Fraud on account with no usage outside direct debits

[juggsy]

Received a text message the other day from Lloyds saying we were about to go overdrawn. This was for our joint account which, despite having a debit card each, is never used for anything other than direct debit bill payments, and only enough goes in each month to cover the household bills. Turns out, someone had got hold of my wife’s debit card details and started making purchases on Amazon and another random site which Lloyds blocked.

Neither of us have ever used the debit cards anywhere, not for cash withdrawals, purchases, or online shopping. Not have we ever given out the bank details, other than to set up bill payments via DD. I even went through the entire transaction history to validate this (as the account is only a couple of years old).

So how the hell can someone get hold of the details to make a successful purchase? I see Lloyds are in the news today where people could see other folks account details. Anyone else experienced this before?

[NortonES2]

New direct debit card intercepted in the post?

[juggsy]

NortonES2 said:

New direct debit card intercepted in the post?

Nope, debit cards will still a way away before expiry so nothing incoming. The number of the card used also corresponded to the current one

[Shooter McGavin]

Do you ever carry the debit card on your person? Victim of contactless card skimming fraud perhaps?

https://www.equifax.co.uk/resources/identity-prote...

Edited by Shooter McGavin on Thursday 12th March 12:49

[juggsy]

Shooter McGavin said:

Victim of contactless card fraud perhaps?

https://www.equifax.co.uk/resources/identity-prote...

As I say the debit cards haven’t left the house, and you can’t use contactless on Amazon

[LRDefender]

I've had something similar a while back and I am still non the wiser after the event, plus the bank weren't at all interested. The more I complained the more cash they gave me hoping I'd go away.

I hope you get everything satisfactorily resolved OP.

[Groomio]

Possible security breech ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g23npxpwgo

[juggsy]

Groomio said:

Possible security breech ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g23npxpwgo

Yeah I mentioned that in my OP, however what happened to us was a week or so ago

[juggsy]

LRDefender said:

I've had something similar a while back and I am still non the wiser after the event, plus the bank weren't at all interested. The more I complained the more cash they gave me hoping I'd go away.

I hope you get everything satisfactorily resolved OP.

Thanks - they’ve not bothered to follow up with anything which is part of the frustration, despite lots of initial threats that if we are claiming fraud ‘fraudulently’ there will be repercussions etc.

[OIC]

Inside job.

A bank employee has passed on your card details for money.

They were unlucky as you never use the cards so noticed quickly.

But they will be passing on thousands of customers card details so the bad guys still win.

Or it's you wife's 'friend' who swiped the details while he was 'visiting'.

[Shooter McGavin]

juggsy said:

Shooter McGavin said:

Victim of contactless card fraud perhaps?

https://www.equifax.co.uk/resources/identity-prote...

As I say the debit cards haven t left the house, and you can t use contactless on Amazon

Respectfully you didn't say they'd never left the house, you said neither of us have ever used the debit cards anywhere.

You could still have taken them out of the house in a purse/wallet but never used them, which is what I was alluding to.

Lots of people have an 'emergency' card that they never use but carry on their person. Those are vulnerable to RFID scanning and use on a site such as Amazon that does not demand CVV numbers apart from at initial registration.

[Philvrs]

Only last week i had a notification from my bank (first direct) that a transaction of £0.00 had been declined to amazon as the expiry date was incorrect for my card.
I guess there is a bot program just guessing the 16 digit numbers and other details, which somehow automates with amazon, and when they get a match at £0.00 nobody really notices and then they can empty the account quickly before detection.

[alangla]

It won’t solve your current problem, but you might want to consider using the Lloyds/BoS/Halifax app to freeze the card if you’re never going to use it. You can freeze it by category of transaction if you want as well.

[JoshSm]

OIC said:

Inside job.
A bank employee has passed on your card details for money.

Some banks have been known to have leaky call centres (especially the offshore ones) among other things.

Best one I ever had was an account emptied via an internal transaction, which was also backdated to get even more money out (at a date when a big lump sum had been there) as it magicked up a fat overdraft on an account that shouldn't have been able to have one.

At least that one was easy to prove it wasn't me because it could only be done from inside.

[Pachydermus]

When I added a new card to my amazon account a few weeks back I had to do the "verified by visa" thing so either amazon doesn't do that for all new cards or somehow they've also managed to bypass that.

[Sheepshanks]

LRDefender said:

I've had something similar a while back and I am still non the wiser after the event, plus the bank weren't at all interested. The more I complained the more cash they gave me hoping I'd go away.

I didn't get any money out of it, but had the same credit card hacked three times in quick succession after the card was re-issued - I stopped using it after the third time.

What amazed me was the people I spoke to at the card company gave the impression of absolutely not giving a toss. I can only assume it was an inside job.

[WayOutWest]

JoshSm said:

OIC said:

Inside job.
A bank employee has passed on your card details for money.

Some banks have been known to have leaky call centres (especially the offshore ones) among other things.

Best one I ever had was an account emptied via an internal transaction, which was also backdated to get even more money out (at a date when a big lump sum had been there) as it magicked up a fat overdraft on an account that shouldn't have been able to have one.

At least that one was easy to prove it wasn't me because it could only be done from inside.

Yup, not just call centre employees either, the entire data looked after here https://lloydstechnologycentre.com/

[Jon39]

juggsy said:

Received a text message the other day from Lloyds saying we were about to go overdrawn. This was for our joint account which, despite having a debit card each, is never used for anything other than direct debit bill payments, and only enough goes in each month to cover the household bills. Turns out, someone had got hold of my wife s debit card details and started making purchases on Amazon and another random site which Lloyds blocked.

Neither of us have ever used the debit cards anywhere, not for cash withdrawals, purchases, or online shopping. Not have we ever given out the bank details, other than to set up bill payments via DD. I even went through the entire transaction history to validate this (as the account is only a couple of years old).

So how the hell can someone get hold of the details to make a successful purchase? I see Lloyds are in the news today where people could see other folks account details. Anyone else experienced this before?

I had an almost similar situation, although in my case, the card was a replacement and was only used once, at an ATM positioned in the outside wall of the bank branch holding the account.
The sum stolen was negligible, a payment at a fast food shop that I have never used. Presumably it was a test transaction, prior to attempting a more significant amount.
I acted immediately, so nothing further was stolen.

It made me realise the following;

Debit Card - The bank is in charge and if they become awkward, we cannot do anything.
Credit Card - We are in charge. Refunds are same day and it is up to the card company to deal with their 'merchant'.

I now only use debit cards very rarely, and then only at ATMs situated inside a building.
Every payment is now by AMEX (if acepted) to obtain the cashback.
In the case of non acceptance, then another cashback credit card is available.

Lloyds Bank now offer a 1% (for the first 12 months) credit card, which is better than AMEX.
After applying and intending to maximise the cashback, I discovered there is a concealed trick.
They issue the card with only a very modest credit limit, therefore retricting the cashback amount to a maximum of £120. Cannot blame them.

[Simpo Two]

Jon39 said:

Lloyds Bank now offer a 1% (for the first 12 months) credit card, which is better than AMEX.
After applying and intending to maximise the cashback, I discovered there is a concealed trick.
They issue the card with only a very modest credit limit, therefore retricting the cashback amount to a maximum of £120. Cannot blame them.

Whenever I've looked at cashback cards in recent times there's always a limit somewhere that makes it not worth the bother. Gone are the happy days of 1% on everything.

[Somebody]

Jon39 said:

They issue the card with only a very modest credit limit, therefore retricting the cashback amount to a maximum of £120. Cannot blame them.

You can request the credit limit to be increased in the app, which is what I did after 3 months of having the card.