General / Off-Topic Terrestrial thieves.

[Surfinjo]

Seems some nefarious earthlings have decided to copy the rogues of Elite and take things that don't belong to them. (Who'd a thunk it!)

Anyway, some cash has been lifted from my bank account over someone's smart phone, to pay a bill in the USA.

It seem I recently made a purchase from a large mail-order company, here in the UK. They seem to have been using some temp staff over the Xmas period, one of whom apparently managed to copy down my bank debit card details.

I should add that these details are not confirmed, but would fit the usual pattern.

I'm not sure how much I've lost but the bank has stopped my account for the time being while they deal with this. They say there is a lot of this going on right now.

I normally only ever use a PAYG card for all my transactions, especially online and over the telephone. This time I foolishly grabbed the wrong card and was too lazy to get the right one.

So, passing on to other.

Be careful out there. Get a PAYG card for online and telephone and use it.

 

[Porina]

Hope you get it sorted out quickly. I had this happen before on a credit card, and they managed to block it before I was even aware anything had happened. But now I have the annoyance that sometimes when I use my credit card online, it gets blocked by the anti-fraud checks and I have to verify the transaction separately (usually by automated text on phone). It is a tough balancing act for the card provider, to determine and block possible fraud without blocking what I really want to do, especially as I do spend a bit overseas which is more likely to trigger warnings.

Also note with a credit card you get more protection than with a debit cards. Assume pre-load cards are also not counted as credit cards therefore also wont have that extra protection. Of course you should check the small print as to what this covers, or doesn't.

As a side note, my day job involves occasional visits to call centres. At least for the ones I've visited, they all have no-personal phone policies in the call centre to help prevent the capture of personal information. Many even have no pen-paper policies for the same reason. Of course, even if there is such a policy, someone intent on breaking the rules will find some way to get around it.

 

[Surfinjo]

I think it's getting sorted OK. The Bank have been astonishingly helpful in that they have blocked my account and it doesn't look like I will get any access before next week!

I didn't check that PAYG cards are available outside the UK. I know you're in France so not sure at all. For any who can get one they really are a lot safer.

Still, thought it is an opportune time to remind others to keep any eye on their statements.