Help! A fraudster's got my bank details!

[BasilRathbon]

I’ve just spent rather a fraught hour or so dealing with my bank both in person and over the phone, as it appears my account has been hacked into. I’m posting this partly as a warning but also to ask if anyone else has had something similar happen to them and hwo best to deal with it.

 

Essentially, somebody from my bank (the Abbey National) left me a message this morning saying that there were some suspicious transactions on my card and would I call back on a certain number to go through them. Now I wasn’t daft enough to call that number direct; instead I called the Abbey National security number and got put through to the relevant department. It turns out that, as well as some genuine transactions, there’ve been some done over the phone and on websites I’ve never visited that are definitely not mine. These are relatively small, ranging from £5.00 to £70.00 and have been for – amongst other things – phone cards, Tesco and some Italian train tickets. In total they add up to about £400.

 

I’ve now had my card stopped and they’re sending a new one out; though I’ve withdrawn some cash to tide me over till then. A few questions spring to mind though;

 

1. How easy will it be to get the fraudulent withdrawls refunded? The bank says it’ll be no problem, but how can they differentiate between a geunine and fraudulent debit just on my say-so? Will I have to prove I haven’t been on the websites used?

 

2. As the card has been stopped, does it mean that when I get the new one I’ll have to set up all my payments/ direct debits and standing orders from scratch?

 

3. Having been hacked once; how likely is it that it’ll happen to you again? If I don’t know how they got my details (though Paypal seems the likeliest way) how can I prevent the same thing happening again when I get my new card?

 

Any assistance would be appreciated, particularly if something similar has happened to you.

[SimpyTimpy]

Hi BasilRathbon,

Sorry to hear about your troubles and I hope I can help a littl at least with my answers to your questions.

 

1. I assume (so don't take this as fact) that the Bank is likely to listen to your 'say-so', the majority of people in your situation will tell the truth, and unless the transaction is large (£250 or more), then they are very unlikely to ask you for evidence, I mean, afterall how can you prove you didn't do something? They wont be able to check if you'd been on a said website, instead they'll ask the website about where they sent the products ordered.

 

2. If you card is replaced, then the only thing that changes is the Card Number, Cvv2 number and if requested, your pin number. Direct debits are set up with your bank account and not your Credit/Debit card, so all Direct Debits and Standing Orders WONT be affected.

 

3. If you've been hacked once then you're more likely to take precautions. No-one can guarantee to you that it wont happen again, but take extra care with any documents and information that lists secure info of yours. For example, make sure you dispose of Bank Statements very carefuly, you can get alot of information off those.

 

Unless all the fraudulent transactions were done through Paypal, then it seems thats an unlikely place that they got your details. Paypal wont give out the credit card number you added in whole, it'll show the last 4 digits and possibly your start and expiry date.

 

---

 

One likely place where it might have been stolen is from a virus on your computer. Many people think that viruses are simply there to corrupt data but forget that Spyware can be coded to send all your keyboard actions and screen shots to a foreign computer. For example, if you use your CC or Debit Card online, if I install Spyware on your computer then I can find out your CC info. Simple as that.

 

----

 

Precations:

 

- Install a good spyware program on your computer, the Computer Technical Chat on Sheffield Forum has a host of good software to use. Consider AVG Free as a free anti-virus for your computer to.

 

- Make sure you dispose of all personal information extremely carefully. This time they used your card, next time they could use your identity.

 

- Relax comfortably in the knowledge that your bank will sort it. They're normally considered evil for their bank charges etc, but in this circumstance even they seem like little angels.

 

Good luck,

 

Simon

[BasilRathbon]

Many thanks, SimpyTimpy for a very informative and helpful post. Sadly there's not a lot I can do about spyware as the computer I use is my work one, which obviously I'm not allowed to put my own software on without clearance from IT.

 

That said, I've also used the card to buy a phone and CDs from HMV and Virgin in the last couple of days, so who's to say the details weren't pinched by some dodgy shop employee?

[Alex C.]

Ignore this sentence, its irrelevant

 

The banks won't have any problems covering you for the fraudulent transactions, they have to under (I think) the banking code

 

edit: as SimplyTimpy said, one of the most important precautions to take is shredding and disposing of all personal information correctly. Identity theft is where it gets a bit more tricky and can be a lot more difficult to even find out about

[Meaks]

They will probably send you a list of transactions and ask you to mark which ones were not made by you.

[johnbradley]

yesh i reckon you will get the cash back too.

 

just had someone in the shop who got stung for 1500 quids worth, couple of phone calls to the bank and was all sorted, new card and a full refund -

[BasilRathbon]

Would you believe it - it's happened again!

 

I was in Tesco's last night and found that I couldn't use my debit card to pay for my shopping nor withdraw cash. When I got home there was a letter from the bank asking me to call their fraud department and saying that an "indicator" had been placed on the card, preventing anyone (including me) from using it.

 

Weirdly however, this time the suspicious transactions are not suspicious at all; they're ones done by me for train tickets online at the Megatrain and Trainline websites, each for less than a fiver! There have been no unauthorised debits from my account at all, to the best of my knowledge. All the same, the bank has decided the best course of action is to cancel the card and send me a new one, which I've got to wait 5 working days for.

 

I've been into the bank today and have decided to set up a new credit card account just for online purchases, as it appears it's just not safe any more to use a debit card online.

[Karis]

Basil, just happened to me. They took almost 9 grand off my credit card and even changed the address on the statements so I wouldn't see the money going out!

 

My advice: make sure you get a secure password on your account. Flag up to the bank that they should keep a note of all unusual transactions / spending (this should happen as standard, but doesn't with some banks).

 

Overall, you should get all your cash back. If they think your account has been compromised, they'll give you another.

 

The amount of fraud about is alarming. Really, it's far scarier than the threat of swine flu

[BasilRathbon]

Basil, just happened to me. They took almost 9 grand off my credit card and even changed the address on the statements so I wouldn't see the money going out!

 

My advice: make sure you get a secure password on your account. Flag up to the bank that they should keep a note of all unusual transactions / spending (this should happen as standard, but doesn't with some banks).

 

Overall, you should get all your cash back. If they think your account has been compromised, they'll give you another.

 

The amount of fraud about is alarming. Really, it's far scarier than the threat of swine flu

 

 

Thanks for that but I may be confusing you; this time it appears nothing has been taken from the account, the bank simply got suspicious about a couple of online transactions that were genuine and overreacted. Better that than them not keeping an eye on any suspicious transactions though I suppose.

 

The original post and the rther alarmist thread title date from 2007 but it seemed better to resurrect this thread rather than start a new one.

[hennypenny]

It is good that the banks are aware, but it can be annoying when they stop the card and it is a genuine transaction. My son went to America on holiday, and informed his bank in advance, but that still didn't stop them from cancelling his card when he paid for his first couple of nights stay there, which was very awkward as he had the rest of his holiday to go with no immediate access to cash :/