As you are mostly aware
, my income is currently mostly via 'book', sales, enough to get by but not enough to be extravagant so when my bank advised that I had low funds, just a week into the month, I was, to say the least, a bit down and looking at a month of beans on toast. However, when I checked my account the lack of funds wasn't due to me squandering my resources up in GOC, okay I spent money on fares and did buy a pair of walking shoes, no, I'd apparently bought stuff in a pet store and through an overpriced toy shop.
To cut a long story short, my card details had been scammed and on checking, two more large amounts had gone on similar spurious purchases a few weeks ago. The card is now cancelled, funds will be returned to my account and I can probably run to cheese with the beans whilst the bank have started a fraud investigation. I must admit to being quite relaxed about checking statements, particularly the last year or so when plastic has been the default payment method, there are a lot of transactions, so whilst i'm careful with where and how I use my card it was something not directly connected which alerted me.
The moral of this tale, check your statements, it can happen to you.
Its not confined to any one bank or any particular location but the fraudsters are greedy, you might not notice a couple of quid in Greggs (other currencies/stores are available!) but a big purchase via a store you don't recognise/use is more likely to stand out and they will keep on hitting a 'good' account for as long as the card is active. Older, less savvy people are at particular risk, especially if all their funds are in one account.
I'll be changing my ways, maybe you should too.
Comments
Instead of beans on toast
a toast for the beans?
Thank you for the reminder to be careful with ones card(s).
It Happened To Me Too
A few years ago I had just returned from a holiday and went to get some cash from an ATM, with a card that I had not used while away. My transaction was refused, so I went into the branch where the ATM was located and asked for an explanation. The nice lady at the Customer Relations desk immediately checked my account details and showed me where I had supposedly made purchases in places like Amsterdam and London, when I hadn't left Australia. The scammers cleaned out that account, some A$6000 in about four or five transactions over four days.
To cut long story short I signed an affidavit that these were not my purchases,and the bank refunded all my money in two weeks, while my old card was terminated and a new one issued with new numbers and of course a new password.
Nowadays I check my balance daily and keep that balance as low as I can, using cash whenever possible. I was lucky in that I had/have a savings account which is not attached to any card, otherwise I would have been ripped off for much more.
The banks do carry insurance against these scams so, if it happens to you, report it immediately and you should be reimbursed. Also the technology has moved on and now you can swipe for small amounts (up to A$100 here) which covers daily purchases and somewhat limits the amount which can be stolen, as long as you check your balance regularly. I am not yet sophisticated enough to use my watch!
However, when it happened, it gave me a really nasty feeling to find I was temporarily broke. One good piece of advice from Maddy is don't keep all your funds in one account.