bugeyeandy

In the blink of an eye someone in Canada has managed to empty £600 from my bank account with a series of purchases/withdrawals.

Just a warning to Snetters to keep a close eye on their accounts especially if you use a bank card on-line. I've no idea how they've managed to get my number as I rarely purchase on-line and always use secure sites but they're done it none the less.

Haven't a clue why I decided to check my account this afternoon but I did and it showed around £600 gone leaving me £15 in the account. Rang the bank and they've cancelled my card pending investigation and say they will refund the money during the week once the details of where the purchases are made come through.

So far most of just shows as amounts (5 of £40 or £50 followed by a £300) but there are two for the following

Sunoco 800 Morning Scarborough CA
Esso 3075 Danforth Scarborough CA

Both seem to in Ontario Canada and the last one at least is a petrol station. This suggests they made have even cloned the card.

Scary stuff considering I only ever use Chip + Pin (apart from Tescos who always swipe? then PIN) and the card is never out of my site.

Just a warning to all - be careful and check your account regularly. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted this week else the Scooby will be getting a rest!

Andy

bighead

iTrader: (1)

maybe yr just unlucky , I use my cards online All the time (everyday infact ),
never had any probs touch wood ).
only problem I ever had was when the cards were delivered to my flat and the people down stairs took it and boughts some stuff with it , but the bank always refund you so no probs...just hassle !

cdfracing

Bad luck mate!

I know it's not nice, had 1k out of mine last year , as long as it genuine you'll have no worries getting your money back!

Markus

Andy,
Sorry to hear this. I've done some digging for you, not sure if this helps any or not.

Sunoco is indeed a petrol station. The location of the station you list is:

(here is the link in yellow pages)
Sunoco Gas Bar
Address : 800 Morningside Avenue, Scarborough, ON M1C 1B8
Telephone : 416-283-2325

This is a map of the location

The other is an Esso petrol station, location is here:
DANFORTH & VICTORIA PARK ESSO
3075 DANFORTH AVE
SCARBOROUGH, ON M1L 1A8

(Here is a link to the location on Esso's website

This is a map of the location


This is a map showing the locations of both of the petrol stations. I was expecting them to be a bit closer together, but they are about 20 mins apart. Looks like the bastid was going from Danforth up to the 401 (MacDonald-Cartier Freeway).

Are the other amounts that have been taken from Canada, or does it not say? Don't forget I'm in Toronto, so if you have any odd entries on there, which could be Canadian, more specifically in the toronto area, feel free to PM me the info you have and I'll see if I can figure out where the places are, it might show a route these people are taking and who knows, the first place they used might be the cornershop next to where they live, in which case, you might be able to find them.

bugeyeandy

Markus, thanks for that. The rest of the money is just showing as amounts on their system as they only happened today. I have to phone back tomorrow and they should be able to tell me where the transactions took place.
I'm guessing they'll all come back as the same area.
Do you have chip and pin in Canada or is it still just the swipe card and signature? Thanks again.

bugeyeandy

Markus, the two petrol station ones were 19th August (Danforth) and 21st August (Sunoco).
I guess they've been out and about for a couple of days and needed a refill!

wrx-kris

I assume/guess you will have a cast iron alibi for the CC company - so, all *should* be ok .

David Lock

Could you send him his card back please Markus........ dl

bugeyeandy

Markus

Fortunately the bank has already said there won't be a problem refunding the money which is just as well as its a debit card so its my money thats gone.
If it was a credit card I wouldn't be too concerned.

Markus

David < Shaggy > Wasn't me < / Shaggy > You cheeky bugger lol

Andy - Good to know the Bank are going to refund without issue, which makes sense as it's a little bit hard for you to make purchases at petrol stations in another country.

David Lock

How does someone use a stolen card or credit card number to withdraw cash or pay for goods unless they know the PIN?

Someone used a debit card of mine to nick £1500 quid but it was mostly traceable stuff like parking fines, loan repayments or student fees where payments were done by phone so PIN not needed. Police didn't want to know so I have no idea if anyone bothered to follow up and track down the culprit. Bank coughed up. dl

Chris L

Sorry to hear this Andy. This does serve as a warning to all people and it throws into light a few common misconceptions:

1) Chip & Pin does bugger all to improve YOUR security from a customer's point of view. C&P was (and is) heavily promoted by the banking industry because it shifts liability away from the issuing bank and back on to the retailler. This is why they are so keen on it. If you think about it, all C&P does is replace one form of single authentication with another (your signature to a PIN code).

