Fraudulent (?) transaction on MIL's account

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

This is weird - wondered if anyone can explain it?

MIL is over 90 & hardly ever goes out on her own any more; if she does it's very local to her (Lancashire). SIL noticed an odd transaction on her bank statement this week - £200+ at "York Smokers" (tobacco kiosks) in early April.

DH went into the bank with her this morning & rang to find out more about it (he had tried yesterday but was on hold for ages & he had work to do). It turns out the transaction took place in Hull . She's never been to Hull!

The bank says that both the card & PIN were used & started asking about carers (there aren't any) & grandchildren (there are some but they've never been to Hull either) - they seem to be suggesting that they're not liable. There have been no further transactions though so could it have been some sort of mix-up over card numbers rather than deliberate fraud?

DH has changed the PIN now & arranged for internet banking (he has this account jointly with her but it's been paper statements until now).

Any ideas how it could have happened?

kick up a hell of a stink with the bank and demand explanation and that the transaction is chased.

has she been scammed with a fraudulent phone call?

It's been left with the bank to investigate - DH will chase.

At this point it appears to have been a physical transaction. I don't think scammers on the phone would have much luck with her, she's quite deaf now & has never been what you might call a good listener!

As it was nearly 3 months ago & her memory is pretty poor (except for things that happened decades ago...) she wouldn't remember if she did have any dodgy phone calls.

But if it was as a consequence of something like that, surely there'd be more than one transaction?

I live near Hull and have just googled it to make sure I was talking of the right one. This is in the centre of town (cctv) and its very busy. Is it a possibility that the card has been cloned at some point and they use them once then throw them so they don't get traced? Either way it wasn't your mil so they should investigate. Also Tabaco would have a good resale value to crooks so it sounds likely its something along those lines. I hope you get the money back and she's not to upset over it x

Thanks, stig - it was Princes Quay apparently - is that the one you were thinking of? Trouble is that being 3 months ago any CCTV might well have gone by now. I was sort of thinking that fags are worth something, but if bought at retail prices there's no profit in them?

MIL isn't bothered at all, thanks - she's away with the fairies pretty much so that's something. DH will push for a refund, but luckily she has a reasonable occupation pension from his dad so the money isn't an issue atm & he will watch much more carefully now this has happened.

Yes that's right Princess quay. You make a profit on selling something that didn't cost you anything in the first place. So even if they sold a packet for £2 appose to £5 or whatever its is these days they are going to be in the money. Those type of people don't have a conscience. I'm sure with the value the store carries they would have cctv. The police would have to trace it though. I'm glad that its not effecting her but sorry your having to go to lengths just to get her money back.

Get your DH to check back further for small unexplainable transactions. I think sometimes what happens is they try something small to see if the card is still working etc before moving on to bigger transactions. It might be worth canceling the card to be honest.

oh yes, stig - duh! I was forgetting they wouldn't have cost them anything! He will be contacting York Smokers & I'll suggest he tries Hull police too. (I was wrong about the bank investigating - apparently as far as they're concerned card + PIN = case closed. It's Lloyds TSB. Do they have form for this, does anybody know? special subject, I think we might have another go at kicking up a stink)

We will do that, Buda - once he's got the online access up & running we can look back. I'm just surprised, if it is one of those scenarios, that they stopped at one significant transaction. You might well be right about cancelling the card - we can do that while kicking up a stink - I'll discuss.

That's a strange attitude for the bank to take. It has happened to me twice (card cloned plus they had pin) and both times the bank (after some investigation) refunded the money. The card was cancelled straight away.

I would go back to the bank on this one. Certainly get the card cancelled but do press for a refund once they have investigated.

If the bank are refusing to investigate further, you should go to the financial ombudsman:

www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk