Just a reminder, always guard your pin.

[TheAnimus]

Also, leaving a card behind the bar is a risky move.

My credit card got charged via pin entry, they attempted tens of thousands, thankfully it doesn't appear that they got that much.

The problem is, unlike with the old signature method, I now have to show its fraud, go through the effort of the police etc, should be fairly straight forward our tab was < £100, and they made many thousand pound transactions (oddly even after the card was obviously locked).

I can't comment any more because of the on going police investigation, but just remember, keep your pin covered at all times!

[peterb]

Thank you. Timely advice with the run up to Christmas and the party season.

Hope it is resolved successfully and you recover all your losses.

[[GSV]Trig]

The whole pin thing is a crap idea imho, means that instead of the banks having to deal with fraud its put back into the customers hands, saving the banks shed loads of money I should imagine..

[TheAnimus]

The whole pin thing is a crap idea imho, means that instead of the banks having to deal with fraud its put back into the customers hands, saving the banks shed loads of money I should imagine..

Indeed, but signatures were just so easily copied and forged!

The problem is now card companies are negatively insentivised to help you. They get the transaction fee of the fraud, and your left footing the bill. Banks on the other hand often value the customers because they make more money, but in the case of my card company I'd imagine they make sod all from me as I had the direct debit always set to full amount payment (well not anymore lol).

The plot thickens, apparently they attempted over fifty grand, ROFL I mean they are either seriously stupid, or seriously organised criminals, I can't imagine how anyone could argue we spent that much, and that we are the liars. Which means either they're greedy n stupid (I can't see how a staffer would benefit, it must be those running the merchant account) or they are seriously organised and a staff member was billing from a seperate merchant account, which they will just close the SPV and declare bankrupcy walking away with the money.

So when leaving your card behind the bar, don't do it if you've used it before there, look for modifications on the terminal, if the screen has had a pressure put on a corner of it, destroying the select lines where the amount might be etc.

[Biscuit]

recently been a victim of fraud myself, not to that kind of magnitude it was just a couple of small >£50 payments. The bank flagged it and i think i managed to get everything back although i have absolutely no idea how or where they managed to do it.

Make sure you always ask for a paper reciept and check it. If im ever a bit unsure about the location i will keep a record of it using a photo then uploading it to my evernote account.

[Sputnik]

I had my card details used to purchase stuff online a couple of years ago. The first I knew of it was when the store it had been used at sent me a receipt for the first purchase with a deliver address in Camden.
What got me the most was after I had been onto the bank and cancelled my card they allowed another transaction to go through. In the end I phoned the store myself and asked them to blacklist me and my card from their store (which they did).

The Police were totally uninterested even though I had the deliver address where the stuff was going to, They reluctantly gave me a crime reference number and said it was the banks responsibility. One of the bank staff said I should not be upset as it was a theft from them . I thought when money was going from MY account it was theft from me?

[Saracen]

Also, leaving a card behind the bar is a risky move.

My cards do not go out of my sight, under any circumstances. If a waiter/waitress wants to walk off with it, I go with them. There are certainly no circumstances under which I'd leave the card behind the bar. Partly, that's because I spend minuscule amounts of time in bars, but even if I did, no way would I do that.

I won't even use cash machines (ATMs) unless they are securely inside a bank's premises, and haven't for, well, 20 years or more. This is a reaction to several factors, not least having spent several years in the technical team for a major manufacturer of those machines, and therefore knowing just how fast and easy it can be to copy cards, having done it (legitimately) many, many times. Of course, that was pre-chip 'n' pin, but it left me with a healthy scepticism for the whole process.

Finally, I make a point, where possible and practical, to pay by cash rather than card. This is partly about card security (on the basis that they can't copy it if it stays in your pocket), but also about not giving a card company (be it credit card, or my bank if it's a debit card) any more data about my spending habits and patterns than I absolutely have to. Mainly, I use a card for distance purchases, and not for very much else, unless it's either required (like hotel/car-hire bookings) or where I want Consumer Credit Act protection for large purchases.

So yeah, sure, guard your pin and your card, and the best way of doing it is to only use it where necessary. And sure, it's convenient to use a card rather than carry (and get) cash, but the downside is the risk and hassle if it gets abused.

[finlay666]

(on the basis that they can't copy it if it stays in your pocket)

Unfortunately for you this won't be the case when NFC cards become more popular as someone bumping into you could read enough info from the card to attempt to process a payment (or even being in close proximity)

[TheAnimus]

I wounder if I can patent a lead lined wallet? They might become fashionable real soon.

[Rob_B]

Faraday wallets already exist for this exact reason

[Biscuit]

i wonder if they got me with some kind of mobile scanning thing. Might invest in a new wallet, mine is hanging on as it is :s

[roachcoach]

I got the whole chip & pin thing, but what to this day I still never understood was why they would remove a security layer (sigs) at the same time.

Be like removing the locks from a car door because now we have immobilisers.

[kalniel]

Unfortunately for you this won't be the case when NFC cards become more popular as someone bumping into you could read enough info from the card to attempt to process a payment (or even being in close proximity)

Yeah, every one of my cards now has contactless payment

Thankfully you can disable it and there's a very low limit on transactions anyway.

[Sputnik]

Thankfully you can disable it and there's a very low limit on transactions anyway.

I know the limit of wireless transaction was said to be around £10 but, I didn't know you could disable it.

[Sputnik]

I got the whole chip & pin thing, but what to this day I still never understood was why they would remove a security layer (sigs) at the same time.

Be like removing the locks from a car door because now we have immobilisers.

The signature wasn't that good anyway as it was not used for buying on the internet or over the phone.

[roachcoach]

Neither is the pin though and that's how this one was done.

Problem with a PIN is if it's right, you never question it - you cannot. PIN + sig...well...then you at least could.