General Chat

Went out about 11:00am and withdrew £40 from cash machine at local post office, used cash to do a bit of shopping, got back home about an hour later.

No sooner home when I get a text message from my bank asking me to confirm several transactions, needless to say none were made by me. So I am not a happy bunny at the moment, the bank has cancelled my card and sending me a new one, but at my age I can well do without this hassle and stress.

I am very security conscious, never let my card out of my site, never disclose my pin, never give details over the phone, and never buy anything from dodgy sites, never click on links etc, so cannot understand how they got my card details :-S

Our card was cloned at a garage and luckily odd transactions were picked up by the bank too.

The false fronts on cash machines can be very deceptive and have fooled even the most savvy users.

Glad you have not lost out financially.

So sorry to hear you've been robbed, but well done to your bank for spotting the out of character transactions!

If it were a hole-in-the-wall machine at the PO, your card might have been cloned. If at the counter, then suspicions might fall on the counter clerk. :-(

It's always possible that the details were taken on another occasion from somewhere else and that its only just started to be used.

Sorry to hear this OFITG :-(

I assume somebody has informed the post office where the cash machine is?

Sorry to hear about the hassle you've had, I really hate all this scamming of people by those too lazy to go out and earn their own money.

I had something similar a few years back with a card that hadn't been used other than inside the bank at the counter, for over two years.

They sorted it out promptly, but I am convinced to this day it was an inside job and it was around the time there were stories of overseas call centre staff selling details for money.

Your shopping trip today probably had nothing to do with it, and unless it involves cash withdrawals from ATMs they don't even need your pin number.

We've had a credit card cloned before but recently OH had an odd experience with his debit card. Bank sent a new one just before his old one expired. He used it once in the ATM to withdraw £50 and later that day the bank rang to say they had put a stop on the card. The day BEFORE he used it for the first time it had been used in America to withdraw 300 dollars, then there was an attempt to use it again in America at about the same time OH was withdrawing money here. That's when the computer flagged it up. How could that have happened?

As IGP says it need not have happened that day Vera, sometimes they aquire the information they need from somewhere or other then sit on it for a while before using it.

James,
I dont want to worry you but....this is similar to a story on Fred McAuley's radio programme just last week
Are you absolutely, 100% certain that it was the bank that texted you?

Did they ask you to call the number on the back of your card and did you use the same phone that the text was received on?

The discussed scam works exactly like this, but the scammer is able to intercept your outgoing call.... and it's them who answer, pretending to be the bank!

That was my first thought too Glasgowlass. A few years ago a message was left on my answerphone by someone saying they were my Bank Manager and to ring him on a mobile number. I thought this was a bit odd but thought it might be because it was very urgent!! I always use a different branch to where I opened my account, so don't know the name of the manager there. I decided to ring the branch and ask them who the manager was but they couldn't put me through as he was in a meeting. I rang again later and he confirmed he had left the message. I soon told him he had cost me 2 phone calls to check he was legit and worry that something had happened with my bank account. l told him I thought they expected the public to be careful yet he was tempting them to be otherwise by using a mobile number they did not show anywhere. He had no answer to that. What was the call about? They wanted to 'help' me invest some dosh from a cheque that had been paid into my account!!!! (for the commission no doubt!)

I am so lucky with my bank.
It´s a family run operation & a small branch where all the staff know me by name & if they do need to speak to me, they phone & ask me to pop in.
I always withdraw cash over the counter rather than at the ATM especially during the tourist season when there are lots of strangers about.
Spanish bank accounts don´t have cheque books which suits me as I prefer to pay by cash. It´s easier to keep control of my spending. I do have a debit card which I sometimes use for purchases, but very rarely.

wisechild ..............

our bank experience is something similar to what you describe


It is a local branch of one of the Big 5 banks in Canada .................. but all the staff know us, even the manager. If one of us goes in without the other, they ask about the missing one.

