Wednesday 18 February 2015

It happened to me..... Unauthorised Bank Transactions!

Last week I had a bit of a scare with my bank account.....

I don't usually check my bank account on a Thursday but as I knew I would be busy on Friday I decided to do the online grocery shopping early....I was transferring some money into my fellas account and noticed there was £148 in my account but only £87 available which was strange as I knew I hadn't spent anything since the weekend from it....

There were 3 pending debit card transactions I didn't recognise at all....



Thank god that my bank has a 24 hour number to call as I realised this at about 10pm at night.....I got straight on the phone and spoke first to a lovely man who said it did look strange.....The Westin Grand payment was for vinyl flooring in America.....He put me through to someone else in the fraud section to help me more.....

The looked deeper into my account and there were several payments of 9, 10 & 11 pence to Sony and their Playstation service....I don't even have a Playstation....Well I do but it's a PS2 which doesn't connect to the internet.....The Swinton one was to the insurance people and I don't have anything with them....

While I was on the phone to the bank I had a text message from them saying my debit card had been used online at 23.04 at Express insurance for £44.61....The site is just for vehicles which I don't have for....They confirmed it was refused as my card had been cancelled at the start of the call....

He said it was typical fraudulent activity.....He believed me! Phew! I was paranoid they wouldn't and I would be £60 down.....The payment when I was on the phone just confimed I was telling the truth....Phew again!!

My new card arrived at the weekend and I've just checked my bank account and today the money has been returned.....

I dread to think how much could have been taken by the time I usually do my shopping on the Friday as each amount was getting more and more.....

If it can happen to me it can happen to anyone!!

I thought I was safe.....I have virus and protection on my computer....The only sites I use my card on are to pay bills like my water, gas and electric & top up my mobile phone....The shopping sites are big ones like Tesco, Iceland, Toys R Us.....Everything else I buy online I use Paypal.....If I can't use Paypal I don't get it.....I don't give my card details to anyone and I don't click on spammy fake emails.....



  
Make sure your computer has up-to-date anti-virus software and a firewall installed and switched on.... 

Check your statements often! The sooner you report anything suspect the easier it will be to claim back any losses....
 
Avoid buying from companies you don’t recognise, unless they’ve been recommended by someone trustworthy.... 

Shop at secure websites by ensuring that the security icon (locked padlock or unbroken key symbol) is showing in your browser window....


Always log out after shopping and save the confirmation as a record of your purchase....

Never buy anything from spam or unsolicited emails you receive.... 

Use Paypal as a way to keep your card details safe....

http://www.vevivos.com/linkys/post-comment-love/

26 comments :

  1. This kind of thing scares me. I'm glad that you got your money back with no problems x

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  2. OMG! Fair play to your bank for acting swiftly, just goes to show how quickly it can escalate :)

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  3. I had this happen last year, hadn't even noticed but luckily the fraud squad at my bank had realised as my card had been used in America less than an hour after me using it in Sheffield so they figured it must not be me. Definitely scary though!!
    AliceMegan

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    1. Oh my! So glad your bank noticed.
      I tried to use my new card today to pay a bill and my bank phoned me just to make sure...lol
      It's so scary! x

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  4. Ah that is horrible, good spot though. I hate not knowing how it happened though, that's what would bother me.

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    1. I know....I am hoping they catch whoever did it so I have to give evidence.....At least I would know then x

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  5. Oh my goodness. So glad you spotted this so quickly and managed to get the card cancelled and the money refunded. Scary to think how easily this kind of thing can happen.

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    1. It all happened over a few hours....It is so scary how bad it could have got if I hadn't have noticed x

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  6. How scary and lucky you noticed so quickly. I'm so glad your money was refunded as well. Its so scary how easily this can happen. Great tips on how to safe as well.

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  7. Im the same only use at reputable businesses, scary to think it can happen so easily

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  8. Oh no! This would be my worst nightmare! Scary, but it's so good you noticed and had the money returned! Thanks for the tips!

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  9. Oh no, You must of been worried sick.
    Glad you nipped it in the bud hon before it spiralled out of control! x

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    1. I was shaking and nearly crying on the phone....To me £60 is a lot of money. x

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  10. Goodness this is so scary! Thats a lot of cash being taken from you if you hadnt notice early! #pocolo

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  11. I am always so scared something like this happens even though i take all the safe steps that you do too. What a horrible thing to have happened to you, i bet that you are so glad you checked your bank when you did before any more damage was done. I am glad you got all your money back and managed to sort everything out xx

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  12. Hi Kim, lucky you noticed and lucky your card company sorted you out. It could have been so much worse.

    When shopping online we use either PayPal or a virtual bank card (we don't have a credit card), which is designed for online shopping. What is good about the virtual card is that if the moneys not on the card we can't buy anything, so we tend only to transfer the money we need for the purchase.

    You've shared some priceless tips, like logging out of sites and only shopping on secure sites.

    #PoCoLo

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  13. Our last scare involved a glitch at the bank, which was quite unnerving although they were very good about it once we'd pointed it out. Glad you got it sorted out so quickly.

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  14. Thank goodness you were savvy enough to realise what was going on. And thank goodness your bank helped you. I am always fearful of this happening to me. Thank you for linking to #PoCoLo x

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  15. Lucky you found it so quickly, I'm naughty I don't check my bank very often. I've had my Tesco credit card cloned twice, the first time was small amounts that I picked up (the first being a porn site - my husband assured me it wasn't him!!), I got the money back and a new card. The 2nd time I didn't pick it up until Tesco fraud team contacted me to say that there had been 2 large payments in 2 days the 2nd being £3,500 for 1st class flights - the fraud team asked me to keep the account running so they could catch them. Luckily I got all the money back.

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  16. We were really lucky the bank picked up ours but not before they'd spent nearly £1500 it started with a few small mobile phone topups on the same day then a bunch of big purchases, the bank notified us the next day and the money was back in our account incredibly quickly. Makes you feel sick though and nervous! My other half is a nightmare for not covering his pin! The other thing is you have to be so trusting paying over the phone because you are giving that person all the information they need!

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