# Unauthorised Laser transaction on my account - from abroad



## Dee101 (30 Oct 2008)

Hi guys

I was away in Spain for a few days recently and paid for something on my laser card. This charge went through 3 days later - no problems. 
However I just checked my account online and I see they have taken the money again today!. I am going to ring my bank tomorrow about this but i just want to see where I stand on this before I ring them. I have a feeling that there is probably nothing I can do about once it has gone through but would appreciate any advice.

It's not a huge amount of money but it's the principle of it that's getting me!


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## NHG (31 Oct 2008)

Going to join your thread if you don't mind.

I have a transaction on my a/c from my laser card also which was put through last friday which I most certainly did not use or authorise.  It showed up on my on-line banking on tuesday and I contacted the bank straight away, they have told me the name of the company (which is a very foreign name which I have never heard of before) the bank are now doing a search on it which will take aprox two weeks.


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## Celtwytch (31 Oct 2008)

Dee, I would report it to the bank as soon as possible (if you haven't already done so).  It may be a small amount this time, but supposing some unscrupulous person is testing the waters for now, and is planning to charge a much bigger amount to your card?  It may of course be a simple mistake, given that it's the same amount as an authorised transaction, but you really can't be too careful when it comes to electronic banking.


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## Dee101 (31 Oct 2008)

An update - was on to the bank who told me they couldn't do anything about it and that I would need to get onto the company who took the money as obviously it came from their end. 
I got onto the company in Spain -won't go into too many details of the conversation but my mind is not at ease after speaking to them. The guy I spoke to sounded cagey about it and before even hearing any details he first tried to tell me my card was cloned somewhere else!!. I told them absolutely not as the transaction came from their machine and I confirmed this with the bank. Also I had not used the card anywhere else He then took my details and said he would get their "office" to look into it. 
I personally feel after speaking to them, that it was not a genuine error. I think they took the money thinking I wouldn't realise (its a small amount as I said) and I will be keeping my a very close eye on my account over the next while!!!.

Another point is, how they managed to put another transaction through 13 days later after the original point of sale without me being there to give my pin. As I said to the bank, I thought that was the whole point of having a chip and pin card. The girl in the bank said she didn't think they could do that either and she doesn't really know what happened. Effectively, if I use my laser card for a transaction abroad, they can just keep "dipping" into my account anytime they feel like it if they so choose.

It's the first time I've used my laser card at a point of sale abroad and after this it will certainly be the last!.


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## paddyjnr (31 Oct 2008)

Wow, this is scary stuff. Can anybody from the retail industry shed any light on this? Is it possible to "Dip" in again after a transaction is made using the normal laser apparatus?? or was the shop in questions one a rigged Job???


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## DavyJones (31 Oct 2008)

Can't belive the bank are unwilling to protect you against this fraud. I would be looking for a written explanation on their position.


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## bond-007 (31 Oct 2008)

pat murphy said:


> Wow, this is scary stuff. Can anybody from the retail industry shed any light on this? Is it possible to "Dip" in again after a transaction is made using the normal laser apparatus?? or was the shop in questions one a rigged Job???


It is perfectly possible to do so.

The retailer can put transactions thru as cardholder not present. 

On the otherhand the terminal used by the OP could be rigged to store the PIN. This would be highly illegal of course. From that a new card could be made and used in other stores.

I am amazed the bank does not care. Which bank is it?


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## Perplexed (31 Oct 2008)

Was your card hot-carded ? At least then it wouldn't happen again.

Contact http://www.eccdublin.ie/ They might be able to help.


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## paddyjnr (31 Oct 2008)

bond-007 said:


> It is perfectly possible to do so.
> 
> The retailer can put transactions thru as cardholder not present.
> 
> ...


 I've used my card all over the canaries thinking it was secure and I dont think I ever kept a reciept. I just believed that if I just covered the pin everything would be fine. Better get checking my bank statement. Can the retailer run it through again and change the figure without you being present??


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## bond-007 (31 Oct 2008)

> Can the retailer run it through again and change the figure without you being present??


Yes.


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## paddyjnr (31 Oct 2008)

I'm in shock here!!! I'm sticking to cash from now on... This is crazy...


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## korpy (31 Oct 2008)

Dee101 said:


> Hi guys
> 
> I was away in Spain for a few days recently and paid for something on my laser card. This charge went through 3 days later - no problems.
> However I just checked my account online and I see they have taken the money again today!. I am going to ring my bank tomorrow about this but i just want to see where I stand on this before I ring them. I have a feeling that there is probably nothing I can do about once it has gone through but would appreciate any advice.
> ...


 
your plane ticket could prove that you were not in spain at the second transaction, if you lodge a complaint to the bank usually takes 2 weeks because they will send a letter to the shop regarding the second charge, the shop has two weeks to answer and explain why did charge twice and after that is at the bank discretion to decide if they refund or not your money.


