Be Excellent To Each Other

Despite cancelling my cards the moment I was mugged I have today had my brand new debit card charged for £324 in separate charges, leaving me with £8.32. I am going to cry. No, I AM crying.

I'm just so fed up of everything right now. Why is this world just so full of people that only want to hurt you and steal from you. No-one cares about anyone else any more. I'm so careful as well, and someone has just left me with absolutely nothing and will never give a second thought to who I might be or what they have done to me.

Some days I just want to lie down and go to sleep and never wake up.

Talk to Gnomes. He needs to make a phone call to your bank.

Also: BIG HUGS!

Oh Mimi

Yes, what are the transactions for? Do you have any kerosene?

Gah, you really don't have the luck, Mimi.

Do call your bank ASAP.

Ring the bank. As long as you report card loss the bank immediately -- which you did -- they are liable for the losses, not you. Don't talk to customer services, make sure you get through to fraud prevention who will resolve the situation much faster.

Don't understand how they could use your old card to bill the new card though, unless they have the same card numbers, which would be retarded.

That's £1008.32 more than I had when they got me 2 weeks ago

Sorry to hear that, Mimi. You're a magnet for bad luck. Have you been naughty and stepped out your bubble again?

It'll all be sorted though, surely? Although I do appreciate it's a monumental pain and your own problem until it is. Bastards.

It was a debit card. Considering that they are (in the case of Maestro) made up of:

4 Digit Card-type Identifier-Sort Code-Account Number

It will be the same card number. Not the same expiry though, and should have a different CVV2 - not that everyone asks for CVV2.

There's a fuckup here then, surely? As to my mind, when you cancel a card because it was stolen, it becomes unusable. Have I gone mad?

I have called the bank. Fill out forms, we'll contact the vendor, could take how many weeks? Don't know.

They are al charges for National Express, Birmingham, I think. It says 'NAT EXPRESS BIRMINGHA'. All the charges are for separate amounts. Bank were unhelpful and barely spoke English, totally without compassion or understanding. I just feel so low right now. They've blocked my new card.

They must have got the details from the card in the post, or at the place that makes the cards. I haven't even used it since it arrived.

Grr! Hulk smash muggers!

Don't be sad Mimi, I'm sure it'll be fixed in no time

he said it was my new card that had been used on the account. it arrived here on Monday, the charge was put through yesterday.

People can be scum. Hope you're ok, Mimi, and that it's sorted out sooner rather than later.

If you need cash I will give you lots of cash, as will everyone else, until this silly shit is sorted. I could say something about my muderous desires, but it seems redundant. Hnnnnnng!

Jesus, sorry to hear this, Mimi. Will you be able to manage until you get your money back?

Mimi that's awful.

Definitly talk to the banks fraud people, I did over a different matter and they were very quick to sort things out for me.

*great big monkeh hugs!*

xxx

Eh?

This is confusing. But in that case as well you are still not liable, so don't worry you haven't lost your money.

Sorry mimi

It happened to me just before Christmas last year. I got through to the fraud department straight away and the money was back in my account within a week.

RING THEM NOW.

I don't need cash hon, I will get some off of my Gran. I just want people to give me some respect and stop just taking everything I have.

Could someone be intercepting your post? Might explain a couple of things...

I think this is separate to the mugging fraud as it was your new card. Mimi, I know you don't feel up to it but you need to put a bit of force on the bank. Ring the police and get an incident number, then ring the bank back and refuse to hang up until they take you seriously. Who do you bank with?

It just means that card can't be used for online* transactions any more.

You can still make "no cardholder present" transactions as all you need is the card number and expiry date (the new one is easy to guess and the old one may still work for a time as the blacklist doesn't immediately get updated to all terminals). That may be what happened here.

I'd have another go at the bank as it doesn't sound they've treated you very well here at all.

* edit - I don't mean "internet" I mean where it's a chip and pin transaction, at an ATM or whatever.

I would go (ComicalGnomes - Ed) at the bank if this happened to me!! I don't normally like to complain about things as such but honestly, things like this make my blood boil!

Mimi, I hope you get it sorted as quickly and painlessly as possible! If you need it, I have a change jar that I can send you... but the postage may be a little hefty.

The bank didn't say anything about liability, just that I have to fill in forms and they will submit it to the fraud people. I asked how long it would take and they said they didn't know. i asked when the forms would be here 'hopefully in a week or so.' Hopefully? In a week or so?

I don't know if the post is being tampered with GJ, though yes, it would explain much. The envelope that the card arrived in didn't look tampered with, though, and the pin number that arrived was in tact. If it is the post being tampered with it must be further down the lne I think - the postman that has ben working here the past month or so is friendly and very helpful, and always gives me Jehova's Witness leaflets. I know that you can't rule anyone out, but he just doesn't seem the type. It must have happened before teh card reached me, which makes me wonder if the card was tampered with at the plant that makes them.

Also, it says 'BIRMINGHAM' which makes it seem like the card has ben used somewhere specific - if it was online surely it would just say 'nat express' and not a geographical place. i wonder if someone has somehow copied the card in the wy they say people do at cash machines.

i have not taken the card outside nor been to a cash machine or used it online or in any store though, so it can only have been tampered with before it got to me, or somehow they've used teh old card. The man from teh bank did say it was the new card though as the old had ben cancelled.

Really sorry to hear about this Mimi.

Yes, that is not on. Ring them back and explain what you've said below and tell them it has to be a corrupt employee of theirs. Also, ring the police first and get an incident number and give this number to the bank; that should stir them up a bit.

