Checking your bank statement

Anybody watched ‘Scam Interceptors’ on BBC one. We are up against some relentless, heartless fraudsters in this whole business.

Gundy
Not Eastern European, Far East. Passports are the Eastern Europeans forte. 😉

Over a decade ago there was a mix up with a pub with rooms booking I had made with booking.com. It was the pubs fault, they had copied the booking by hand into their diary on the wrong day. Luckily I had the printout with me and was able to prove my booking date.
They were full, but were able to put us up in a B&B across the road. It was shut for refurbishment but two rooms had been finished and we were comfortable accommodated. The original booking had been for a room only but we got breakfast at the B&B so all in all a good outcome.
When I got home I checked my bank statement just to make sure I hadn't been charged twice and saw to my horror several small outgoings over the previous 48 hours, amounting in total to around £1000. The payments were linked to my Paypal account and Paypal reimbursed me in full, with the separate amounts reappearing in my bank account over the next few days until everything was square.
Around the same time I started to receive emails from people accusing me of putting goods up for sale on Ebay and not sending them. The amounts stated by the people were identical to the amounts taken out of my account.
To this day I cannot fathom out how this was all connected (I'm certain it was) and despite being very happy with Paypals service I have not used them or Ebay since.

M0nica Thanks for the correction. Here they are reporting that Eastern European and some of the “stan” countries are being setup by the Russians to do this. Also Iran.
It’s everywhere.

I have only been scammed once and immediately got a text message from Barclaycard to ask if it really was me buying something in New York and getting tickets for Manchester United. I called the number they gave and the payment was immediately cancelled and my card blocked and a new one sent.

Another time they rang to check a payment of €1500 or so but that was genuine: my son had asked me to book a flight for him.

I don't use my debit card except to get cash at the bank because they started charging €0.8 for every transaction a couple of years ago. I always pay with my credit card and that way I only have the one big transaction per month from my current account.

And if you get a new card of any sort, the first time you use it you have to insert it into the machine and type in your pin. You can't do a contactless payment for the first use of the card. I think that is what is meant by "initialising".

I recently had a very satisfactory result of protection from Santander. It did result in me having to wait 6 working days (was quoted 4) to get both Debit and Credit cards replaced, but I was more than satisfied with the result.
I look at the smaller amounts closely at least once a month. I did miss one on a separate Lloyd's account but managed to stop it eventually but did pay around £100 before I noticed it. Made me more careful in future though.

Germanshepherdsmum

I never use my debit card except to withdraw cash - it’s too easy for your bank details to be captured and sold on and potentially your account emptied. I always use my credit card, I have never been told that I must use my debit card in a shop ‘to initialise it’.

You have to use your card with the pin number before you can use it contactlessly.

Must admit I check my banking every other day, if not daily.

Lemontart

Germanshepherdsmum

I never use my debit card except to withdraw cash - it’s too easy for your bank details to be captured and sold on and potentially your account emptied. I always use my credit card, I have never been told that I must use my debit card in a shop ‘to initialise it’.

You have to use your card with the pin number before you can use it contactlessly.

Yes you do, even with a new credit card, this must be done once. Just imagine the field day crooks would have if you only had to swipe your card without the first security measure.

Of course you do, and I have always done that by withdrawing cash.

Lots of comments re don't use a debit card. I have 2 cards, one main one, on the main a/c, that doesn't get used for any online or physical in-shop purchases, only a couple of direct debits.

I have a secondary a/c, that one with its card does get used for any online etc purchases, BUT I only transfer in enough funds from the main a/c for those purposes.

Someone else mentioned Spam emails -- you SHOULD try and remember to check that folder every couple of days. The software to filter out those 'spam' emails is extremely fallible, bordering on abysmal. I've had emails from my sister plonked into Spam, also from the local vicar, all sorts of genuine ones can get selected. Sure, probably 80%+ of Spam emails really ARE Spam, but that leaves quite a few that aren't!

I'm with Virgin Media, (They all have the same issues), and their GENUINE emails have sometimes been selected as Spam. Lots of the spoof emails that come through pretending that my a/c has been compromised do NOT get selected for Spam! Depressing isn't it!

I use my debit card for everything, including drawing cash out once a week, but my credit card has only ever been used for my Amazon bill…

Even after reading the thread?

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to pay in a cheque without actually going to the bank - by post?

And without a paying-in slip.

My OH has been given a cheque from a company. The bank is 20 miles away, he doesn't drive, is disabled, so a friend has to take us - and parking is at a premium anyway.

I haven’t had a cheque for ages but I think you can do it on your phone. Certainly at a PO (don’t know if they can supply paying in slips).

Dickens

Can anyone tell me if it's possible to pay in a cheque without actually going to the bank - by post?

And without a paying-in slip.

My OH has been given a cheque from a company. The bank is 20 miles away, he doesn't drive, is disabled, so a friend has to take us - and parking is at a premium anyway.

With my First direct account, you can just take a photograph of the check and it puts it in…

Germanshepherdsmum

Even after reading the thread?

Yes, I have had no problems and check my bank statement daily..

But your account could have been emptied overnight - what would you do?

Germanshepherdsmum

But your account could have been emptied overnight - what would you do?

I might be wrong, and obviously I’m not as educated about this subject as you are GSM, but I think my bank would compensate me, would they not?

Shinamae

Germanshepherdsmum

But your account could have been emptied overnight - what would you do?

I might be wrong, and obviously I’m not as educated about this subject as you are GSM, but I think my bank would compensate me, would they not?

I change my passcode frequently as well

Dickens you can deposit up to £2K a day by cheque on the HSBC app.

You can also pay in cheques at the Post Office if that is easier for you?

NotAGran55

Dickens you can deposit up to £2K a day by cheque on the HSBC app.

You can also pay in cheques at the Post Office if that is easier for you?

... ah, the Post Office!

We had one of those as well in town. The CO-OP took on the franchise.

... it didn't 'work out' and no-one knows why.

So we've lost the PO as well.

However, the nearest one is nearer than the nearest Bank - so I'll use that

Thanks!

Not necessarily shinamae. And you might have a long argument with them. That’s why a credit card is so much safer - if your credit card details are stolen the card company are generally very quick to refund you and the fraudsters won’t have been able to access your bank account, leaving you penniless, assuming you haven’t enabled them to get hold of your PIN. Using your debit card for anything other than withdrawing cash exposes you to fraud every time.

When there was fraud on our debit card, the bank stopped our card immediately. We were going on holiday abroad the next day. What made it worse was that it was the weekend a new card took a week to come and we had no access to cash
My daughter's wedding was cancelled on the first day of Lockdown. Thankfully the credit card company refunded most of the cash, when the hotel went bankrupt.
A bank wouldn't have done so, if we had used a debit card.

Germanshepherdsmum

Not necessarily shinamae. And you might have a long argument with them. That’s why a credit card is so much safer - if your credit card details are stolen the card company are generally very quick to refund you and the fraudsters won’t have been able to access your bank account, leaving you penniless, assuming you haven’t enabled them to get hold of your PIN. Using your debit card for anything other than withdrawing cash exposes you to fraud every time.

I don’t even know the pin number for my credit card, but I suspect my bank would give me that if I asked them then just use it the same as I use a debit card?
My credit card is with First direct as well so it probably won’t be a problem. I will ring them and see. Thank you for your advice.