If we both go in together, we're greeted with a big smile, and then asked what is wrong :-)

They never ask for our ID .............. unless it is a newbie trainee.

They always smile at us, and have told us what to pay attention to as 'coming from them" ......................... and at least 3 of our accounts are with another branch of the bank!

Several times, we've muttered about moving the accounts over to them ................ they just say, that would cost us too much money and hassle, just leave them where they are!


It was interesting earlier this year to see how our bank and another handled the fact that we wanted to make a rather large transfer to our daughter's account in another part of Canada.

Ours told us the easiest and cheapest way to do it ................. get a bank draft ............ and got it all set up.

We walked the draft over the road to a branch of our daughter's bank ................... and they checked OH (who was doing the actual deposit) very very carefully .............. who was this person? did he know her personally?, etc etc etc. The teller really was very very careful.


all to do with the scams that get seniors to send money "urgently needed by nephew"


About 3 weeks later, I went through the same process ......... bank draft for the same amount, into the other bank .................... and as luck would have it, I got the same teller who said "We've done this before. I remember it" ................... and I didn't get asked all the questions! Just "do you know this person?"

GlasgowLass - I have heard of that scam so I never reply to any request received by phone or text relating to my finances if it is a call I tell them I will call them back and I then do so using the numbers I have from official correspondence to call them back, I do the same with texts.

So glad to hear that James, there are just so many scammers out there.

My OH and I have just one credit card... M&S.
A few years ago, we were treating our daughter and a few friends to a short holiday at Disneyland Paris for her 18th birthday
We were booking it online quite late into an evening when a message appeared on the screen telling us that the CC company would get in in touch.
At that very moment, the phone rang.....
I was M&S asking if we were aware that our card was being used online for a holiday booking that didn't include any of the card holders.
I was impressed with that service.

On another occasion, whilst doing loads of Christmas shopping, M&S rang through to a store and asked that I produce some ID.
They spotted card was being used rather a lot in a short space of time.
Again... I was impressed at their speed in identifying unusual activity.

Don't any of you think when you want to use an ATM to try and pull the front off the machines.

I do every time I want to use a machine even inside of the bank,

A lot of our ATMs have a cover on a hinge over the numbers.. many a person has been zapped by hidden camera re their pin number.

When you are in shops and the assistant takes your card.. keep an eye on it, they can do an imprint below the counter and your number is recorded via some sort of code.

I guess this is everywhere but now they have these machines here where you just wave it at the screen as you pick up your coffee and food at a café.. or so the adverts say.. everyone goes through the system flat out until someone pays cash and waits for change and they all crash into each other.

I won't even bank on line. With a name like Persephone I was around before dinosaurs..

Its the false cover on the ATM.

Whenever I go to an ATM (and I tend to use the same 3 or 4 all the time) I always check to see if it looks 'different'.

They will put a false cover on, so you will still get the money and your card back, but they will have a pin hole camera within the false front. This will film your card pin number.

Once Pin numbers are collected. They have a number of blank cards, they put the PIN details on this and then they are able to use the card to take out money from your account. However, I did think you could only take out money once, but not too sure. I always take out the max in one go. So I no more cash could be taken out that day anyway.

These people are just preying on people who are just trying to get on with their lives. It is awful how bad cyber crime has become.

I have spent the morning visiting every site that I have purchased anything from over the past 12 months to make sure that I have no financial information stored on them and closed accounts I have no intention of using again or have any concerns about, such as E-Bay and PayPal.

From now on unless it is an emergency, I will only draw cash over the counter at my bank, probably won't stop this sort of thing happening again, but should reduce the risk - as a pensioner I cannot afford to have money going astray :-(

I had a card that I did not use very often, have a feeling I left it in machine at a store. Anyway someone used it but had to laugh, they booked a Travel Lodge for the night had flowers and a Chinese take-a-way delivered. Took ages to prove it was not me.

Carol

But don't you just get sick of having to do all this to protect your own hard earned money from scum who can't be bothered to work for a living.