I am a victim of Card Skimming / Cloning

Orginally posted Dec 07

I have recently become the victim of card skimming and had money taken from my account to pay for mobile phone bills and prepay credit.

This has never happened to me before but I’ve heard a lot about it in the news. Obviously there’s never a good time for it to happen, but right before Christmas is a real kick in the teeth.

It worries me because I always use the same 5 or 6 machines and determining which one it was could be impossible. First of all, how do you tell if the ATM has been tampered with? I do look and see if anything ‘extra’ has been added but I’ve never noticed anything. Secondly, the offender(s) responsible may have moved the card reading device.

Luckily for me it looks like there is a good chance I will receive my money back. I do happen to have a pay-as-you-go phone with one of the companies and have asked them to see if anyone else is using my card details. They have verbally agreed to refund the money I have lost and I have raised a dispute with my bank. I should receive the money within 10 weeks. The phone company have promised to get back to me today (Wednesday 4^th December) with the name and address of the person. I will then pass these details on to the Police.

In the meantime my bank cancelled my card and is issuing a new one. They have also increased my overdraft limit considerably to cover me over the festive period. The problem being with that is I will be paying interest on the money I’m borrowing. I will have to recoup this money from the bank once my money has been refunded from the phone company.

Here’s a couple of useful articles about card fraud and how to prevent it:

http://www.safefromscams.co.uk/CardSkimmingFraud.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3256799.stm

http://www.cardwatch.org.uk/default.asp?sectionid=5&pageid=82

UPDATE: 04/12/07 12.15

I've spoken to the phone company and they have informed me that they cannot give me the name and address of the person who has stolen my card details because of the Data Protection Act.

The a**hole has forfeited their right to safety under the umbrella of the Data Protection Act after they stole my details! There is a certain degree of injustice about the whole thing. I know it's there to stop people taking things in to there own hands but I just want to make sure that this persons details get passed on to the Police. The phone company has assured me that the investigation conducted by my bank will involve the Police at the relevant stage. I really hope they catch this person.

UPDATE: 19/12/07 12.00

All the money that was taken from my account has now been returned to me by my bank. The Police had been informed but I will never know if the person(s) responsible (whom I wish great misery and torment) were ever caught. Bad Times. I'm extremely pleased however, that the matter has been resolved within two weeks. Good times!