Credit Card Fraud

[Quizzical Bob]

Out of the blue, we received replacement credit cards from our issuer, a week or so ago. They said that my account was one of a number which had been suspected of being at risk of fraud. Can't think why it should have been, but Wina says they arrived soon after we applied for our ESTA cards.

Had you applied through the official ESTA site or through an agent?

We applied through the official ESTA site, the Tour Operator had supplied a link to it ... 14 US$ pp

Are you sure the link went direct to the ESTA site? If you right-click on the link then you can see the true address.

[Wina G]

Are you sure the link went direct to the ESTA site? If you right-click on the link then you can see the true address.

Yes, I double/triple checked it first as I don't trust anyone

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

[Quizzical Bob]

Are you sure the link went direct to the ESTA site? If you right-click on the link then you can see the true address.

Yes, I double/triple checked it first as I don't trust anyone

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

Very wise. Always type the link yourself.

[Andrea S]

I have just opened a further letter from my bank.
5 more transactions have been attempted. 3 for £10 to O2 UK Pay & Go , 1 for £20 to EE & T mobile and 1 for £10 to EE & T mobile.
My card was replaced after the original fraudulent transaction so I presume they are trying to claim from that one.

[Romig1]

Regarding petrol stations.

I always ensure that I cover up the keypad when entering the pin. I know that it's good practice at all times, but I'm particularly vigilant when purchasing fuel.

[Quizzical Bob]

Regarding petrol stations.

I always ensure that I cover up the keypad when entering the pin. I know that it's good practice at all times, but I'm particularly vigilant when purchasing fuel.

http://www.fraudjobsite.co.uk/news/view/76071

[Dancing Queen]

Out of the blue, we received replacement credit cards from our issuer, a week or so ago. They said that my account was one of a number which had been suspected of being at risk of fraud. Can't think why it should have been, but Wina says they arrived soon after we applied for our ESTA cards.

Had you applied through the official ESTA site or through an agent?

We applied through the official ESTA site, the Tour Operator had supplied a link to it ... 14 US$ pp

Ow much??? We have to pay them to let us in????

Yep afraid so ... but they last for two years so you can go back the following year - just to get your money worth

[Romig1]

Blimey QB. I didn't know they had also produced skimming devices which are on the chip and pin machines!

Thanks for that link.

[Quizzical Bob]

Blimey QB. I didn't know they had also produced skimming devices which are on the chip and pin machines!

Thanks for that link.

The toerags get everywhere:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_loop

The price of peace of mind is eternal vigilance.

[Kendhni]

Wait until you see how much they charge to let you out

Don't joke ... Mexico lets you in for free and charges you something like £45-50 to get out.

[Kendhni]

Regarding petrol stations.

I always ensure that I cover up the keypad when entering the pin. I know that it's good practice at all times, but I'm particularly vigilant when purchasing fuel.

Not bad advice, the problem is that many of the recent attacks have been by inserting a device between the computer/till and the card reader or a simple plug in USB stick .. it can be there for quite a while before anybody might notice it.

The best thing to do is change your PIN regularly ... and that doesn't have to make it hard to remember ... use the numbers on the front of the card in some sequence based on the month (or similar) e.g. in Jane take the first 4 digits, in feb use the 4 digits starting at position 2 etc.

[royalprincess]

When using an ATM at my local shopping centre there was a notice that the machine would shut down if an attempt was made to tamper with it. So they are working on protecting us at ATM's at least.

There was a programme on tv last year about credit card fraud - apparently the cards have very poor (cheap) security on them and therefore leaves them vunerable to cloning etc. I believe that it comes from within the industry myself. Who else has access to so much of our security and shopping habits?

[Kendhni]

A few weeks back an IT bod demonstrated that he could take control of ATM machines (those connected through the internet) and pretty much get it to do what he wanted including dispense money until it was empty.

