Re: Ever been cloned?

The good thing about Visa is if you keep a regular check on your online statement and alert them quickly to anything fraudulent they will refund your money. It only happened to me once a long time ago but there was no problem with the immediate refund.

Re: Ever been cloned?

Daughter-in-law had £2000 taken out of her Barclaycard credit card. She had paid for a holiday online so it was the only time she had ever used it. She did get the money back off Barclaycard eventually though.

Re: Ever been cloned?

It's very scary!

Re: Ever been cloned?

THEY DO WHAT? Nobody, absolutely nobody, should ask for that kind of information, and I can't believe that it is normal practice. I pay by direct debit to energy and water services, but they only ask for my account number and sorting code in order for me to pay them. I pay by direct debit in shops, which is safer for me than walking around with cash.

Anybody daft enough to give personal bank details like that deserves whatever they might get.

I'm presuming you're talking about a credit card transaction here, rather than direct debit and, if that is the case, then I'm glad I've never had a credit card in my life.

Re: Ever been cloned?

It's obvious that you've never had a credit card Mollie because what Spitfire says is quite normal. I buy things by telephone or on line all the time. How else can you pay other than giving them your credit card details ? Yes, if the person on the other end was dishonest they could use those details to buy things off your card but they would soon get found out and they would get punished and their business closed down. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but it's not that common.

Re: Ever been cloned?

They also want that information from a debit card.
Direct debit is different, because you don't need a card to do that, just your account number and sort code, but if those get in the wrong hands your account could soon be emptied.

Re: Ever been cloned?

I had something like that but I'm not really sure if it's the same as the OP says.
I used a Debit card at a local Farm Shop and about a week later my bank sent me an email to tell me that they thought it had been cloned because there had been 9 transactions that they thought were odd and didn't seem to fit my normal expenditure pattern.

I was quite impressed until I saw the list they sent - 5 mobile phones ordered and paid for online; four National Express Coach trips - ditto.
Online supermarket orders from depots 200 miles or more apart!
It had all been done online in places up and down the country and in the Irish Republic but what rang te most alarm bells they told me later was a large attempted purchase in Indonesia!

I never lost a penny thanks to my bank - The Co-Op - and the embarrassed local trader found someone had wire-tapped his Card Reader line when Smile / The Co-op contacted him!

My wife had her Debit Card withheld at a outside supermarket ATM once too but we didn't know that a false fascia had been fitted that, once removed, allowed the thief to get you card back, which was then cloned and details sent by mobile phone to waiting accomplices! stevmk2

Re: Ever been cloned?

I think it's probably safer to get cashback inside the supermarket, than use outside machines, but you can't find out your balance.

Re: Ever been cloned?

I went for an Indian meal in Romford, Essex. Paid with credit card.
Next day I got a call from the CC company asking me how I had had a meal in 2 Indian restaurants, one in Romford and another in Hounslow, Middx.

I received another CC bill with a £600 item in the USA.

I had all monies returned.

Re: Ever been cloned?

Precisely so - I never pay over the phone or online with a debit card as there's no guarantee you'll be reimbursed but a credit card will - I think they carry insurance to cover you. My daughter used a debit card on ebay and she was never reimbursed.