Card fraud

[Anonymouse]

There have been several fraudulent attempts to use my old debit card, which I think (damn my dodgy memory) was stolen; certainly my cards have been stolen on one occasion, and dodgy memory or not, you can bet I remember that. As soon as I discovered the theft I got the card (and my credit card) stopped, so no problem there.

Two odd things: the amounts are just for a few quid, and the attempts originated with a company (MOMO MTN FINTECH) based in South Africa. The nearest I've even been to there is Tunisia, years ago, with a different card (and riding a camel is, trust me, not like riding a horse!).

Barclays are red-hot on security, so I'm not worried. But I think such things would be made much rarer if the cards were the property of the bank, and if holding a card not in your name was a criminal offence unless you were handing it in. That's exactly what you should do if you find a card - I wish there was a legal obligation to do it.

One thing I don't get: the card is stopped. It's no longer valid. So why is some moron still trying to use it? What part of 'stopped' and 'invalid' doesn't this dweeb get?

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

There have been several fraudulent attempts to use my old debit card, which I think (damn my dodgy memory) was stolen; certainly my cards have been stolen on one occasion, and dodgy memory or not, you can bet I remember that. As soon as I discovered the theft I got the card (and my credit card) stopped, so no problem there.

Two odd things: the amounts are just for a few quid, and the attempts originated with a company (MOMO MTN FINTECH) based in South Africa. The nearest I've even been to there is Tunisia, years ago, with a different card (and riding a camel is, trust me, not like riding a horse!).

Barclays are red-hot on security, so I'm not worried. But I think such things would be made much rarer if the cards were the property of the bank, and if holding a card not in your name was a criminal offence unless you were handing it in. That's exactly what you should do if you find a card - I wish there was a legal obligation to do it.

One thing I don't get: the card is stopped. It's no longer valid. So why is some moron still trying to use it? What part of 'stopped' and 'invalid' doesn't this dweeb get?

It's probably been sold on to someone who doesn't know it's been blocked.

They usually try with small amounts first to test if the card is good to defraud, if it is, the larger amounts soon follow.