Barclaycard fraud

A question about : Barclaycard fraud

Hello MoneySavers,
I found out today that 5 fraudulent transactions totalling ~Ј2600 have been made on the new Barclaycard that replaced my Morgan Stanley card last month. 4 in Taiwan and one in Milan on the same day. The only thing I've ever done with this card is change the PIN at a nearby cash machine then bring it home and put it back in the drawer. Could I really have not noticed a dodgy device on the machine?!:confused: It was dark at the time...
Anyway, I've reported this to Barclaycard who've blocked the card and are going to send a letter out telling me what to do next.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has been through this with Barclaycard and can let me know what to expect or give any advice based on their experience.
Many Thanks!

Best answers:

• As far as I'm aware, Barclays will chargeback the money and you won't be liable as long as you told them as soon as you found out there were dodgy transactions. I wouldn't worry
• Thanks - yeah I'm sure it'll all get sorted out in due course.
  I've decided to finally get around to cancelling the cards I'm unlikely to use again to help reduce the risk of this kind of thing happening again. I've just cancelled my Marbles card over the phone.
  I'll also look at cash machines with even more suspicion in future...
• its the call centre. thats where BC fraud originates. which is why the operators no longer can ask you for, or see your card number
• Depends what sort of fraud it is. Card not present or Swiped. Most likely Swiped (counterfeit) your not held liable for fraud transactions using your credit card providing you not been negligent with it
• What to expect next is to receive a disclaimer in the post, showing the transactions. They should then ask you to sign and return and jobs a good un
• I'd be interested to know how it happened. As I said the only time the card ventured into the outside world was that one trip to the cashpoint.
  It looks like they started the day spending Ј6 in a Starbucks in Taipei and ended it treating themselves to Ј1700 of fashion accessories in Milan.
  Wouldn't it be a good idea if you could log in to your online account management and set an option to say your card won't be used abroad? I don't know why the card companies don't introduce this. It'd be their own money they'd be saving...
• Hi snoringunicorn,
  That's very interesting. I've just received an e-mail from Barclaycard saying "We have noticed that you have been continuing to use your old Morgan Stanley Blue card." (Erm, no I haven't - and the card was black actually!)
  The fraudulent transactions were all on 30th September despite them telling me that the new card would take over on 22nd Sept. I don't have that letter anymore but I think it said the old card wouldn't work after 22nd. How did those fraudsters manage it then?!
  Looks like that one trip to the cashpoint with the new card wasn't to blame...
• I would check it out....You definitely have the moral high ground if they have been continuing to let payments go through on a supposedly cancelled card. I was told by one call centre member in no uncertain terms that I shouldn't have been using the card, and the next day when I called was told equally firmly that the card had never been cancelled. I've been checking this out on any and every site I can as well, and it looks as though NO MSDSW cards were actually cancelled, they obviously thought they would just die quietly. Some people have been happily reporting that they carried on using their old cards after the 22nd, simply because they hadn't had their Barclaycards.
  The whole issue with Barclaycard is straight out of Alice in Wonderland, they really haven't got a clue. To be fair, how can they? I live in a small Wlesh village which the poor so and so from Delhi couldn't pronounce and wouldn't know if you hit her on the head with a leek! If you try to divert from the script that the call centre staff have, they just go into broken record mode and repeat the same statement over and over. What that statement is varies from staff member to staff member.
  I intend to be very inconvenient, noisy, and up front. (It works, I used to work in Insurance claims!) Then hopefully someone will notice I am there and sort the issues out. I'm half way through my *disgusted of Wales* letter.
  Julie
• I am also dealing with a Morgan Stanley -> Barclaycard fraud. I first reported it 3 weeks ago but have yet to receive the forms in the post to query the transactions. All of the frauds have been on the Morgan Stanley card. It clearly was not blocked on Monday 22nd Sept as they said in the letter!
  I have called about 5 times requesting the forms now, so be sure to chase them!
  I'll be cancelling my card once it is all sorted, it's the worst service I've ever received on a Credit Card
  Mike
• Hi,
  I've just received another e-mail from Barclaycard. It says that the message about me still using the old Morgan Stanley card when I ought to be using the new Barclaycard "...was sent in error and should be ignored.". There's no further explanation.
  What is the error? That it wasn't me that continued to use the card but actually some fraudsters that somehow obtained the details of a card I'd already destroyed?
  Or that they didn't want to show that transactions had been allowed on the Morgan Stanley card after the 22nd?
  If the paperwork from Barclaycard doesn't arrive by Monday I think I shall also write a letter telling them exactly what I expect them to do...
• Now that IS interesting. It would seem to imply that people have been asking awkward questions and BC don't want to encourage them. I'd send that letter!
  Julie
• How amusing, I have received that 'error' email too.
  I will be writing a letter and sending it recorded delivery on Monday. It's been 3 weeks since I first reported my frauds and it is clear their phone service isn't helping me.
  Luckily I work for a credit card company and I will be able to check if this has any negative effect on my credit history. If this goes on for too long, and I end up missing a payment date, then I'd imagine it is going to have a negative effect!! :rolleyes:
