Bloody Robbery

[leon]

Hi Guys.

Well bad luck has struck us again, well my wife Alice to be precise.
While checking her credit card balance which was basically debt free, she nearly suffered a heart attack when she was confronted with spending by a third party to the tune of nearly 10,000 dollars.

Yes I kid you not some scum bag has some how got hold of her personal details and racked up this amount on some London based gambling site called Betfair.

We were stunned, and contacted the bank immediately who of coarse canceled the card.but it may be to late.

We are usually so careful, so how do these scum bags do this blatent robbery, just thought i would let it be known, it seems that it matters not how careful one is there are always some people ready to rip you off.

Leon

[manny]

Sorry to hear that Leon
How can someone be so callous and brazen to do such a dispicable act.?
hope you don't end up having to bear the costs for the scumbag and the banks find the bast*** responsible.

best of luck to you & Alice

Manny

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by leon

Hi Guys.

We were stunned, and contacted the bank immediately who of coarse canceled the card.but it may be to late.

Leon

Hi,

Needless to say, you should not have to wind up paying this. Take it to the banking ombudsman if necessary.

Keep us informed if you wish, it is a problem potentially common to us all.

Cheers

[sheeny (Al)]

Leon, mate... I've been through this not long ago:

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ighlight=fraud

Have a look at what I did - I managed to get the bulk of it back. I hope you and Alice can do the same!

Actually re-reading the attached thread doesn't tell you much. I tracked down the credit transfer company that the money was transferred through (the company that made the debit on my account) and advised them I had not authorised the debit and wanted it refunded. Had that not worked, I presumably still had some recourse through my credit union...

Scumbags!

Al.

[telecasterguru (Frank)]

Leon,
Sorry to hear about the theft of your hard earned.
The banks really have to sort this out.
If they provide a service they have to control access. I am just going to go and check my accounts.
I hope every thing works out OK.

Frank

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

That's shocking news Leon.
It's just not fair.

[leon]

Thanks Guys, I have to admit that the bank was very helpful, and it was immediately forwarded to the fraud squad by the bank.

They informed us that they would check it out and if it was a scam that was already operating they would be able to track it down in time, it could take weeks, but it is a good chance that we will not lose out.

It just pisses me off that people do this sort of thing to others.

Thanks for your concern and comments.

leon

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

This is why using a credit card is so dangerous. As an example, you go to a nice restaurant and they swipe your card. Who's to say staff aren't taking note of your card details? All you need is the card no, name, expiry date & safety number. Who's to say that they're not videoing you enter in the pin number etc? Who's to say that they're not making a copy of the magnetic stripe? Who's to say that they're not on selling the card details to these mongrels, so they can make a buck?

Leon - if you didn't give out the card details, then surely someone had to have. I'd be checking where you've used that credit card in the recent past - chances are one of those has on sold your details.

If you are using a credit card online, make sure that the page is secure (it'll show https in the address bar instead of http, and there's usually a pad lock as well).

I hope it all works out for you. Personally, I don't think the bank has a legal chance to stand on to make you pay for it. If they cannot prove that you didn't take adequate steps to protect your card details, then I do not believe that you can legally be held liable. I would strongly advise you to both notify the police, and also to see a lawyer. Good luck.

Dave

[Jen]

oh no Leon hope you get all your money back
And hope they catch the culprits

[manny]

I just got informed by my wife that you can protect yourself from this type of fraud. Apparently you can ask your credit card issuer to flag your card for any irregular transactions,or spending big dollars in places that are not usally frequented by the card holders or not normal spending patterns or an unsally big ticket item is purchased they decline the transaction and have you contact the issuer to verify authenticity .
Apparently it happened to Wanda whilst giving the card a workout buying baby gear clothes prams cots etc etc. As this was not her usall spending pattern they declined her credit.It caused her some embarrasement but mostly thought someone had gained access to her credit card.
phoned the bank they established she was the rightful owner of card and explained that because the spending was erractic and not her normal usage they stopped all transaction as a safety measure.Caused a bit of inconvenience but at least gave her peace of mind should the card be be used fraudulently.
hope this helps someone

Cheers
Manny

[Ric]

I'm really sorry to hear about that Leon. I hope it all works out for you and Alice.

That is the problem with cards these days, everyone want's you to use them for everything but the security is still not there to protect us.

I have a card and for this very reason I keep only a small amount on it. the bank is always sending me letters asking if I would like to increase my credit limit, I just say thanks but no thanks.

