

The police don't want to know about it because it would be a big waste of resource for something that would return them little reward. These operations are international and it would take massive cross-border cooperation to yield any sort of reward. The bottom line is that the merchants needs to get their houses in order, or they will end up paying the bill. Not the bank, and most importantly not you. I agree that the banks should refund your money to your account more quickly, as in most cases it will certainly not be your fault, however that's the only real issue for the consumer here.