• I too am in the same boat, exactly the same situation as listed above, although my first 'minor' transacation was in the US, and then Ј2000+ taken in Tokyo.
  I noticed and rang up last thing on Friday night, so haven't got the forms yet, and I'm certainly concerned especially after seeing others' remarks about the forms not arriving.
  At least it seems that there are quite a few customers in this situation, and I dare say that a) the root of this issue is internal to MS/Barclaycard and b) there will be many, many more people noticing once their statements arrive. If it seemed like it was only me in this situation, I'd be worrying a lot more by now!
• Looks like this could be a big issue then - P'raps we could all keep this post *posted* as to how each of us gets on, and how quickly the darn thing is settled by The Powers That Be.
  J
• Almost a week now, and still no dispute forms, so that spurred me on to finish the letter. I had some advice on the format for this, so here is the basics of what I wrote in the hope it might be of some use if you need to make your own plight known to Barclaycard.....
  Barclaycard
  Customer Relations Department,
  Barclaycard House,
  PO Box 5592,
  Northampton,
  NN4 1ZY
  Dear Sirs,
  Credit Card Fraud on Account *****
  Migrated from Morgan Stanley Account *****
  I wish to complain about the way that my report of fraud on my account has been handled, and also to request a full explanation of how the fraud was able to occur on an account that had supposedly been cancelled, when you took over the handling of all Morgan Stanley accounts as of September 22nd 2008.
  On ***** I made several small purchases online The last purchase I made was declined, and since I could think of no reason for this, I logged into my new *online* statement at your website. To my horror, I found that the purchase had been declined because my card was only four pounds short of my credit limit. I knew that the balance originally transferred from Morgan Stanley was only **** and any purchases I had made were nothing like this figure. When I saw the transactions on the account, it was obvious that fraud has occurred, with ***** being charged to my account from *****. At no time had my Barclaycard been accessed by anyone else, and I had destroyed my old Morgan Stanley card, (as instructed) back in September. I immediately called your lost/stolen cards line to find out how to deal with this, and spoke to a member of your call centre staff. I had to explain my problem to her several times because she did not seem to be listening and asked me the same questions repeatedly - in fact I was told that she could not see any unauthorised spending on my account. **** (Explanation of what happened) A new card was promised, but no further action was suggested. I had to ask to speak to someone about Fraud, and was then given yet another call centre number to call.
  When I called the second number, and went through the call procedure, no one picked up the phone. I called yet again, and spoke to ***, who told me that he would investigate the fraud, and would send out a set of dispute forms for me to complete. Incidentally, when I asked which transaction could possibly have been responsible for my card details being taken, he told me that all the transactions were being made via my old Morgan Stanley card,****(what happened) Even though I was feeling very shocked at the whole occurrence, I asked how it was possible for a cancelled card that had been destroyed to be authorised by Barclaycard weeks after the cancellation date. He didn't want to expand on this point.
  The whole experience was very unsatisfactory, and left me with many unanswered questions. I could do little at the time however, so decided to check out some of the unauthorised transactions. I spoke to ***** (what happened) Later that day, I phoned Barclaycard again, to let you know the information I had been given, but was not even given the opportunity to discuss the issue at all with your call centre staff. This time, they were less than disinterested, and I was interrupted before I could say anything: I was just told to "wait for the dispute forms - **** (what happened next)
  Since then, I have decided it is pointless speaking to Barclaycard. Your customer service is **** (subjective words ).
  The second and more important part of my complaint is simple. Why, and how, could your company have allowed such a huge, huge blunder to have happened. In good faith, and in accordance with your own literature, I did not use my Morgan Stanley card after September 22nd and completely destroyed it. I take card security seriously, and so ***** (how the card was kept secure); To recap: I have done nothing wrong, at all times my card, PIN and details were kept safe, and secure. How the fraud occurred I shall probably never know, and I suspect that I only found out that the charge were made to my old Morgan Stanley card by accident. However, the fact remains - BARCLAYCARD permitted the actions by not cancelling the card, and by allowing the payments on a defunct card to be charged to my account.
  I expected a very much higher level of service from your company: ****(Subjective thoughts on what I think about Barclaycard!) should never have happened, and in the meantime have no use of a credit card because my credit limit has been reached. I would like a full, and clear response on all these points, and also full credit to my account within the next two weeks.
  Yours faithfully
• No dispute forms for me today so I too sent a letter.
  The barclaycard website says that if you complain you should get an answer quite quickly - we shall see!
  Hopefully your letter works well. Mine was a little shorter, yet it still took ages to write. I enclosed a copy of the letter than came with the card, and highlighted the sentence that mentioned the card would be invalid.
  One thing is for sure, I'll cancel my account when this is sorted.
  I am using a Shell Card now. It too has cashback, and also a higher rate for petrol when bought from shell.
  Mike