h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I always thought identity theft/cloned cards was something that happened to other people. Then I opened my bank statement today and found that my account had been stripped. I'd gone from a healthy balance to almost overdrawn. I phoned my bank immediately and they stopped my debit card. I'll be going to my branch to fill in a fraud claim form, which I was told is the quickest way to get the money back.

I'd like to buy myself something to cheer myself up, but my card has been stopped and I've got about £5 in cash. I was planning to buy a laptop, but that will have to wait. It feels like my only option is to drown my sorrows in tea (possibly with a generous helping of rum).

hi
-
inbetween waiting for messages, i tend to go lurking, and looked on the online, and thought ah cheerfull dragon, sounds happy, but then came on the thread.
-
being 60, i have nothing above the debit accounts in my bank, so they wont even bother with me.
-
at least you will in time get it back, a friend i know had the same, but no insurance, and as she couldnt find the oin card, it was her word aginst theirs, she is a goth, no im not, more a stick in the mud lol.
-
it was the old seteotypeing, but they picked the wrong one, her father is a solicitor.
-
good luck on getting the laptop
-
may or may not help for now, but i think aol are giving custermers a free laptop on siging up,
-
i dotnt have a laptop, pc only a lowly digi at home.take care, hope it works out.
-
h2g2 member for over 5 yrs, all info on my space jim, unofficial lurker(and bad speller)l lol

Hello, Jim. Thanks for stopping by. I'm usually quite cheerful, although I am also a member of P.U.D.D.I.N.G., so that means I have been known to grump from time to time.

By curious coincidence, I'd just read a copy of Reader's Digest which included an article about how unsafe debit cards are. I looked at the advice they gave - don't let anybody know your PIN, don't let anybody walk off with your card, be wary of ATMs, be careful online - and nodded. It's all stuff I knew and all stuff I did. I still managed to get caught and I don't know how. When I spoke to the woman at the bank she said that there'd been a spate of these, which had pushed the turnaround time for the fraud department from 7 days to 14. If the bank has had a spate of frauds, it makes me wonder if the problem's at the bank. In which case, there's nothing I could have done.

hi c dragon
-
i dont have credit cards i never have, just a pin card to get pennies(when i have them lol).
-
with a pin card you have to be carefull of the money drop,
-
you put your card in, someone watches the number being added, then another drops a coin on the floor, the older people will automatically bend down to get it, then the one behind will eject the card and be gone by the time the person as picked the £1 up, then by the time the card doesnt come out, they think, its gone through the slot into the bank or just stuck.
-
in an area thats high crime, they just run past and grab the money or the card.
-
as you probably know, now any card can be cloned, i saw on tv the box cost about $50, its from the usa i think.
-
take care and watch where and when you use a card, safety in numbers isnt the way to go lol.
-
take care jim x

hi
-
you just dropped off the radar lol
-
did you get the bank to sort the problem and get the pennies back jim

I was told it would take about 14 days. I don't know if that was working days or 2 weeks, but that was on 10th June. I've been given a phone number for the fraud department's customer services. I'll check with them on Monday or Tuesday, just to see what's going on.

Because of the who stripped my bank account the direct debit for my council tax was refused. I got a letter from the bank saying I had to pay £35 for the refused transaction, and a complaint from the council for the same reason. I got the bank to drop the charge because the refusal wasn't my fault. I'll have to deal with the council on Monday.

hi
-
go to the bank first, the amount they say can be refunded, as it wasnt your fault, you want a one to one with someone, not at the counter.
-
the council you will have to sort, till you get the money back
-
ive had a problem myself, when i had enough to cover the payments and one of the debits was raised without warning.
-
as long as you have a valid reason for not having the money in the bank, they shouldnt penalise you. jim xx

According to the rules, I should get all my money back. The most the bank can 'deduct' is £50 (presumably to cover costs), provided that I haven't been negligent or involved in fraudulent activities. Neither applies, so I should get it all back.

hi
-
the £35 for not having the money in, because of the fraud, they have to put back, if not they are making out you deliberatly didnt have the amounts in the bank to cover the debits.
-
you should be able to go to the bank on monday, and get the extra taken after the fraud by them, returned sraight away, it was because the money, that was stolen was in the bank, overdrawn penilties was occured.
-
jim xx

I've already phoned the bank. The bank charge letters are sent out automatically, with no reference to a customer's circumstances. They were only too happy to refund the charged money. That's already dealt with. Now I'm just waiting to get my own money back. That's where I *may* incur a £50 charge, but that's not certain.

hi wasnt it on tv the other day, about the charging for stolen or removed money is not allowed.
-
its like blaming you for theft,
-
if they do take £50 or anything from you, i would consult a solicitor or the c, advice, b.
-
in my case there isnt anything in the bank to take, for long, and my pin card is always in plain site, in the wallet lol.
-
jim xx

According to an article in the April 2008 issue of Reader's Digest: "Under the Banking Code, if somebody uses your debit card, even before you have reported it lost or stolen, the most you will have to pay is £50 - provided you haven't acted fraudulently or negligently."

