Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be absolutely fuming

75 replies

HSBCD · 25/01/2019 23:27

Posting here for traffic

last month I posted about debit card fraud situation I was in. I had a new card delivered to me but I never received it and next thing I know someone had spent £500 of my money with the card, I managed to get the money back from the bank but it was a "you're not a victim anymore because we have refunded you so that's our job done" kind of thing. It was horrible because I just needed to know who it was, I have three flatmates who I still don't know that well

Anyway after a few weeks I decided it couldn't have been any of my flatmates, (or that's what I wanted to believe) I thought they'd have to be fucking brave to do it, convinced myself it had accidently been delivered to a neighbour who was a chancer or maybe even a dodgy postman. I even addressed a few letter to myself with stamps on and a parcel and left them by the front door as a sort of 'test' and nobody took them.

So tonight after I get in from work I pick up a few letters odo the floor and put them on the kitchen table, there was two for one of my flatmates, a sorry we missed you card (not mine) and a letter from my bank which I knew was coming and had no personal information because it was a duplicate letter, it was basically just about the case and I was told by my bank to just throw it away. Forgot to take it upstairs with me, hear one flatmate come in and he collects his post from the table, I come back downstairs for something and still see my letter and the sorry we missed you card still there, forgot to take it to bin it again, hear someone else come home, just now I've gone to go get the letter and it's fucking gone so I know exactly who it was now. They know about the situation because I messaged everybody when I decided it wasn't any of them. All I want to do right now is bang on their door and kick off, thinking of just sending a message to the whatsapp chat telling them my letter that was there an hour ago is now gone, honestly I don't know what to do, I'm mostly writing this to vent. Sorry about the terrible grammar I'm just so annoyed

OP posts:
Original poster
HSBCD · 26/01/2019 00:27

I didn't think the police were interested in this sort of stuff?

OP posts:
snowball28 · 26/01/2019 00:34

They probably won’t do much but you could arrange for them to visit when you know she’s home, might scare her into stopping also reporting it and getting a crime reference number never hurts

BobLemon · 26/01/2019 00:38

People never stop surprising me at the barefaced lies they will tell. The most genuine seeming people.

Fluffyears · 26/01/2019 00:49

I’d say ‘well that’s strange as it was there 5 minutes before you got home and gone 2 minutes after you arrived. It’s ok I have to yodatebthenpolice anyway so I’ll let them know another letter has gone missing.’

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2019 00:58

YANBU. I think your suspicion is well founded but there is little that you can do other than be careful and try and find another living situation.

Dvg · 26/01/2019 01:00

To be fair I would say you saw her and see what she says, sounds like she is the culprit

notangelinajolie · 26/01/2019 01:08

Get on the phone now to your bank and report it stolen. That way thief can't use it. Arrange to pick the replacement up from local branch in person. Ask for a new pin and change all your online passwords.

Then change the lock on your door and don't let new one out of your site.

Oh and stop leaving your mail on the table.

HeebieJeebies456 · 26/01/2019 01:20

She's a thief - you know it. Though you can't prove it without searching her room and stuff.
I'd just tell her straight "actually it was there just before you arrived cos i put it there - so i know you've got it. I'll be logging this with the police tomorrow so they can add it to the card fraud case."
What a bitch!

Butteredghost · 26/01/2019 01:41

If she did steal the card and get away with it, doesn't make sense she would keep stealing your mail in the hope of getting a new card and trying it again. Also how did she use the card without the pin. Isn't the pin set on your account or app, and you can't use contactless without a pin the first time you use the card.

Letsmoveondude · 26/01/2019 02:11

Yeah I agree with the PP above? Doesn’t make much sense why she would continue to steal your mail after the card, seems like no gain and extra risk of her being caught, but do make the police aware because it might build up a picture. There must be a way to trace the transactions?

I’d be very keen to know if it was someone who I lived with.

froodledoodle · 26/01/2019 02:51

This is off topic, but when receiving a new card don't you need to activate it either online, at a branch or by phone before the card will actually work? And the activation involves answering security questions to which only you should have the answers.

So even if the wrong person gets their grubby mits on both card and password, they shouldn't be able to use it unless it has been activated.

Of course, it is another matter if you are sharing your security questions/answers with another person, and that raises a whole lot of other problems. Obviously, that is not the case here.

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2019 04:25

My bank send my card and my pin to the same address (mine!) and I don't recall having to answer security questions to activate, either. So it looks like a pretty straight forward situation to me.

SimplySteve · 26/01/2019 04:28

So someone managed to nick the card and the pin letter which are sent separately? Or run up a load of contactless sales.

BoomBoomsCousin · 26/01/2019 04:38

If you're living in the same house as a thief and they see a bank card come through it's not stretching credulity to think they might take it and keep an eye out for the pin.

floribunda18 · 26/01/2019 04:49

You don't need the PIN for online purchases.

RedDwarves · 26/01/2019 05:23

So even if the wrong person gets their grubby mits on both card and password, they shouldn't be able to use it unless it has been activated.

Where I live, renewal cards are sent already activated and with the same PIN as the expired card.

CharlyAngelic · 26/01/2019 05:35

Contactless payments do not need a pin either. The user does have to spend below £30 in a transaction.
No PIN required.

floribunda18 · 26/01/2019 05:38

You have to use the PIN once on the card before Contactless is enabled, though. Not so with online purchases.

froodledoodle · 26/01/2019 06:36

@RedDwarves: I think I live in the same country as you (Australia). It must vary from bank to bank because mine has always required actual physical activation.

It is, however, a small bank without many branches and has always depended on phone banking, if that makes a difference.

Original poster
HSBCD · 26/01/2019 09:05

They used the car to buy stuff online

OP posts:
Original poster
HSBCD · 26/01/2019 09:06

*card

OP posts:
cansu · 26/01/2019 09:10

You need to move out. I would contact the landlord and tell them the reason.

Original poster
HSBCD · 26/01/2019 09:34

I can't afford to move out for at least a good few months yet :(

Do you think it is worth reporting to the police? I thought it would be a waste of time and they wouldn't be interested but also I don't want them to get away with this

OP posts:
IJustLostTheGame · 26/01/2019 09:42

I would report it. It's happened twice.

Celeriacacaca · 26/01/2019 09:46

I had a flatmate who I suspected was stealing from me. I ended up just going into her room when she was out and my stuff (clothing) was there with labels cut out plus some other bits I hadn't noticed. I just took them all back, got a lock on my door and then moved out as fast as possible. Not sure what the issue was but I wasn't going to hang around to find out. Should have known something was up as she used to call her bf daddy!

Swipe left for the next trending thread