[bojan]

Originally Posted by Ric

I have a card and for this very reason I keep only a small amount on it. the bank is always sending me letters asking if I would like to increase my credit limit, I just say thanks but no thanks.

Yep, this is the way.. low limit.

But, as someone said before, it is basically bank's fault.
I just wander how recent pin number usage instead of signature is safe..
Ah, where are the good old days when only cash was considered as an instrument of payment..

[Barrykgerdes]

I Had this happen to me 18 months ago. The card had something like $10000 worth of arline tickets bought in Malaysia. It was discovered the same day and the card was cancelled and the bank gave me a new card.

I went through the transactions with the bank and we listed all the frauds and they were imediately reversed. This is were some trouble started. At the end of the month I got my new statement $30000 in credit (bad luck I could not withdraw it). It eventually got sorted out but I ended up with 30000 loyalty points for all the transactions (worth $200 in vouchers).

I don't know where the fraudsters got the card number because I don't use the card on line or buying anything except at normally reliable outlets.

Barry

[bojan]

Originally Posted by Barrykgerdes

I don't know where the fraudsters got the card number because I don't use the card on line or buying anything except at normally reliable outlets.

Barry

That was where they got the card details.
You need only one crook somewhere, at petrol station or wherever and here you go.
I remember a story (on IIS?) where someone paid for Kodak CCD chip and there in Rochester was this janitor who was checking transactions somehow in his spare time.. There was tens of thousand US$ theft that followed.. Eventually they caught him. But the problem was then, he spend all the money.. and the system that allowed the theft (bank) tried to wash their hands of any responsibility by imposing loads or paperwork required to repay the damage to users of the system (who are paying fees to them)..

[dpastern (Dave Pastern)]

Originally Posted by bojan

That was where they got the card details.
You need only one crook somewhere, at petrol station or wherever and here you go.
I remember a story (on IIS?) where someone paid for Kodak CCD chip and there in Rochester was this janitor who was checking transactions somehow in his spare time.. There was tens of thousand US$ theft that followed.. Eventually they caught him. But the problem was then, he spend all the money.. and the system that allowed the theft (bank) tried to wash their hands of any responsibility by imposing loads or paperwork required to repay the damage to users of the system (who are paying fees to them)..

Yes, this is the issue, and it's something I stated in my earlier post. This is where nearly all credit card details are being leaked.

A small limit is the way to go. The thing that angers me is that these banks have insurance against this type of thing, yet they'd rather screw the customer than help them. There's a reason why Australia is noted as having the worst banking system in the world. Oh, and we have the highest credit card debt in the world too. Very scary.

Dave

[BerrieK]

Aah bugger Leon, sorry to hear about your and Alice's incident. I hope you are able to get it all sorted without too much grief. Rotten dirty cheats they make me angry.

Kerrie

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by bojan

That was where they got the card details.
You need only one crook somewhere, at petrol station or wherever and here you go.
I remember a story (on IIS?) where someone paid for Kodak CCD chip and there in Rochester was this janitor who was checking transactions somehow in his spare time.. There was tens of thousand US$ theft that followed.. Eventually they caught him. But the problem was then, he spend all the money.. and the system that allowed the theft (bank) tried to wash their hands of any responsibility by imposing loads or paperwork required to repay the damage to users of the system (who are paying fees to them)..

What I mean by reliable outlets does not include petrol stations, supermarkets, restruants etc.

Barry

[Spanrz (Brett)]

My cousin apparently got caught as well, up to a $5,000 sum.
Some person in Sweden just made out with $5,000 on his card....The person was probably just hungry for IKEA stuff... Dunno??

Not sure where they got his numbers from, whether it be by electronic bank scams or not.
Of if some bank/database got hacked into?

Worrying.

Originally Posted by bojan

Ah, where are the good old days when only cash was considered as an instrument of payment..

+1
I wish it was that simple anymore, I'm a cash man too.

My father found out the hard way, you can't get along without a credit card in life anymore.
He tried to hire a rental car with just cash. They wouldn't do it unless he had car number.

[TrevorW]

Sorry to hear about this Leon

I make it a habit of

a) keeping my credit card cleared
b) limiting the limit
c) checking my bank accounts daily on line

Banks should be responsible for fraud and online sites should not accept credit cards unless the user can provide all details including three digit code and at least one other security check which can be confirmed by bank

[bloodhound31]

I just paid off my credit card, chopped it up and rang the bank to close it down. I hate credit cards.

Leon, I'm very sorry to hear about bad things happening to good people. I pray you and Alice get this sorted out with the least of fuss mate.

Baz.