To wonder what the hell is going on?

[Pugmomma]

Hi lovelies,

This morning was all sunshine and daisies, enjoying my lovely week off, have a brew, settle down to watch a bit of Jeremy Kyle (very much a guilty pleasure), paint my nails, get terrorised by a crazy pants 3 year old etc etc.

Anyhow, I decide to check the online banking to find £300 card payment to a company I've never heard off! THREE HUNDRED. Spat out my tea. Googled this company to find it is a legitimate company albeit one I've never heard of nor used, asked DP, he had no idea.

So I've phoned the bank and after a long conversation, have found out that some little tosspot somehow has all my card details, and prior to this £300 purchase had tried to make several purchases one for £1500! All in all, the little toad had tried to use my card 12 times, all online- thankfully only the one purchase went through.

Bank were very good and have refunded all of the money (the same day - praise the lord, there is a god!), and put extra security in place. My card has been cancelled etc so hopefully there will be no repeat.

I suspect this happens a lot, and ordinarily I'd of just been grateful to have caught it and been refunded, however back in December (only a few days before Christmas!!), my PayPal account was hacked and I was defrauded to the tune of £600! Thankfully I also got that back, but I can't help but feel very on edge to have this happen twice in as many months- I feel like someone is out to get me 😰.

I'm really paranoid and on edge over it all, wondering if next they'll steal my whole identity and be racking up credit cards or god knows what.

I'm just really at a loss as to how they have managed to do it; twice no less, as I'm so cautious! I have the 3D card secure in my bank card, only use reputable online websites (such as Asda etc), have different strong passwords for all my email accounts, cover my pin at cash points and only use the cash point in the bank (as it's the closest one), only use my card in shops such as the co op, and I've certainly never lost my card; it's all so baffling!

AIBU to feel so targeted? Or am I just paranoid? Any experience a any of you have had would be much appreciated.

Pugmomma x

I don't blame you for being paranoid. My Dad had his credit card cloned and ££££ spent in Ladbrokes online. It was refunded.
Some years ago we had a random payment of over £500 go out to Direct Line insurance. I've only ever used them once and with a different bank account so I have no idea what that was about.
Thanfulky refunded by the bank too!
DH is paranoid about personal information and likes me to shred anything with any details before it goes in the bin!

Oh god how awful! It's horrible isn't it, makes you feel violated. We keep everything with personal details until we have a fairly large pile and then chuck it all in the chimnea every so often- it really makes you wonder how they find out your details doesn't it; and how the hell they sleep at night! The PayPal fraud was awful, they said it would take up to 7 working days to get it back but as it was over Christmas and new year it felt like an absolute age, and we were quite skint all over Christmas, it makes me sick it really does. Glad you got it all sorted too Cigar x

We used to use the chimnea until a heavy frost killed it!
I think the Direct Line thing was more likely a mistake than fraud, makes me wonder if some poor person thought they'd got insurance but actually didn't!