Think Before You Chip and Pin
advertisment
More in SOUND OFF
back-up- Ten Childbirth Shockers
- Old Labour, New Labour, Hard Labour
- A Refresher on Air Travel Etiquette
- The Great Mistress Fire Sale
- HITC Life - Let It All Hang Out
- Paper, Plastic, What the F...abric?
- DSA Says: No Manners, No License
- The Sweatshop Conundrum
- Shocker: Pedestrians Have Right of Way
- Find Your Perfect U.S. President
In a world where you tip by waving your Oyster Card and feed the parking meter by phone, HITCitizen Billy No Box gets some first-hand experience on white collar crime in the times of Chip and Pin, and on how to deal with the aftermath.
Last year during the run-up to Christmas, I stopped at the cashpoint at Cannon Street Station to get some money since the excessive consumption of mince pies had left me short. By coincidence I checked my bank account online a few hours later - saw the record of said withdrawal - and also one for a strange amount ending in 74p. Whilst still trying to figure out how I could have taken out such an odd sum, I could not rule out that it had been an older transaction that had just come through.
In an effort to be diligent and vigilant I contacted my bank (or rather their overseas call centre) in order to find out details about the second withdrawal. They had no information at hand and promised they would call within 24 hours. In the meantime, I cautiously blocked the card.
The next day the call centre called me back and proceeded - a half a dozen security questions later - to tell me that more information had not come through yet. In the meantime, I realised that not only my debit card but all my accounts were actually blocked, which was particularly unfortunate since my - 2007/credit-crunch/but-bonus-nonetheless - bonus had just come in.
A few days and many phone calls later - with the excuse of technical problems - I was told that the transaction was a cash withdrawal made in a town that I didn't recognise, which Google helped me locate in the province of Romania. That explained the odd sum, but not how somebody stole my money somewhere in Central Europe.
Naively I believed - in particular given that the Romania and the Cannon Street withdrawals were about one hour apart - that this was quite obviously fraud. To my surprise the (overseas, call centre) clerk revealed to me that my bank would not refund the money since it clearly had been me who gave the details to somebody else.
Well, let's rest here for a second: That's my bank - of whom I am a fairly good client - calling me a fraud.
I was furious, and after threatening to close my accounts (which since blocking them a week earlier had lost more in interest than the sum withdrawn to begin with), he reiterated his statement referring to company policy.
Swearing to myself this was the last time I would ever deal with a help line located further east than Canterbury, I decided to face the enemy and walk into the next branch, ready to cut my ties with this institution.
And I would have, had it not been for the fact that the employee in the branch
While this episode had left me furious at times, it also left me with some valuable (and probably very obvious) lessons learnt:
In an effort to be diligent and vigilant I contacted my bank (or rather their overseas call centre) in order to find out details about the second withdrawal. They had no information at hand and promised they would call within 24 hours. In the meantime, I cautiously blocked the card.
The next day the call centre called me back and proceeded - a half a dozen security questions later - to tell me that more information had not come through yet. In the meantime, I realised that not only my debit card but all my accounts were actually blocked, which was particularly unfortunate since my - 2007/credit-crunch/but-bonus-nonetheless - bonus had just come in.
A few days and many phone calls later - with the excuse of technical problems - I was told that the transaction was a cash withdrawal made in a town that I didn't recognise, which Google helped me locate in the province of Romania. That explained the odd sum, but not how somebody stole my money somewhere in Central Europe.
Naively I believed - in particular given that the Romania and the Cannon Street withdrawals were about one hour apart - that this was quite obviously fraud. To my surprise the (overseas, call centre) clerk revealed to me that my bank would not refund the money since it clearly had been me who gave the details to somebody else.
Well, let's rest here for a second: That's my bank - of whom I am a fairly good client - calling me a fraud.
I was furious, and after threatening to close my accounts (which since blocking them a week earlier had lost more in interest than the sum withdrawn to begin with), he reiterated his statement referring to company policy.
Swearing to myself this was the last time I would ever deal with a help line located further east than Canterbury, I decided to face the enemy and walk into the next branch, ready to cut my ties with this institution.
And I would have, had it not been for the fact that the employee in the branch
- was friendly and apologetic beyond belief
- confirmed immediately that they would have the fraud department dealing with this and
- stated that fraud like this happens pretty much all the time
While this episode had left me furious at times, it also left me with some valuable (and probably very obvious) lessons learnt:
- Always, always cover your hand typing in the PIN. There are so many security cameras on you all the time, there's likely to be one on you whenever you Chip-And-Pin.
- Being the victim of theft, no matter how "clean" and remote it might appear in these digital days, leaves you with the feeling of your privacy being invaded. And even if common sense prevails at the end and you get your stolen money refunded, this is not a good feeling to be left with.
Here Is The Writer : Billy No Box
Billy No Box has worked in the city for six years, and currently works in Derivatives for a North American bank. He enjoys playing golf, reading books by Umberto Eco, singing "Copacabana" in the shower and at karaoke bars, and occasionally updating his blog about London and everything else.
view more articles by Billy No Box
