To be feeling ultra paranoid after someone tried to use my debit card in another country?

[cantstopthinkingaboutit2]

I received a text from my bank to say someone tried to use my card in another country. I called them immediately and they blocked the transaction and the card etc but I’ve felt sick ever since. I asked them how this could have happened and they said my details could have been stolen after I bought something online.

I only use run-of-the-mill websites to buy things (Amazon, Vinted, Asda, M&S etc) so I don’t know how this could have happened. I’m now ultra paranoid my phone has been hacked, or all my data has been stolen.

I have OCD themed around this sort of thing so it’s not helping at all.

Think of it as the system working. They tried, but failed. Nothing to worry about.

Yes, someone tried to use my details for a credit card years ago. The bank blocked the transaction and I seem to recall I got a new card. Nothing else ever happened and that must be over a decade ago.

Have the bank cancelled the card? If not I’d probably cancel it and request a new one.

Yes it’s been cancelled, I’m just worried about how it happened in the first place

The big run of the mill websites are the major targets for cyber criminals at the moment. It's far more likely that one of them was hacked so cyber-criminals could access all their customer data than that your personal phone has been hacked. Have your card cancelled and replaced with your bank.

Always use Apple/android pay if possible as it keeps your details secure.

I had this with Tesco’s credit card years ago, before internet shopping. They cancelled the card and sent a new one. No further issues.

It happened to me too, years ago.

I used my debit card to buy a small item in the North of England, 30 minutes later, someone tried to use my card in New York.

bank phones me as they had stopped the New York payment, they cancelled my card.

a few days before that I'd had a message from my e-mail provider advising me to change my passwords as they suspected my emails had been hacked. In retrospect, I really should have cancelled all my cards at the same time.

I'm just checking that you phoned your bank from the number on your card or their official website and you didn't phone a number in the text. If you did phone a number in the text verify that number on their website.

If you may have spoken to a scammer you need to speak to your actual bank. You can cancel a card/request a new one in your banking app usually.

This happened to my partner, the bank said the scammers have software that tries all different combinations of numbers and eventually one will be right so it's just bad luck. This was a couple of years ago and nothing else has happened since, so be wary but don't worry too much.

I know how you feel. I try to be careful, never click links and only buy from known online stores but found someone had managed to use my card details to order a few hundred pounds worth of expensive trainers recently. Everything was sorted out very quickly with my bank and my money replaced but I found it very unsettling and have since kept very little money in my current account, just transfer what i need when i need it and keep my card on freeze for online payments unless I need to use it.

This happened to me about 10-15 years ago. Someone tried to use my card in India and I'd never been to India. No idea how it happened but there were no further consequences.

Nothing to worry about, your bank is on the ball

Thanks, yes I phoned the number on the website to be on the safe side

I had a card used in Italy, £1000s too, but it was new card! Just in the post, not yet used. Bank refunded me in about 60seconds on the call, almost instant. I said what happened, I didn’t have a passport either. They just stonewalled my questions as to how and said they’d refunded me 🤷‍♀️

It happened to me too. Years ago, someone abroad tried to use my card to buy £432 of internet porn! Fortunately, the bank flagged it as an “unusual transaction” (well yes, definitely not my usual spending habits!) and my card was stopped. It’s never happened again.

Change all your passwords just in case.

Could the email have been the scam that got them access to your details? Did you click a link in it to reset your password etc? I think that’s more likely than your email account being flagged as insecure and your card being cloned/used at almost the same time.