Had my card scammed in the USA, I live in the UK

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Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 9:59 am

Scammer had tried to obtain £3 from my bank account.
My bank's (Barclays) the fraud squad had flagged up 3 transactions all yesterday, managed to get hold of me at the 3rd attempt, thought the first two calls were frauds, I would not answer (recorded messages).

Two of the transactions were from Amazon already had the goods, so could vouch for them, the 3rd from America I could not, had no dealing with America, now having a new card sent.

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 10:40 am

The £3 is probably a trial run to see if the card is active - most probably an online purchase/game top up. If it had gone through and the card remained active then there would have been multiple other transactions.

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 11:42 am

It's about time we got some payback. Every time my card gets tested, it's some bastard from the UK having a go at it. Laughing

Have you recently used the card online, or ordered something over the phone? Not that it matters really, could be the local grocery store has gotten their computer system compromised.

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:28 pm

in-person card skimming is pretty hard in the UK and EU as they almost all use chip/PIN for transactions. It always amazed me when I go to the US and they don't require so much as a signature. Are there any signs that this will change soon?

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:43 pm

^^^It's already started. However, the security isn't at the level you see.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/just-how-safe-is-your-new-chip-enabled-credit-card/

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2991473/financial-it/fbi-takes-down-alert-on-chip-credit-cards-after-bankers-complain.html

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:57 pm

The real risk is contactless payments. The limit on my card is 40fr per transaction without a PIN and as far as I know, there's no daily limit. I wonder how many 40fr ish transactions it would take for them to start being questioned by the fraud systems. You could probably stock up on quite a lot of toblarone and cuckoo clocks before it's noticed.

Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 3:48 pm

B8er wrote:

The £3 is probably a trial run to see if the card is active - most probably an online purchase/game top up. If it had gone through and the card remained active then there would have been multiple other transactions.

That's exactly what it was. I had this happen to me twice. When the bill showed up with an under-the-radar amount it included the name of the "business," along with a phone number, who was pinging my card number. The number took me to an answering machine (not an answering system, a machine). Each time there was a URL for a web site that looked much like the scam web sites we report. This happened before I joined Eater so it didn't occur to me to report the sites.

However, I did report it to the bank, who immediately issued me new cards. You should do the same if you haven't already. The second time it happened I got feedback from the bank a few days later. Apparently some loser working out of a one bedroom apartment in Arizona was running the scam.

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 9:19 am

It was only having multiple transactions appear in my account the same day, that it was flagged up by the fraud squad otherwise if it had been a single transaction then I doubt if they would have known.

I have a suspicion at the back of my mind this could have happened to me before, just put it down to me having forgot to write the transaction down.

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 10:48 am

Both my cards have excellent security departments-they call when there have repeat small transactions and all international charges-unless I've called and told them I'll be out of the country.

Some years ago, I had my identity stolen along with a number of neighbors-a loser with a gambling addiction stole mail from the whole neighborhood. It was an incredible pain to deal with it, even though LE was great. They arrested the guy, who's now doing time in the Federal system. My bank was oblivious-even though there were $1000 withdrawals everyday for a week. The bank restored the money, but I couldn't believe their internal security didn't notice the activity.

I had to deal with collection agencies calling about "my account" for years. LE sent me their investigation file which I handed out to every agency that called me. Wouldn't surprise me a all if I get the same call in the future.

Elite Baiter Joined: 21 Jan 2010 Posts: 1474

It could be this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34527439

Is your AV up to date?

Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 3:05 pm

I recently used my debit card to pay a subscription fee online with a company registered overseas - within minutes I was getting texts from my bank to verify that I knew about the payment.

No doubt if I hadn't been around they would have stopped the card. Disaster if you are traveling at the time, but reassuring to know they are watching my back. It shows that you should tell them if you are going overseas, rather than getting there to find your card doesn't work any more banghead

My elderly inlaws had a call saying that their bank had stopped their debit card because someone had used it in an all night supermarket at 1am - in fact it was actually them, much to the bank's surprise (they live like students, staying up half the night then getting up at the crack of lunchtime).

Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2015 12:10 pm

Sorry to hear that Fo. Had my card cloned about 7-8 years ago. Didn't notice until my account had been cleaned out as it happened over Christmas.

Barclays, were pretty good about it and told me straight off I would get my money back because it was obvious (they didn't tell me how they knew this) my card details had been obtained without my knowledge.

The only thing that pee'd me off about the whole affair, was they said the actual theft was from them as I would be fully reimbursed. But it was me that spent all day trundling back and forth from bank to police station to sort it out and fill in all the effing forms. Lots and lots of forms. Evil or Very Mad

** To add.

Barclays told me that they traced the user to someone who lived in travel lodges along the M4. They'd move from one place to another and use the card to buy rounds of drinks, dinners, takeaways and go to the pictures.

Bastard, bought a top of the range DVD player as well. Evil or Very Mad

Not quite a Newb Joined: 11 Oct 2015 Posts: 20

Windy - That's despicable, especially having it done over Christmas.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2015 7:27 am

My bank immediately shut down my debit card after a security breach at a store I used it at. Their quick action was appreciated. It very well might have saved me from having my account drained. But it was annoying that they didn't bother to tell me, so when I stopped to pick up some groceries on the way home, the cashier scanned my shut-off card, looked confused and told me that my account didn't exist. So, it was cereal for dinner at home followed by a long wait until morning when I could call to find out what was going on with my account.

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:32 pm

Boo hoo....

Got My bank statement on Saturday just gone, and noticed four spurious transactions. Two for insurance companies and two for cable tv subscriptions.

I went to the bank and reported them to find they can only have gone through as an inside job because they didn't have my three digit code along with long number. Card stopped and money returned on the spot.

Seems banks and companies know their account and billing departments have been infiltrated top to bottom but can't or won't do anything about it.

Crims, get themselves into a position where they can circumvent security measures and charge various cards over a short time, transfer the money out, then leave before anyone knows what has happened.

Grrr....! Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:11 pm

jose_cuervo wrote:

It's about time we got some payback. Every time my card gets tested, it's some bastard from the UK having a go at it. Laughing

You really need to put some money into your account you tight bastard. You're hardly worth robbing any more.

My card was done for £15 a couple of weeks ago. A taxi in Amsterdam. The scammer picked my details up from a purchase I made on a website belonging to a reputable company. Fraud officer at my bank told me they'd had problems with the company before. More than likely it was my details being kept in an unsafe environment rather than any hack.

For that reason, I always have an account that I use just for online. I never keep more than £50 in it unless I'm making a purchase. The scammer would have been metaphorically but not physically screwed if he tried to buy a hooker after the cab ride. Twisted Evil

05/29/15

Similar to jose_cuervo -- my most recent dealings with this :poop: traced to China!

And as in your case, SOOI, it appeared that the origin of the problem could have been perfectly reputable websites that I've dealt with for years. Or my plastic
may have been skimmed in a restaurant or doc's office, where the card was actually out of my sight for a short time. (I no longer permit that -- I now
physically follow my card to the register!)

Moral of these stories for all of us: Keep an eye on your financial institution and credit card statements. Getting into the habit of looking at your account
between statement dates now and then is a sound practice, too. Be paranoid -- it pays.

Elite Baiter Joined: 16 Jul 2008 Posts: 1407

I only use a credit card for online purchases, had my debit card # compromised once and it was a real pain. Lost nearly $1000 USD out of my checking account before my bank called me.

I was moving at the time, and my bank was very slow returning the cash (about a week). Sucked.

I had my CC compromised a few different times, different banks too. But in those cases the charge was reversed quickly (24 hours) and a new card sent out.

My AMEX card fedex'd me a new card and I had it the next day, and the charges were reversed before I got off the phone with them. Of course it helped that it had been 'used' 3 states away from where I live.

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