[towny44]

We recently changed our card number because Nationwide would periodically reject a valid on-line purchase, quite often a vodaphone top up, this was explained as due to them applying a higher security level to our card because of earlier problems.
When I eventually got fed up and decided to go for a new number, despite having to amend all our on line account data, I pressed their cust. service to tell me why my card had a higher security level and eventually they admitted that it was part of a range that Nationwide suspected might have been compromised by hacking.
So some of these problems appear to bank initiated rather than possible skimming of card details during a purchase.

[david63]

I say go back to keeping pound notes in a shoe box under the bed

[Kendhni]

I say go back to keeping pound notes in a shoe box under the bed

Now you have announced my security tactics to the world I will have to find a new hiding place

[greenfish187]

I have just opened a further letter from my bank.
5 more transactions have been attempted. 3 for £10 to O2 UK Pay & Go , 1 for £20 to EE & T mobile and 1 for £10 to EE & T mobile.
My card was replaced after the original fraudulent transaction so I presume they are trying to claim from that one.

It was EE & T mobile who took my money

[Andrea S]

Greenfish. I find it quite scary. It was annoying having my card cancelled and changing the card details to cover my regular payments, but to find they are still able to use this card is a nightmare.

[Frank Manning]

Me too Greenfish, EE&T mobile were the first.

[Kendhni]

This is the reason why you should avoid setting up a regular payment via a credit card. I am oversimplifying here but, unlike a DD against a bank account, a regular payment against a credit card can not be cancelled by the payer .. only by the payee.

There may be some reasons when this i useful, e.g. you have a cashback card and you want to maxmise cashback, but just be aware that you are not in control of such payments.

[greenfish187]

This is the reason why you should avoid setting up a regular payment via a credit card. I am oversimplifying here but, unlike a DD against a bank account, a regular payment against a credit card can not be cancelled by the payer .. only by the payee.

There may be some reasons when this i useful, e.g. you have a cashback card and you want to maxmise cashback, but just be aware that you are not in control of such payments.

Mine was on my debit card not credit card

[Kendhni]

You should be able to cancel it on a debit card, although any transaction 'in progress' will still go through (they are often initiated a few days before the payment date) .. I am not as up on this as I used to be, but possibly some debit cards may be treated more like credit cards.

[Andrea S]

Kendhi, In my case I have never had dealings with either of the companies involved. All regular payments are by direct debit. Prior to these transactions the only thing I had used my debit card for was a cash withdrawal using the ATM within a large shopping centre and a payment over the phone to Vodafone as there on-line system was down. I rang them so I saw nothing wrong there. The amounts which are fraudulent are such small amounts, but how silly to take 3 on the same day where it would get picked up. Almost childish rather than professional.
It would be interesting to know if it has happened to other local people but I doubt the Bank will tell me that.

[david63]

Just a point.

Everyone who is subject to this type of fraud should report the matter to Action Fraud where it will get logged and they can look for "patterns"

[Kendhni]

Kendhi, In my case I have never had dealings with either of the companies involved. All regular payments are by direct debit. Prior to these transactions the only thing I had used my debit card for was a cash withdrawal using the ATM within a large shopping centre and a payment over the phone to Vodafone as there on-line system was down. I rang them so I saw nothing wrong there. The amounts which are fraudulent are such small amounts, but how silly to take 3 on the same day where it would get picked up. Almost childish rather than professional.
It would be interesting to know if it has happened to other local people but I doubt the Bank will tell me that.

Andrea, there are all sorts of reasons as to why these things can turn up including human error, computer error, regulation, legislation and fraud.
In most cases all that is happening behind the scenes is a computer following a set of rules ... in general the rules try to be proactive to stop fraud but the as fraudsters get more-and-more cunning the rules become more and more reactive as loopholes, 'quirks' and bugs.

Who knows what is going on but, and this is only a personal opinion, I think 'fraud' is often the scapegoat for human and software errors ... similarly viruses, trojans etc. get blamed for nothing more than poor computer management. However, I totally agree with David, if you suspect fraud on your account then it should always be reported. Also if you see a strange transaction on your credit card then phone them up and put that transaction in 'dispute' (you can then pay the remainder of the bill without incurring additional charges).