General Chat

she is a bit of a luddite, wont have a card in her name........I've tried!!

Bob

Bob ..............


it's always a good idea for a woman to establish a credit rating in her own name



I got a credit card in my own name about 35 years ago .................... that was back in the days when most credit card issuers insisted on a woman having a male counter signing for her.

I went into my bank prepared to do battle to get a Visa card .............. I had a job, I had 3 accounts with the bank, etc etc

I thought I was in for a real battle of wills when I realised it was a middle-aged man of East Indian extraction who came to help me.

I was almost struck dumb ................... when he began to speak, he was obviously Canadian born, not an immigrant, and his immediate response to my request was .................


"That's a very good idea. My wife has got her own card. I'll just get all the forms sorted for you"

:-D :-D


I still use that card, although I long ago closed my accounts at that bank after a row with a new manager.


It does mean that I have a credit record that will enable me to get all kinds of things if I am left alone at any point .......... such as phone, electricity, etc to a new abode.


It may not be too late even now for your wife to get a credit card in her own name, and establish a credit rating of her own!

My missis has control of several thousand pounds in her bank (which I pay"housekeeping" into) ,account. and pays electric/gas water/council tax by cheque. a few years ago she applied to Damart for some thermal clothing, responding to an advert in a magazine, and was refused credit( she would have sent a cheque, up front with the order)

reason...she was a poor risk..........being a housewife,never having owed anybody anything, she had no credit rating..........

Bob

This thread is so worrying. The whole idea of stealing money from an OAP was a taboo when I was young. It just did not happen.

And who would ever have thought that you could not trust a bank cash machine. We seem to walk on eggshells these days. And internet trolls are everywhere and can makes lives of the trusting and unwary an absolute hell.

Wonder how things will change for my 2 week old beautiful granddaughter. Hope and pray she will have a good life. Enjoyed mine, but won't be sorry when Producer asks me to exit stage left.

A few years ago I was asked by my bank to confirm that I had received my new replacement card (I had not) - They said the reason they were getting in touch was that "my card" had been used to draw cashback from various supermarkets in Milton Keynes only 10 mins before I had actually drawn money out of an ATM where I live (in the NW). The new card had been sent out to me but I had never received it and, as the old one was still in date, I was continuing to use it until I received the new one, imagining it was just taking longer to be sent out than normal.
Anyway, the bank were great. All monies drawn out (not by me) were reinstated to the account and the card was replaced with a new one/new account number - thankfully I only use it for drawing cash and don't have any standing orders etc on that account.

Yes, but what about the things banks do that are silly and help fraudsters? Mine sends correspondence that includes my middle name.......why? Just makes it easy for anyone to find personal info. Even worse, they send out bank statements that show my national insurance number next to my state pension payment. The feeble answer I got when I asked why was that it was the way it came in!

To sort out and check your accounts was a good move OfitG. If you ever need to pay for something on line, it is possible to purchase a card and load it with the sum you require.
..........
You should have been a fly on the wall in our house this morning, but the CC company isn't to blame.

We are arranging for the delivery of a 'home improvement' costing a 4 figure sum.

- we are using the manufacturers agent
- we are paying by CC
- 2 weeks ago I phoned the CC co and advised them that the sum would be charged to my account the following day. I could hear the employee typing the 'approval' notes on to her PC
- the following day, I visited the agent. He took the card details and while I was sitting in front of him, phoned them through to the manufacturer.

Soo.....today the agent phones to tell me the delivery date and asking for payment.
Er - no! You took the details a couple of weeks ago!
Oh yes, I remember now. Sorry, but it didn't come up on my system. I'll give them a ring and get back to you

Then the manufacturer phones me.
Sorry, its not showing on our system that you've paid. Can I have your details please?
No you can't. Let me check my CC account on line and I'll call you back

There is no record of the transaction against my account.

The manufacturer is phoned back, card details given, but advised that there might be a problem with the CC co. After all, it was all set up for 2 weeks ago.

Not surprisingly, the charge was refused! Using the phone number on the back of the CC, I was directed to the Fraud dept even though I was trying to tell them that no fraud was involved. Anyway, they unblocked the card and the transaction was resubmitted & went through 10 mins later.

There were 2 text on my mobile - If I wasn't aware of what had gone on, they would have seemed complete gibberish.

Even if locking my card might have been highly embarrassing in other circumstances, I can't fault the CC company..............only blame the person at the manufacturer who didn't do what they should of, when they should of!

Part of a report in the DM this morning.

It used to be the case that banks could hold you at fault only if you had given away your Pin.

But some have introduced a list of up to 30 rules that customers must stick by or risk not being repaid their fraud losses.

The idea is to make it as hard as possible for criminals to get their hands on your details. These include:

Shredding bank statements and other official records.
Having separate Pins for different cards.
Not letting your computer save your passwords or automatically use them for online forms.
Ensuring your mobile phone is locked when you are not using it.
Checking no one can hear your calls to your bank.
Keeping virus software updated on your computer.

Banks won’t necessarily hold you to blame if you don’t do all these things. But failure to take these steps could see you branded negligent.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/saving/article-2647498/Heres-protect-cash-bank-hacking-crime-wave.html#ixzz33ftyiLx8
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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.

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

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 :-(

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.

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..

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,

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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!)

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!