I think you bounced off a numpty on first line support. The proper fraud staff are normally better than this.

It's possible, but the BIRMINGHAM thing could also just be where National Express's ecommerce is situated. For example, Paypal payments on my statement always show as SAN JOSE as that is the registered office they run their card payments through.

It's definitely "no cardholder present" fraud, this. Using the details found on the old card, NOT the new one.

Gaywood's suggestion to pin it back on them is a good one: right now the easiest assumption for the bank to make is that you used the new card to make some purchases and are trying to avoid paying for them (which is why they are not appearing very helpful).
Raise a stink: if they can't keep your money safe you are changing bank.

Depends, as I explained above, if Mimi banks with NatWest it has to be the new card this is done from. Mimi, who do you bank with, and what type of card is it?

The cards have been cancelled. i will lie down for a short while because I am too shaky to speak or breathe properly now and need to calm down to be ale to speak.

Sorry and thankyou. Sorry for being a mess and thankyou for support and for offers of help, especially certain people who know who they are.

I will be OK, I just feel like my world s crumbling a little and I am in freefall. My nan will help me out with money in teh mean time, and I will be ok until I can get this sorteed out. I'm just a bit overelmed I think, especially after the mugging, that fight and now this.

I mus lay down as I am shakking and brething too fast.

I'm with Nationwide, RG.

OK, I meant "is much more likely".
But I agree, if the bank says it was done with the new card, the productive angle to take with them is that they've got a corrupt employee.

Poor mimi

On the plus side, have you spoken to the police? Using the card for National Express tickets might give them a way in to finding who did it, especially if they used the card to book a specific journey.

Fucking hell, Mimi. I hope it's sorted very soon.

Why do people always buy travel tickets with stolen cards? When my credit card was stolen (before it ever reached me) they spent some cash in Oddbins and then the rest was all train tickets.

Easy to resell for cash at close to face value, I would guess. Just go hang around the station asking people going in if they want to buy a ticket a bit cheaper than normal.

Maybe you can buy tickets over the phone with minimal security, and then return them to an office and get a refund in cash?.

Mine was EasyJet tickets. I thought using stolen money for something you have to turn up in person for, with ID, would be pretty stupid, but it seems to happen a lot.

Can't sell plane tickets on, can you?

Bah!

That is pants. I hope they are as good as my bank - I queried a dodgy payment and they put the money back while they investigated. Fingers crossed for you, and surely you're due a faith in humanity-restored moment sometime soon. Anyone got a fluffy bunny we can save?

Oh, definitely not. That is odd then, yes. Unless it was a terrorist travelling under fake ID...

A former colleague of mine (who has a name to rival mine, being Richard Bender) had his card cloned and used for a few grands worth of purchases. Someone in the government, years later, came to our office to take a statement from him because they had worked out the card fraud had been used to support a terrorism cell. He got a visit from a UK equivalent to Jack Bauer, although (much to our disappointment) there was hardly any shouting, no thumping on desks, and no torture.

This is, fwiw, NOT true of Barclays (and thus presumably VISA) debit. My cards have all had different numbers.

That said, it's followed a sequence.



Nat Express' head office is in Brum. This may be related.

I'm with Barclays, and whenever I get a new debit card (VISA) the number is identical to the previous card except the last four numbers.

Sorry to hear about this Mimi. Get your arse down to Nationwide rather than on the phone, and refuse to leave until they've sorted it.

Aye, but they only tend to change the last couple of digits, don't they? Mine went from **18 to **26

That said, the CV2 number doesn't follow a sequence, I don't think.

Yes I was trying not to make it clear on the board what the sequence was.

Mine have indeed gone up by 8 every time but I can't work out a sequence for the check digits no.

The CV2 should be randomly, it'd be hugely retarded for it not to be. Mind you the going-up-by-8 thing is stupid too, and curious. Perhaps the backoffice computers only support an issue number of 7 and add the issue number on to the card number to generate a unique combination.

As I said elsewhere, since about 2000, each NatWest Maestro card I've received has come with a totally new number.

The last 4 digits of my Barclays card went from 1025 to 1108 so there's no "8+" sequence I don't think.

Oh dear mimi! Really sorry to hear it....

As someone else has said, you do seem to be a magnet for bad luck! Have you broken any mirrors recently, or disturbed any Egyptian Pharaohs' tombs or Indian burial grounds? Have you checked your house for cursed monkey paws?

Bloody hell, Mimi. What a bloody rotten thing to have happen to you. Hope it's sorted out soon and with a minimum of stress.

When my card got ripped off the other week, the bank stuck an extra authorised overdraft to cover the shortfall caused by theiving bastards, so that the time between finding the problem and them investigating and covering the loss wouldn't be too much of a strain. It definitely might be worth seeing if your bank can do something similar - one less thing to worry about in a generally horrible situation, you know?

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

I did phone the police and my friend answered (not s rndom, he is a policeman.) He said tht this kind of thing is only handled by the bank now, and that the police rrely have anything do do with frad under a certain amount. He said to give him a call tonight though and tell him what I think has hppened and he will 'have a think about what might have happened'. I ddn't relly know what he meant but said I would.

I'm goign to go to the bank tomorrow and se if I can hurry things up a little, and maybe complain r omething.

Sorry - fingers seem disconnected at the mo and I am having trouble typing well, i always do, but it is even worse at the monent)

Yep, the police don't even investigate under £10k.

Which is why of course people do it.

That's a fucking disgrace, and a licence to steal.