My card wasn't lost or stolen, somebody just managed to get hold of the details and use them abroad where they don't have 'chip and pin' technology. So, in theory, I shouldn't have to pay anything. I'm just mentally preparing myself for the fact that I might. I know what banks are like. Mind you, if my bank has had a spate of these frauds, it suggests there's something wrong at their end and they should be compensating customers, not the other way round.

hi
-
you are 100% right.
-
you have seen the spoof bank advert, the hook and charging abroad, the banks dont need them, they still get you if anything goes wrong.
-
for paperwork that cost nearly nothing they charge over £20,
-
overdraughts £35. an extra bank statement cost you with most banks, ive even heard some banks charge if you want to cash in say, a bottle of pennies or and coins, becaus it takes time to count it lol.
-
the other day my bank had a couple of asians came in with loads of notes, coins and so on, had to be thousands at least.
-
only two tellers on, did she call another to take over, no way, we ended up with over 30 waiting, till the other came back from dinner. lol, mine is yorkshire bank. jim xx

Reminds me of the days before post offices had a single queue, with people going to tellers as they become available, and before shops sold stamps. I'd be waiting in the queue for a particuar teller and I'd only want to buy stamps. There would be a elderly lady (it was always an elderly lady) in front of me whose transaction would take forever (paying off the Third World debt in pennies, it felt like). She'd finish her business and I'd get to the counter and do mine before she'd finished putting her purse / pension book / whatever away. At that point she'd say, "If I'd known that was all you wanted, I'd have let you go in front of me." It says a lot for my self-control that Elstree post office wasn't littered with deceased elderly ladies.

hi lol
-
noadays its asians that cant use the oin thing or cant understand enough english to do a transaction, so you stand there waiting, while she, its always a she, as either be pigeoned english through it, or someome that can speak the language is brought from the line or back office.
-
the best are the ones that cant use the atm,s,and wont give in, if its fine, you dont do a thing, but when raining, someone gets mad or speaks out, and it best to just go find another, nowadays there are loads, in bradford there is over 30 in a square mile lol,they should rename it atm town lol jim xx

opss, that should be "pin thing"
-
im on a digibox with a remote k.board, on the edge of the sofa lol jim xx

The story continues.

I phoned the Fraud Department's Customer Service number this afternoon. First they couldn't find an account with my sort code and account number. When they did find the claim for my account, I was told it was scheduled to be investigated today - nearly 2 weeks after I reported the fraud. They'll investigate and post a form for me to sign and return. That should happen today or tomorrow. Some investigation!

Assuming the form goes out first class, I'll get it on Wednesday - if I'm lucky. Even if I return it the same day, it will be Thursday before they get it back, and probably Friday before I get my money back. That's 2.5 weeks from the time I reported the fraud.

I've just had a call from the the bank's Fraud department. (I only caught the call because I'd gone inside to put some clean stuff away.) The transactions weren't done with a cloned debit card. They were done via 'Secure' Online Banking. Somebody had managed to access my online profile, change my registered email address and change my password. If it's that easy to change somebody's 'Secure Online Banking' profile, it doesn't strike me as very secure. The email adress has now been changed and I've been given a new password.

I'm wondering if I can un-register from the online banking service. If I'm going to get this kind of problem then (a) it's not very secure and (b) it's not worth the hassle.

Oh, and the form is going in the post today. When I receive it, I have to mark all the fraudulent transactions, sign it and return it. It will then be about another week (yes, 1 week) before I get the money back. So that will make over three weeks between report and re-imbursement.

hi
-
oh dear, its my turn to have a slight problem
-
i had to use my pin card to check the amount i have in the bank, so i cover the directs from now to 27th. and the ruddy atm damaged my card lol
-
took a pice off the leading corner, so ive had to have it cancelled, and wait for another, that should be hear for friday.
-
if not, i wont be able to get anything out, that goes in for last thing fridy, on saturday, the bank isnt open, and the only way to get anything from the account, is by a chequebook.
-
so if i dont get the new one for saturday, it will be monday till i can get anything, so my weekend to the cybershop will be in doubt. lol
-
when they checked the atm inside(i was outside my own bank to use the atm) they found a piece of meatal have been dilibratly pushed into the edge of the slot, some disgruntled person i supose lol jim xx

hi
-
hope you are winning with the bank and so on
-
i got the new pincard this morning, so i can get my pesion out on saturday, or even friday if its there, i hate end of the months, its all payout ggrr lol jim xx