Chip and PIN a reminder!

[Katharine]

Yesterday I had a most unpleasant phone conversation with a woman. Last week she had been to our shop and had paid for her purchases with her card. The young volunteer made a mistake and entered the sum wrongly, getting the decimal point in the wrong place so that she was charged hundreds of pounds instead of tens of pounds. Yes it was our fault BUT with Chip & PIN the onus is on the customer who is asked to 'check the amount and enter your PIN'. Legally that is it, by entering the PIN you accept the amount shown.

In our case, we realised the mistake at the end of the day and next morning when I was in, I authorised making a refund. This morning she rang demanding that I make a refund, at which I took great delight in telling her I had already done it, but as we had no contact details I had not been able to send the chit "Well you can, now" There was no realisation that she had been in error as well as our person, there was no thanks that we had tried to put things right as soon as we could. No realisation that yes I was in my office dealing with people like her on a Bank Holiday!

Please, whenever you buy things by card, check the amount before you enter your PIN!

[J.R.]

People around the Mole Valley District tend NOT to use C & P in petrol stations and small convenience stores locally, as recently, there have been attempted large cash withdrawal from their accounts - Usually in Malasia.

The police don't seem to be any the wiser. That's why I stick to good old cash !

[Katharine]

Yes I have heard about those JR. Very nasty business and very difficult to trace as by the time it is noticed the cameras have been moved on.

[J.R.]

If you are dining out, and the lovely waiter/waitress presents you with a plate for you to place your credit card on, DON'T !

Chances are he/she scuttle off and before debiting your card for the bill, someone will clone your cards details !

A friend of ours got caught like this some months ago in a top London restaurant, owned by a TOP T.V. Chef !!

[jhopgood]

If you are dining out, and the lovely waiter/waitress presents you with a plate for you to place your credit card on, DON'T !

Chances are he/she scuttle off and before debiting your card for the bill, someone will clone your cards details !

A friend of ours got caught like this some months ago in a top London restaurant, owned by a TOP T.V. Chef !!

Using the chip should reduce this as they have to bring the machine to your table for you to pin in.
But it is not only in restaurants where this can happen.
We never found out but believe it happened in a fancy store in Buenos Aires, when my wife bought something and paid by card.
She and card then went off to Spain and I was amazed to see on the next statement that she had managed to spend $15,000 in Mar de Plate, (about 400 km south of Buenos Aires), Miami and New York. All the time my wife was in Spain and nowhere near these places.
Managed to get the money back and sort it all out before the debit hit my account, mainly I think because I worked in the bank, but a friend here in Spain got $40,000 debited to his account in similar circumstances and it took him ages to sort it out.
In these days of internet access to accounts, I check my accounts on a daily basis to identify any strange transactions and hopefully stop them before it gets out of hand.

[midget]

Some companies do keep a close watch on this. Joe was telephoned twice by M&S Money to say they had stopped transactions that appeared to be out of order, and then issued a replacement card.

[englishangel]

Two weeks ago my daughter paid for some petrol at Tesco in Watford on her debit card as she was the only one with her purse on her, then the next time she tried to use it half an hour later at Asda in Watford it was refused. As it was for some clothes and make-up for her she was more than miffed. No amount of telling her that it was for her security would appease her.

Her brother had his card cloned or something and it had been used to pay for petrol at Tesco, but this was before chip and pin.

[Great Plum]

People around the Mole Valley District tend NOT to use C & P in petrol stations and small convenience stores locally, as recently, there have been attempted large cash withdrawal from their accounts - Usually in Malasia.

The police don't seem to be any the wiser. That's why I stick to good old cash !

This also happened at the BP garage in Redhill - I think they are owned by the same people who own the Shell on the A25 which has had these issues...

[Mrs C.]

My card company seem to be quite good at spotting unusual payments.
A few months ago my card was refused in Sainsburys and within 10 mins of returning home I had a call from them asking if I`d spent x amount at x ...etc, which I hadn`t but it could have been me as it was at least in this country .

But the most amusing thing was that whoever had got hold of my details had very kindly donated £1 to Oxfam on my card!!!!

Of course all the rogue transactions were cancelled - I had to fill in a few forms, and I got my new card withing about 3 days.

[kayuki]

I work in a high street bank and truly the only way to be secure is not to use your card like that at all! pay with cash if possible- ensuring that you cover your PIN number whenever using an ATM. I prefer it this way too as I feel that people cannot trace exactley what I am doing- ie- when at work, just by looking at a customers monthly statments- I can tell quite alot about their lifestyle, their patterns, what ATM they usually use and what time they usually use it- where they do their weekly shop- what type of phone they have, where they pay the bill or top it up. how often they travel......you get what I mean- it's like a story in numbers. People tend to stick with a routine and it is this that petty thieves pick up on when planning something.

It is worth knowing that as long as you keep a close eye on your statments- online banking probably easiest way and you report anything you do not recognise or think is wrong straight away- you will get your money back eventually.

Also ensure that no-one takes your card away from you- there is no need- it should ALWAYS STAY IN YOUR SIGHT. If a cashier takes your card - then gets distracted and walks off- call them back and get your card back first- credit card fraud is soso easy- don't let the card out of your sight.

[Ajarn Philip]

I work in a high street bank and truly the only way to be secure is not to use your card like that at all! pay with cash if possible- ensuring that you cover your PIN number whenever using an ATM. I prefer it this way too as I feel that people cannot trace exactley what I am doing- ie- when at work, just by looking at a customers monthly statments- I can tell quite alot about their lifestyle, their patterns, what ATM they usually use and what time they usually use it- where they do their weekly shop- what type of phone they have, where they pay the bill or top it up. how often they travel......you get what I mean- it's like a story in numbers.

Well, I wish someone would tell HSBC that - I've been in Thailand 5 years, using my ATM card once a month or so, but it still gets denied once in a while on security grounds, then I have to phone a charming lady in India to confirm I am who I am and where I am (and have been for 5 years!). I don't know how many times I've told them. The calls were so regular at one point that they gave me a free number to call. Yes, I accept that Thailand is a high risk area, and I realise that to a certain extent they're taking care of my interests, but I LIVE HERE! And I can't help feeling that if one day it is stolen and used by someone else, that will be when they don't act. At least I don't panic any more when my card is rejected - the first few times it really put the wind up me. It's not as if I can pop into the local branch and sort it out...

[kayuki]

Really annoying! It;s difficult though- it's because banks don't want to get the blame for releasing your money willy nilly. Not sure how HSBC works- but I work in the premier department for Barclays and we have a system called holiday flagging. As we look after wealthy clients they are always globe trotting on holiday or living abroad (those horrid taxes) so we get this alot. All our clients have to do is to let us know about their whereabouts- then if their card is used- ew can look up if they have informed us and if the info matches up. If it does, then the transaction is passed.

I am suprised that such a global bank has such problems with this matter!