Wednesday 4 January 2012

It begins............

It would appear that my premonition that 2012 is beginning badly is being borne out.

Our post was late today, arriving around lunchtime, and contained a letter from my bank informing me that they had identified some unusual activity on the business current account and that a member of the security and fraud team wished to speak to me URGENTLY.

Slightly worried, I called the designated number and had my worries confirmed when none of the security information I supplied on the automated transfer system was accepted.  Despite having done nothing wrong, by the time I worked my way through to speak to a member of the fraud team I was in full 'guilt mode' and convinced that the FBI, CIA, MI5 and Interpol would all be hacking into the call to witness my confession to major financial fraud.

Apparently my account had been 'compromised', despite nothing having been taken, and, so far as I could understand, no attempt having been made to use my debit card information.  However the fraud chap was adamant that their system had flagged up that the card was on the cusp of being used for nefarious purposes, and they wanted to check on three transactions in particular, made on 20 December.  

One was for an online payment to a supplier I've used for many years, another was for £1.97 to the Post Office I always use for sending out orders, and the third was for a cash withdrawal of a relatively small amount, just four days before Christmas.

Now, call me pedantic, but I'm fairly sure that fraudsters wouldn't make use of my card to buy a small packet of  craft PhotoFabric, then pop round to the Post Office in Battle Road to carry out a transaction for £1.97.   I'll grant that the cash withdrawal directly from the business account is relatively unusual, but surely not enough to warrant a fraud investigation given that it was taken out from the ATM inside my usual bank and well within the daily withdrawal limit.

Having solemnly sworn in triplicate that the three suspect transactions were completely authorised and above board, the fraud chap equally solemnly informed me that in any case they would be cancelling the suspect debit card and issuing me with another which would be with me in 5-7 working days.  Leaving me with the problem of how to make payment for some due bills for which I'm going to have to do an online transfer to another account then pay using a different card.

Part of me is pleased that my bank is working so hard to keep my account safe and secure, another part of me is annoyed that I'm being inconvenienced for no apparent reason.  And yet another more paranoid part of me is becoming convinced that 2012 has it in for me and there's still 361 days to go.......

6 comments:

kimberlyncreations said...

Are you sure the letter was legitimately from your bank and not some type of phishing scam? Could it have been from some nefarious person who would have access to that information and just needed you to provide them with more secure information to raid your account? Something just doesn't seem right with this. Maybe you should take the letter to your bank and have it verified.
I hope everything works out okay.

Sandra Morris said...

Kimberley....

Thanks for your kind concern. I am absolutely positive that the letter was from my bank and the call I made was to a genuine anti-fraud department. At no time was I asked for details of any secure information, passwords or PIN numbers etc, and there is no way anyone other than my bank would know the information about which they requested confirmation.
However, just to make sure, I did check my bank's website to confirm the telephone number details were correct.

Nevertheless I will keep a close eye on the account until the new card arrives.

Best wishes
Sandra

kimberlyncreations said...

I'm glad you checked it out. With technology so advanced now thieves can be very cunning these days. Hope it's taken care of quickly so you're not too inconvenienced.

Anonymous said...

On Xmas Eve someone took a strange amount from my bank account by PAYPAL!
That oh so safe ( so they say) method of paying online.
I rang them and they sorted it out.

It was for payment to a webhost for someone's website...not mine.

An odd thing to buy with my money.... I still wonder if it was a Paypal error and not fraud at all..but there you are.

Nice to think that the bank is looking after you...but, like you say..a bit of a bind. They got nothing better to do than sort through tiny little payments I expect. Probably bred...no one is spending any money!
BTW How is Smorl Dawg? DD wants to know.

Sx

Sandra Morris said...

Sue....

Sorry to hear you've been on the receiving end of financial chicanery too! At least PayPal sorted it out promptly, which does rather point to a glitch in their system.

Message from SD to DD....

Helo DD

a veri hapi noo yere to yoo. I hoap yoo ar wel.
Mi leg is much betr now altho the disollvibl stichis ar knot kumin owt. the hare is starten to gro bak but mi mumz stil sai i hav a chikn legg witch is knot veri amewsin i must sai.
howevr i am abil to runn arownd and jumpp liek a pupi agen so thatt is gude.

yores afekshonaitli
SD
xxxxxxxx

Anonymous said...

Ooh Smorl Dawg..Ai am sow pleesed.
Itz grate to hav wore woonds....maiks us interestin!

Ai hav acheeved grate staytus wit the lowcal ladz, havinhad a nopurashun, now wun els has had!
Lerve and Nu yeer wishus
DDxxxx