Off Topic

[smallworld]

Beware of this happening to you !

Last week my other half 'lost his cashpoint card, he didn't realise until 2 days later. The same day he had an email which looked like it came from our bank asking him for further details following this loss. He fell for it, until this email asked for his pin number, he then reported it to our ISP.

Today, one of the mums at our tots group told me she had her purse stolen yesterday and reported it to the bank. She then had a phone call at work from someone from the bank saying that they had caught someone in the branch pretending to be her, and getting the pin number wrong, they'd called the police and were holding this girl in the branch until the police arrived.

The chap on the phone then asked her to confirm her pin so they could confirm this person as a fraud, without thinking, she gave out her pin number.

Silly, I know, but like she says, she was so caught up in the idea that they'd actually caught the thief, and she'd been called at work, that she gave up the number.

Fortunately they could only take out that days limit because she realised she'd been conned the minute she got off the phone.

The police are saying this is a popular scam at the moment targetting professional looking women who presumably hold lots of personal info in purses/handbags.

Please be careful, or have zero in your bank so the card gets eaten

 

wac

[Kathryn]

Thanks for that. That's probably the sort of trick that would've caught me off guard too.

 

I left my card in a cashpoint machine - unbelievably. DOH!! Luckily the next person in the queue was honest and handed it in straight away.

[smallworld]

I think I would have fallen for the phone call.

Having said that, I think I would have also been chuffed that I'd got a real live person phoning me, and not from the sub-continent !!

I am going to give my handbag a blooming good clearout, I keep lots of personal info in there, it's like an un-filing cabinet !

 

wac

[Viper]

The best way to combat this one is to say I'll ring you back, before giving out any information. If it is the bank they wont mind and if not then you can report the crime while you are there. Another idea would be to ask for their phone number, make up something about finding you pin and ringing them back, that way you have their phone number (if they are stupid enough) then ring the bank and tell them the number, they can check it out for you. Always keep in mind that the bank will never ask for your pin.

 

Viper.

[lil_me]

Always remember no company will ever ask you for your PIN/ATM number

 

These emails are being sent by all kinds people, the emails and sites they link to look legit, there are ebay, barclays, paypal, halifax, bank of scotland ones, just that I know of. Most either just asking to update account info, confirm details, or sometimes they say 'your account has been suspended we need these details to activate again'. These of course panic some more trusting people who enter all the info.

 

Always be on your guard, if you get an email from any of the above, or anyone else asking for card details, contact the company first and ask if its legit. Some even have what looks like an official email and web addy like customer.services@barclayonline.com etc

[Hectorshouse]

... fortunately don't have any credit cards and only have one cash card, but as I'm sooo cr@p with money I didn't even open the PIN number thingy when it arrived, burnt it, so if I want money I have to actually go into the building society to get in person with my card ... it makes me think twice before spending anything unecessarily. Harsh on myself but definitely a requirement, so this will won't get me ... thank goodness as I would've fallen for it as well, I tend to be a wee bit tooo trusting.

 

HHxx

[bevalee]

My bank account was hacked into about 6 weeks ago. I sent details to a company to start a Direct Debit and it didn't arrive. My account is still frozen and all of the money in it. I know this for my benifit but financially its been awful. I have had to open a new account, change all of my DD's over, incurred lots of charges even though it wasn't my fault.

 

Crazy, because a shred every thing that a throw out.

 

Last week my new credit card arrived and with it my new pin number at the same time. If that's not temptation, especially as our postman leaves the mail hanging out of the letter box!

[lil_me]

Thats shocking that you've had to pay all those charges

 

 

Postie issue-we had that a while ago with a new postie, he was leaving mail hanging out and it was getting wet, aswell as security issue, so as I missed him most mornings and wanted to shout at him I taped the box shut with gaffa tape and he had to knock. After that blasting he didn't do it again.

[Emum]

Beverley

 

The Guardian on Saturday has been running a series of articles for the last few months about bank charges, and the conclusion seems to be that if you challenge them and threaten to issue a small claims summons, the bank will usually waive the charges because they are worried that the courts will find they are unfair penalty charges, which will have knock on ramifications in respect of all the people who have in the past paid up without complaint. I would do a search of The Guardian's website for chapter and verse, then challenge the bank and see how you get on. You have nothing to lose but the price of a stamp, and potentially lots to gain.