My Fraud Story And How Can You Avoid It

15:36:00 Angela White 2 Comments


Around the time of the Christmas holidays, on one of my breaks at Uni while I was fast pacing across the windy bridge you've probably walked on when you're in London, to get a Starbucks to perk me up. I received a text from good ol' Barclays. Y'know, probably just letting me know about internet banking or something, or so I thought.

I was kind of worried when I read that my card had been used to purchase three xbox's and they wanted to confirm whether or not it was me because it looked suspicious. So as I got end of the bridge there is a long street full of shops, places to eat but mostly importantly Barclays Bank.  So I zoomed to the bank and I wanted to confirm that it was definetely from them just incase it wasn't and they asked for my card details to put the money back in and I was scammed like that.

The woman kind of gave me a glare and like of course this is us while she confirmed that it was, but you just never know, I just wanted to double check. Thanks for your warming embrace while my heart is beating a bit faster than usual.

Once I got through to the fraud department the next day they suggested that I go to Barclays and get a copy of my bank statement and circle anything that wasn't me.  Anyone with student finance will tell you that it does not go a long way after using it for necessities, learning from previous times i've tried  a lot harder to make sure i'm not spending on things that realistically I could go without. I knew that train fare, oh hello expensive London train travel that you keep raising, was definitely me.

Taking £40 out and then another £40 out within 20 minutes, definitely wasn't me because it was the day before Ollie's Birthday and we didn't go out because we were going out the next day to celebrate and it had been taken out at a cash machine when we were indoors so it didn't add up.

My stomach was feeling queasy because I thought it was only 3 Xbox's then there were other things I didn't know about so I had to sit there and go through everything properly. There were some things which I wasn't sure if it was them or me but I didn't circle it because I wanted to be 100% sure but with some things it was more clearer than others.

I couldn't even use my card during this period, right before Christmas wondering if it would get sorted out before then because I was concerned about all the gifts I wanted to buy. I tried going into the bank to physically withdraw money so they could see it was me and they couldn't give me anything at the time because my account was locked while they were sorting it out. This definitely wasn't exciting around the holidays.

I sent off the copy and anxiously waited for a reply. I eventually got a letter saying that they were  reimbursing me with some of the money, so I was so thankful that it was finally resolved in the end. I'm not sure if it was everything but I'd prefer that over nothing at all. I was so grateful that Barclays had texted me to tell me there had been some usual activity otherwise I literally wouldn't have known about it.

How can you protect yourself?


Be careful when using your card- I've become so careful where I used my card. For me, using it in clothing stores and well known stores I think are okay but I try to avoid using it in corner shops because you never know if they can be hacked. Not even by the company themselves but even by any third parties. If you want to be extra secure you could always just take out cash and use it whenever you can.

Cash machines- This is how I feel that my card got frauded. I used to use cash machines a lot and I watched a programme about how people can put something in the cash machines which would clone your card as it goes in and it made me think that maybe that's how my card got frauded. I'm just guessing because I wouldn't really cover my pin because I would just type it in fast. If I use a cash machine now, I only use one inside or just outside a bank because they have cameras and they're a bit more secure.

Don't have any pictures of your card on your phone- Ages ago, maybe even years ago, I was trying to show my sister my new Barclays personalised card feature when they first came out. I took a picture of it but didn't end up sending it just incase someone got hold of her phone if she lost it and theres my card on there. Although I forgot to just delete it altogether for a while, I just hope no one hacked into my phone at the time. I doubt you've got a picture of your card on your phone but if you do then please get rid of it just incase!

Online- The wide expansion of the internet means that we rely on it to do so much, i'm sure we're quite cautious about it already. Apart from making sure a website is secure with the little padlock sign, it's best to always type in the website and not click on it in an e-mail from a third party that isn't the actual brand, like H&M letting you know they've got a snazzy new sale. People can use a key logger which reads what you type and it's quite scary when you think about it.

Check yourself before your wreck yourself- This is a song lyric that I find best describes this situation. If your bank has the option of texting you to let you know about suspicious activity, how would you if they do that, until it actually happens? You could ask them if they do, or if you're not an avid checker of your statement like I never was, it might help to have a look often. Especially if you feel something isn't right.

Angie xo


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2 comments:

  1. My girlfriend had her card cloned over Christmas and everything was taken out - she's also with Barclay's and they replaced her card and reimbursed her but admittedly we're still less than great with our cards and taking care with them - we really do need to learn from our mistakes.

    Sammy xo.

    www.littlefickle.com

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    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh, everything! That's crazy, I'm glad everything sorted now though, they probably do it over christmas because they think people won't notice but i'm glad Barclays are really helpful in those situations xx

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