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## bond-007 (31 Oct 2008)

The timescales are a little on the short side. Normally these things take months to resolve. That's if the bank can even be bothered.


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## Sue Ellen (31 Oct 2008)

Best to cancel the card and put your mind at rest just in case they attempt any further deductions/transactions.  Request a new card from the bank.


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## Dee101 (1 Nov 2008)

Hi guys

Yes the bank seem quite unwilling to get involved (I don't want to name them for now, don't even know if I would be allowed to by the mods?). There attitude is that the company took the money from their end so I need to sort it out with them basically. I think the fact that I did use the card with the company (not just a random company taking money from my account) is saying to them that its a case of a simple error of them putting the transaction through twice - which of course could happen. But its a bit strange to me that there is a gap of 13 days from the transaction to when they took the second amount out. Sounds very dodgy to me to be honest.
Another thing is, the description on the first transaction was the name of the company and the second time they put it through they used the name of the street the company is located on!. This also looks a bit suss to me - like they were trying to make me think it was another company or something??.

Anyway I am going to wait and see will this place refund the money back into my account and if not i will be getting back onto the bank about it as I am not happy with them either. I might see about cancelling my card aswell, although I don't want to go to all that hassle if I don't need to. I might end up having to do that though.

Will keep you posted!


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## Dee101 (6 Nov 2008)

Just in case anyone is interested in the outcome of this - the money was refunded back into my account a few days after I spoke to the place in Spain so all is sorted. 
However my advice to everyone is to be very very careful where you use your laser card abroad!.


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## priscilla (6 Nov 2008)

I was recently in Athens and made two atm withdrawals, one for the sum of 300euro and the other for 400 euro. While keeping an eye on my online account I noticed the bank withdrew the 400 euro twice about 2 or 3 days apart. I contacted my bank and the bank clerk agreed that the transaction looked identical and she would submit a dispute transaction but it would probably take about 4 weeks to correct as it was an abroad bank that was involved. The money was credited back into my account a few days later.
A couple of months previous I booked a hotel on my credit card for my brother, at the end of his stay he paid in cash in full. A couple of weeks later my credit card was debited for the full sum of 680 euro. We contacted the hotel and after several contacts the hotel apologised and said they would return the money to my account and also offered two nights free accom. The money nidn't show so eventually we contacted the credit card who refunded my money within a couple of weeks.

It just makes me wonder if these errors are merely a coincidence or if they have been happening all the time and I haven't noticed as it's only lately I've been keeping a good eye on the accounts!!.


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## bond-007 (7 Nov 2008)

> A couple of months previous I booked a hotel on my credit card for my brother, at the end of his stay he paid in cash in full. A couple of weeks later my credit card was debited for the full sum of 680 euro.


That is a common scam with hotels. For that reason I never settle in cash anywhere you have to give a CC deposit.


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## Bronte (7 Nov 2008)

Anyone using credit or laser cards abroad should keep a copy of their receipt and cross check it with the credit card bill/bank statement when they return.


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## St. Bernard (7 Nov 2008)

Sound advice.

If you only use your card for paying for say meals etc on holidays and don't use it at home much (like myself) then you should get the provider to block any cash  / atm transactions from your credit card.


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## NHG (7 Nov 2008)

A follow up on my 'unauthorised laser transaction' - well it was authorised by me.  I was expecting a charge from Wright's Insurance in Wexford for €40.00, but the charge came in as Arracas Corp and was for only €15.35!  Therefore alarm bells started to ring.  The AIB were back to me within 5 working days.


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## St. Bernard (7 Nov 2008)

That really bugs me when you make a transaction with a company and they debit your account under a different name. Really annoying....


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## Dee101 (7 Nov 2008)

priscilla said:


> It just makes me wonder if these errors are merely a coincidence or if they have been happening all the time and I haven't noticed as it's only lately I've been keeping a good eye on the accounts!!.


 
I'd be the same as you Priscilla, I only got onto online banking lately and it's great for keeping an eye on your account. Before that I wouldn't have noticed a small sum being taken out of my account or even a larger one as I wouldn't take great notice of my bank statement every month - silly I know. 

Call me cynical but I think some of these places chance their arm thinking you won't notice.

PS: Glad you got sorted too NHG


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