Bag's Rants

Chip and PIN working.

Well the Chip and PIN part seems to be. I've just had a letter from the fraud department of one of my credit cards. Fell through the door this morning dated 11-September. Suspicious activity on the account and could I ring up. So I did.

Seems that there have been three withdrawals of cash from my account this month. One on the 9th for £500 and two on the 10th for £200 each. Total of £900 plus cash withdrawal charges.

Must have been someone with your card and PIN. My heart sank. I don't keep things locked away from the kids and of course this means their friends as well. In reality anyone could have taken it and used it. But the PIN, how did that get found out? Some cards which I have never used still have the PIN in their little wrappers. I looked for the card and couldn't see it. I could have had it and a PIN wrapper nicked. So let's get some details on when to narrow it down.

As well as the cash withdrawals, which were from a bank at the other side of Chester, there was no other activity on the card. However, the branch used for all the withdrawals should have CCTV on the ATMs a bit of good news. Then it went surreal. On the 2nd of this month someone rang up, identified themselves with my DOB and mothers maiden name. They then changes the address for my account. On the 4th they rang again and ordered a new card and PIN. Card arrived on the 8th and was verified on the 9th. The first set of transactions took place 9th and 10th, then the card was stopped because of unusual activity. Smart computer not so sure about the processes though. The cheeky b4$^4&ds even made a phone call asking why the card was stopped, forgot to note the date, although they could not supply other info besides DOB and mothers maiden name.

How many times do you get a call from your bank asking for your DOB and your mothers maiden name? Is it always your bank? I suspect that is how they got mine although I'm usually a bit of a pain about giving information out. But let's face it facts like DOB and maiden names are always easy to come by. Soon they will all be in a super duper new computer system for one thing.

In the meantime I found my card and the, unopened, PIN number envelope.

So I had to phone the police and report the crime. Get a reference number. All the details were recorded. Now I have to write to the card issuer with all the facts and they will start the investigation. They have an address, phone number, should have some CCTV so that sounds like a good start.

The Chip and PIN worked perfectly though. They couldn't withdraw the money without having the right PIN number and the right card.

posted by Bag @ 12:41 pm