The nerve!
Checking my bank account balance online today, I was a bit surprised. It was a bit lower than I had expected. So I looked at my account history, wondering if my recent baby spending had gotten out of hand, and I noticed 5 transactions done over the last week that I didn't recognize.
One was for Figleaves.com, apparently an online underwear retailer. One was for Amazon.co.uk. That could have been mine, but you'd think I'd remember a transaction from yesterday! One for Gameseek for over £70! A similar amount for Game Online. And finally about £40 at Etam SA, whatever that is. The total comes up to about £200!
I called my bank and they did a little research. All of these transactions, I'm told, are either internet or mail order purchases. But without further investigation, they cannot tell me what was purchased or where the stuff was shipped.
The bank recon that my debit card had been cloned. Can you believe it? The nerve of these criminals!
Thankfully, I'm with a bank who is going to refund me the transactions by end of business on Monday. They've cancelled my card and a new one has been issued. I've been advised to continue shopping - both in person and over the internet - as I always have. Unfortunately, there is no real way to protect oneself from these things.
During the next week, I'll receive a letter from the bank that I'll have to sign and return to them to give them permission to investigate those 5 transactions. Hopefully, they'll be able to catch whoever's done this! I have been warned though that I will be charged £5 per transaction that proves to be mine, as there are of course people who just like to try it on! But, unless my memory really, really, really sucks, those transactions are not mine.
Lucky I caught it when I did! The damage could have been much worse.
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(12.3.04 17:00) Cracking spot. £200 is hardly anything compared to what they could have done. |
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(12.3.04 17:16) Too true. These people are such bastards, aren't they?!! |
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(20.3.04 16:29) if your card had been cloned your account would most likely be empty. i assure you. etam is a clothes shop by the way,a female one at that. |
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(21.3.04 11:49) Thank you, knives, for your assurances that my account would be empty but, according to my bank, that isn't always the case. Someone was obviously making small purchases on my card that I wasn't aware of and we'll soon (hopefully) find out more details when the bank has finished their investigation. Until then, I'm quite happy to go with the bank's diagnosis of a cloned card. |
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BEDbMAK / Website (12.7.05 09:44) Cool site you have here. thanks a lot 
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