I have been ruddy well cloned!!

Got a text the other day from my bank asking if I had authorised a payment made in Germany, and they gave me a number to text back Y or N. So obviously sent back N. Next step someone phoned me, from flippin' Mumbai, with an accent so thick it was virtually indecipherable. After a load of 'security' questions, he passed me onto their fraud dept. where another guy in Mumbai with an even thicker accent went through the same security questions plus a whole lot more. In the end I got fed up of having to say, 'what' 'pardon' 'could you say that again please' that I said I would have to hang up and go to my bank.

Which I did, only to find that this was actually the second transaction and that one had actually gone through in USA (to the same company) the day before. I was at my branch for over an hour sorting it out as that earlier one had actually gone through. No-one could explain why the second transaction had been queried but the first had not.

Anyway long story short, card cancelled, new one issued, and the earlier transaction was refunded while the second one was stopped.

I made a formal complaint about the company still using overseas call centres and am seriously thinking about closing account.

The thing is this was from an account which is rarely used, so when it was cloned is anyones guess. The young lady in the bank says that nowadays the people doing it sometimes wait years before actuating the cards.

Worth knowing.

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

won't get much from mine, the Nationwide phone me if I make an unusual for me payment.

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

How do we know your the real Daisymay, please send me £10,000 so i can confirm your ID

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

Daisymay, I'm still going through a bad time after having my bank account illegally accessed in November.

I'd already written in response to their letter recently on two of the transactions and thought the matter was closed. They'd redebited my account with the two sums then corrected them.

I then came home from convalescence to find yet another letter, re the amount over £79, stating if they didn't hear from me with 14 days that I had nothing to do with it, it too would be redebited. I phoned them, almost in tears, cos it was the day my pain was bad enough to have me scurrying to the gp emergency clinic, where I was given the antibiotics and my oxycodone.

I said I'm not well enough to write a letter and didn't need this extra stress, so after consultation she said that was fine, she'd refer it to the fraud team. After a few days I logged on to my online account and sent them a secure message, confirming the call.

Some weeks ago I'd received a letter from a travel insurance company stating that they became aware in November their IT system had been illegaly accessed, and that my card could have been comromised. I sent that letter, in original, with mine in reply, stating I knew nothing about the transactions.

I have a reply from them but I need to access my account from the desktop, not the iPad.

My debit card was immediately cancelled, two days before leaving for a holiday. Was very inconvenient. When I spoke to the bank on my return, the scatty cow hadn't ordered the new one!! And with the rise of unscrupulous and greedy employees, what protection do we really have with our bank details and cards?

Hope you get sorted soon.

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

What a flamin' nightmare for both of you Daisymay and Jazzi.
I live in fear of that happening to me. It recently happened to a friend of mine as well. I have to do my Mum's banking as well as my own and I am constantly checking the accounts, but these buggers are getting more and more clever aren't they.
Hope you get everything sorted once and for all.

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

I had a card cloned and the investigators told me that the fraudsters hacked the 'phone line from the "secure" Debit / Credit card line!

Apparently they have software that gives them all the details they need to clone your card, even the PIN, because they get that too as you type it in and a fairly cheap bit of kit can decipher the PIN in seconds.

Now I never use a Debit Card (or Credit Card) when it's a small company that I don't know well, especially out in the sticks somewhere.

If it's something I really need or want, I'll go and get cash. stevmk2

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

I don't have any dealings with banks or credit cards, the post office is good enough for me, if I need something on the internet my son gets it for me and I give him the cash, you hear so many stories of folks being conned every day. Glad it worked out in the end after all that hassle Des.

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

It's a dangerous game replying to text messages DaisyMay, that in itself would very often be bogus. If you get any more I would recommend not replying but ringing your branch direct instead to check if the call is genuine. Sometimes replying to some of these unsolicited text messages just proves to the crooks that the phone is active and they will sell your number on to other organisations that will bombard you with even more unsolicited texts and calls.

The trick is to always assume the worst with unsolicited calls, and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Times have changed and it's a bad old world out there for the unwary..

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

It may sound a bit pessimistic, but I agree with Plantman, especially about replying to texts. I don't think I would respond to that sort of text at all, I would have telephoned my bank.

Re: I have been ruddy well cloned!!

Yes, for once I agree with plantman, but if you are insignificant enough, you can avoid bogus text's in the first place.