2)PIN codes - some cards actually store your PIN code on the magnetic strip - therefore if your card is cloned, in some cases it is possible to recover your PIN code too.

3) Banks will continue to only play lip service to proper security while the cost of fraudulent transactions is less than the cost of introducing true secure trading. A sad fact, but true.

From Andy's description and his minimal use of online trading, I'd say it was far more likely that his card was cloned in a restaurant / shop / petrol station - take your pick. The details will then be sold and could end up anyway. Scary, but surprisingly easy. Your details could also have been collected from a hole-in-the-wall machine. Some of the false fronts put onto these machines are near perfect replicas. I've seen a lot of these and you cannot tell the difference. The false front will contain a reader that will capture your card details from the magnetic strip and then record your PIN code as it is typed in. The cash machine will continue to work correctly, so you get your money and are none the wiser.

Never, ever let your cards out of your sight. If you are in a restaurant or shop never allow your card to be taken out of your view to be processed. If you want to use a cash machine, preferably go to one inside a bank.

Chris (putting his IT security consultant hat on)

jpor

iTrader: (1)

Unlucky. As a rule of thumb All my purchases on-line are done by Credit Card.
About 3 Years ago an on-line DVD retailer in the US was hacked and all their credit card details that were on file (including Mine!) were taken by someone in russia. 2 Months later they used my details to try and buy some stuff @ £400 in Finland. Luckily the credit card comapny sorted it out.

The moral of the story is, even if you deal with secure on-line transactions with e-tailers, the security is only as good as their systems.

stilover

Andy.

Sorry to hear whats happened. I was a victim of Credit card fraud myself years ago. It make you feel sick. To give credit card companies/banks credit though, they credited my account pretty soon after I reported it.

I reported it to the Police too. When I went back to get a crime number which my Credit card company wanted, the Police had only put it down as an Enquiry.
Great. I'd enquired I'd been a victim of Credit card fraud, and Newton Aycliffe's (closest police station from where I lived at the time) crime figures looked good.

SWRTWannabe

Phishing email maybe?

Just wondered as I had a phishing email earlier in the week, claiming to be from Nationwide. Looking at the link I had to click to save my account (which I don't have) being terminated, it was to a site that internic said was registered in Ontario.

bugeyeandy

Markus,
See if you can find out anything about this one too please.

Park-It Thornhill CA

Found another transaction dated 4th August for just £1.64 (about 3.5 CAD)
Looks like this may have been a test transaction before they went on the real spending spree. Didn't notice it 'cause it was such a small amount.

SWRTWannabe - don't think it was Phishing scam 'cause I never give out my card details and always type the URL to my bank service rather than click links. Good reminder to be wary of the emails though.

Andy

Markus

Andy,
I found this, about Park-It. Here is where Thornhill is located. It's still in the Toronto area, and is probably about 20 mins away from both of the petrol stations. Interestingly, it looks like these are pre-paid parking cards, might be worth contacting ParkIT and explain the situation to them, you never know, they might give you who got the card and the reg plate of the person who used the car, at which point you could contact thornhill police and mention this info to them.

bugeyeandy

Cheers mate

Terminator X

iTrader: (7)

Thought that Banks monitor all accounts & "red flag" them if the computers spot strange spending that is unusual for an account? Why didn't the Bank spot it before you?

TX.

mrtheedge2u2

My bank did just that. I visited Argentina but didnt tell them. I withdrew some money and a couple of days latter my mother called me to inform me that the banks' fraud squad had been on the phone to enquire about me......

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

But don't worry we will all be a lot safer when we get our shiney new ID cards

Chris L

You sceptic - don't you know it's going to be OK, because the government has said so?

Andy - don't get too hung up on the location of where these transactions are taking place. They may have no relevance as to where the actual compromise took place (in fact they almost certainly don't).

Spoon

My guess is simply a dodgy petrol station attendant in the UK paid by an agent of Mr Big to copy details in exchange for increasing his/her low wage.

Mr Big's team then spread the cards around the world.

j4ckos mate

i got my account emptied at weekend, wife left me with the kids and went shopping she came back. checked this morning 150 quid take out of my account. wonder if she's been to canada