Credit card

letter full of apologies and reassurance from Bank!

Or a dodgy cash machine.

You've used a dodgy site then.

Was all done online, card never left my ?!!

Thanks Ana I found that article very useful.

Have answered my own question by googling.

www.which.co.uk/money/banking/banking-security-and-new-ways-to-pay/guides/new-ways-to-pay/contactless-cards

This Which article is dataed November 2016 so pretty up to date.

I have alerts set up on my Santander cards they send me a text if more than £200 is taken.
I hope you get the money back without problems.

I have a contactless debit card, but no credit card.

Not sure whether fraudsters can take as much money from debit cards?

They're looking very well settled and happy. Lovely!

Jane10
Yes!!
yes, a dodgy site I think!

It was a year old article.

I don't know whether that is an old article. Most cards being issued these days have the contactless facility. One has to specifically request not to have this.

Have you ever been told you can hold up your credit card to a wireless payment terminal, and without inserting your card, pay for something? For most of my friends, and the world in general, the answer is no

Not so any more. Well mine is contactless and they're becoming more common. I get 5% cash back from using contactless too!!

I read that article too. My cards do allow contactless payment so are potentially vulnerable. They are common in the UK maybe not so much in America?

There are several ways this could have happened.

Have you let your card out of your sight even for a few seconds at e.g. a petrol station or a restaurant? They can be cloned in seconds and your PIN number recorded.

Have you used a cash machine which looked a bit odd lately e.g. A bit chunky or very slow. Our local Sainsbury's had their machine tampered with and it was almost impossible to spot, but when everything was working rather slowly it was reported and quickly taken down.

Or have you bought something online from a site you've never used before? Don't be fooled by thinking everything's OK just because there's a padlock sign. These can be faked too.

I had mine cloned in 2007 when buying petrol from a local Shell garage.

interesting article on the rfid sleeves/covers.

www.infoworld.com/article/3023422/security/why-you-dont-need-an-rfid-blocking-wallet.html

Well having read this I've been straight on to Amazon to order one of those protective cases for my cards. Very sorry you've had this awful stress grannylyn but its been a good wake up call for me and others too I'm sure.
PS are you the person who adopted the 2 black cats?

Glad all is resolved.
Do you have RFID protection sleeves or wallets for your cards, passport etc? They can prevent your info being stolen without your knowledge while you are carrying them.
www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=rfid+protection&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=rfid+protection&_sacat=0

Bank refunded money

I have an alert system set up with the same bank grannylynn which tells me if someone is trying to use my credit card for purchases over £200.

Sorry to hear your story,*Grannylynn*.
Mine was stolen ages ago and the thieves managed to spend over £2000 before I cancelled it - I was reimbursed (LloydsTSB).
For many years after that I never had a credit card, only a debit card.
I've got one now, rarely use it, and keep checking online.
In France, where we live, banks only issue debit cards.

Was this an official communication from your bank grannylyn? I do hope so. A few years ago I had a phone call with a similar message, supposedly from my bank. I was suspicious and rightly so, as it turned out to be a scam.

The bank say the card used online, said card has never been out of my sight! Their fraud dept are investigating as we speak! Naturally card cancelled.

A similar thing happened to us but nowhere near as much money as you, grannylyn. The bank refunded the money but I now only keep enough in the current account for our weekly needs and transfer funds online as and when.

It's a heart stopping moment. Hope it is all resolved ASAP

We had something similar happen and the bank refunded all £800+ of it without quibble.

The only thing that annoyed me was that they seemed to have no interest whatsoever in catching the criminals which would have been very simple indeed as one of the items that they had used the card for was to pay their council tax bill and the reference number was on our bank statement! Lloyds just shrugged their shoulders!

I am sorry that you have this irritation as a start to the year - the only way now is up!