someones used dp debit card [angry]

[pandagirl03]

dp just had a bank statment and has noticed 2 transactions came out his account 1 on the 14th august £420.00 the other was the 15th august £60.00. hes ringing bank now. what will happen will we get the money back?? our rent is due next week and we now haven't enough to pay it

Hi pandagirl -
am a bobby and have worked on fraud unit previously so hoppe I can help.
DP needs to record the fraudulent transactions with his bank. He will also need to contact whichever police force the debits happened in.
Example - if the money was withdrawn in Bolton or card used to pay for good there - then contact Greater Manchester Police. This will get you a crime reference in the quickest way, which is normally what a bank want to refund the money. If the debits are to an unknown destination, eg an internet service such as porn / gambling then the police force where you live should supply you with a crime ref number. Chances are slim though that police will investigate for those amounts, and neither will the bank.
Most crims access your bank details either through use on internet or phone purchases, or through cloning your card. Has DP used his card in a dodgy unfamiliar restaurant / shop / petrol station recently? Do you only pay for good on the net when the little padlock sign appears?
I'd advise your DP does a credit check on himself. companies do it for a nominal fee - say £4. They check every application ever made for credit in your DP's name - so if he sees a card application or furtniture credit that he has never tried to get then the chances are your DH has had his identity stolen. He can log this on his credit record to prevent the crim from being successful in the future.
Hope this is not too technical and helps.
Also sorry to play devils advocate but some people claim to have had fraudulent debits when it is really them that have run up debt / bought an item they wish to keep secret etc. Are you happy this is a genuine crime?
Hope you get the money back from the bank - you should do!

Message withdrawn

petrol stations apparently are the worst place to clone cards especially before chip and pin, they are mainly franchises and would only need one dodgy person to work there and their customers could lose thousands.

also that why you need good virus protection on your computer, as some virus' are designed to collect your bank and card details so that they can steal your cash/credit.

Hi Socci -
Don't panic BUT
There are little handheld machines that if a 'dodgy' person so choosed and worked in a place where you handed your card over, could swipe it through in half a second and have your card details to get a clone card made. The other most popular way of cloning cards is to put readers over ATM's so that when you think you are putting your card in for a balance etc you are actually putting your card into one of the crims machines. These readers are normally a flimsy plastic cover so if i go to unfamiliar ATM's I normally give a bit of a pull at the casing around the card slot to make sure it doesn't feel loose / unnatural. And somtimes they put a little wire loop into the ATM. You put your card in, thin it has been swallowed and when you walk off they simply pull out the wire - bringing your card out too, complete with the pin number which they watched you putting in over your shoulder.
Best tips are -

1. try and use familiar petrol stations at good quality establishments eg supermarkets
2. if something seems unusual about an ATM - eg it doesn't look quite right / something on it feels loose or flimsy then don't use it and report it to the relevant bank. And never use the ATM if someone behind you is too close / won't step away / seems to be loitering. City centres are the main target areas and muggings / pursue dips are too common after people leave ATM's.
3. I don't know a lot about internet hacking but you should have good virus protection and only ever use sites with the padlock symbol, which is not infallible. don't want to panic you but fraud is a massive crime area which is rarely publicised or moaned about by people - and is rarely investigated. If you are diligent you should be fine.

hi malteser

thanks for all your advice i am most certain it is a genuine crime. dp's card was used to buy things on the net. he has notified the bank and they have now cancelled his card and are investigating. i will get him to do a credit check but how do i do one?? dp uses his card only on amazon and paypal very rarely, he also buys alot of petrol for work fills the car up every other day. i really cant believe it we are so carefull with money and where we use the card.

Sign up with experian it takes a few days for a pin number to arrive in the post, your dh can check his credit report here.

My DD (16) had her Nationwide Smart account card copied & £150 taken - the building society were fine about it, but she had to fill in a form & it said it could take up to 28 days - not so good if you've got bills to pay. I think it was actually about 3 weeks before the money (+ lost interest)was put back

i hope it all goes that well rustybear but its not helping to pay my bills . dp's bank said he needs to fill in the form they send then send it back, they said they might put the money back in dp's account while still investigating but if its found hes lying about it (which he isn't) then they would take the money back.

thanks waterfalls for the experian link but is there another way so we dont have to put card details online, obviously when we get a new card.

god look at things properly panda, just found it waterfalls. sorry im not thinking straight, thanks for link. we will definatly do that when we get new card.

just found out my daughter(13) has had £260 taken from her Nationwide Smart account over a 2 day period three weeks ago, 2 small withdrawals and then 2 larger ones. She only ever uses the cash machine on the outside of the local branch's office!! Have reported to police and am waiting to meet with Nationwide adviser. Local branch did not seem perturbed that the only machine she uses is the one at the branch - quick to tell me that they had not had any other problems reported.

hello delicateflower

its horrible isn't it especially a 13 year olds bank account.

hopefully she will get her money back like my dp will.

cant believe the bank dont want to know, but then again i can as my bank didn't want to know today when i asked if i could cancel my card because of dp's card being done. they basically said you cant cancel your card until money goes missing from my account.