gatsbygirl8

Just logged on to our Tesco online credit card account to make a payment and realised some little *&^$ has charged almost £1000 to our card! We pay it via XE trade and, until now, have never had any problems with it. The card has only been used once - to pay the shippers for our move. That was a year ago though, so I highly doubt it's them.

The card's in my husband's name, so only he can call Tesco to get this sorted out. He's at work today, so I have no idea if he got through to them or not. ARgh! This is so frustrating!

I just can't figure out how this person got our card. We have online only statements, so nothing gets mailed to our old address. Are we liable for this? The charges were just put on within the last two weeks.

We're barely chipping away at these cards while we look for full-time jobs over here. Can they get away with this? There's no way we'll ever be able to pay off this card now. All of our hard work this past year making payments has gone straight down the tubes now.

Orangepants

I've had quite a few unauthorised charges to my Wachovia card. Once notified they investigate, usually credit you back the funds (temporarily) and then get you to sign an affidavit that you didn't make the purchase and hopefully it's over. Cancel the card now and get a new one reissued.
Hope it works out for you.

Jerseygirl

Don't worry about it...as Orangepants said once you've reported it the charges are normally taken from your account. The CC company will sort it out. Cancel the card immediately.

Weeze

I've always found Tesco really good. I just had to confirm over the phone which were my charges and which weren't to their fraud team and that was that.

gatsbygirl8

Thank you! That's very reassuring to hear. My husband is trying to get through to them to cancel the card (they won't speak to me) but he's having trouble getting through on his cell phone from work.

I'm a bit of a control freak so it's driving me nuts that I'm sat here at home doing nothing while some person out there is maxing out our card.

Weeze

I've sent you a pm with the phone number they gave me. I think it's the international one that you can reverse charges on.

Michael

I had that happen twice in the last 15 years with my Discover card. The first time it happened, Discover called me when they noticed purchases on the card that wasn't my normal buying pattern. After I said they weren't my purchases, they canceled the card, issued a new card, deducted the amount of the authorized charges, and sent me a form that I needed to sign and return indicating that I didn't make the purchases.

The second time it occurred, I got an e-mail thanking me for a purchase that I didn't make. When I checked the online statement, there were several charges that I didn't make. When I contacted Discover, they again cancelled my card, issued a new card, deducted the amount of unauthorized charges, and this time they didn't even require me to fill out a form.

So for me, it was very painless.

celticgrid

I see no reason to think it less likely that the shipper transaction was responsible. The age of the transaction need not be linked to the date of any security breach.

This should get sorted out, as others have said. Some card issuers are smarter than others at spotting probable fraudulent transactions, but all are supposed to follow strict guidelines in such cases.

Dan725

Had that happen to me once on a UK Amex card....which I had not even used for a couple of years. Some cheeky bastard had a holiday in Benidorm. Ran up about 1500 pounds worth. Got it reported and sorted out pretty quick.

Regarding figuring out where they got the info from....there are just hundreds of possibilities; but if it is a card that is barely used, I'd guess most likely from a largescale databreach and compromise of records from anywhere that info has been recorded....your card potentially being one of a few hundred thousand or more.

gatsbygirl8

Thanks everyone for your advice. Hopefully we'll be able to get it sorted out without too many problems. As I said previously, the card is in my husband's name so my hands are tied with regards to cancelling the card. I've texted him the Tesco fraud phone number to call, which he has.

Unfortunately, all the guy told him to do was to contact the online retailer the thief tried to order from. Apparently, we're supposed to send this customer service person a copy of our statement as they can't seem to find the fraudlent order.

Later, when I asked my DH if he still managed to get the card cancelled when he spoke to Tesco, he said no, he forgot (!!). Sigh. This is why I usually do all of our billing, paperwork, etc. He was on his break when I spoke to him, so I haven't yet found out if he managed to call Tesco back and get the card cancelled. There's no way I'm sending ANYONE a copy of the statement until I know that this card has been cancelled.

celticgrid

No. You are being told rubbish.

You deal with the credit card company, not the retailer. You provide them with the details of the fraudulent transaction(s) as shown on the statement - I do not believe you need to provide the statement itself, or a copy, to anyone - and it is up to them to resolve it. You may have to complete a form or two, but apart from the hassle and frustration it should be painless.

tonrob

+1 on that being bollocks.

The message to the card issuer is simple:

1) That transaction on my statement is not mine. Take it off now.

2) Cancel my card and send me a new one.

3) If they're being a bit thick, keep repeating (1) and (2), and to a stupidvisor if necessary.

As mentioned, there may be a form from the card issuer to sign and return, but there is no other shenanigans to get involved with.

Jerseygirl

I agree 100%.

A few years ago we had 6 x $2,000 fraudulant transactions on our CC. One phone call to the CC company resulted in the charges being instantly removed from our account. One form to fill in and that was it. Apart from a visit from the FBI because it was part of a national fraud ring they were trying to bust.

Edit: If I ever have a problem with a supplier ie goods not delivered/damaged goods...I have also done the same with bad service...I always call the CC company and get them to sort it out. My contract is with the CC company and they should sort it out.

Dan725

Absolutely what Celtic grid said - you get in touch with your credit card company direct and let them handle it. Always the first thing to do (immediately) when you get any whiff of fraud activity on your account.

Weeze

I PMed you as well, but for others, Tesco Fraud services seem to stop at 5pm UK time, so if you phone after that, you get a call centre in India which is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. You can try asking them to put you through to the fraud section, but they work from a script so you go around in a circle. If you phone before 5pm you get a UK call centre that are helpful. If the fraud section has already highlighted it as a possible fraudulent transaction, they put it on their own system and send you a letter and try to phone you. The Indian call centre don't seem to get any of that information. I go through the same thing eveytime I phone to say we'll be using the card abroad. If you get through to India, you're card won't work abroad, if you get through to the UK, it will.