Tackling credit card fraud

If you’re a victim of credit card fraud, don’t panic! Such incidents have been on the rise as the modus operandi for perpetrating such financial crimes has become more sophisticated than just copying down a pin number at the ATM.

From hacking your computer to bribing a cell phone service provider’s representative to issue a duplicate sim card so that they gain control of your mobile number, scamsters are employing more intrusive strategies to take control of your finances.

What process should you follow if you fall prey to such fraud? What little incidents can throw a spoke in the wheels of redressing the fraud? Read on.

I’ve been scammed

Ravi Varma (name changed on request) was enjoying a typical evening at home when his cell phone buzzed with a message from his credit card company. To his horror, Varma found that a string of transactions had been made using his credit card, when it was safely tucked in his wallet.

Varma called his credit card company to complain about the transactions. He learnt that, in all, 12 transactions were done online in the space of a few minutes.

Help is on the line

The issuer then immediately blocked the card. Further transactions, thus, could not be perpetrated by the criminals behind the fraud. But was Varma liable to shouldering the bill for the payments that had already gone through?

Once the card was blocked, Varma was asked to call his card company after 48 hours to register a dispute over the transactions. In the interim, the card company gets in touch with the intended recipient of the fraudulent payment and gathers more information on the incident.

When Varma contacted the card helpline two days later, he was asked to fill out a transaction dispute form. This form required him to detail each one of the payments that were disputed. But when the bank asked Varma to confirm his email address, it was not the same as in their records!

It turned out that one of the alphabets in Varma’s email address was incorrect in the bank’s records, but this resulted in a delay in the process of filing the dispute, putting Varma’s genuine case at risk. It’s important to always make sure that all information stored by your bank is accurate.

So don’t ignore small inconsistencies in your data with the bank, such as a slight misspelling in the residential address on your monthly statement or an incorrect date of birth. Not only does this make it difficult for your bank to identify you as a bonafide customer in case of a problem, it opens the door to scamsters that might be diverting your important statements or notifications sent by your bank to their doorstep.

Wait for relief

Varma received a temporary credit from his bank against the disputed amount after lodging a formal dispute. He subsequently submitted the complete transaction dispute form to the credit card company via email, though the option also exists to send the form by post.

But while Varma was absolved from paying for the false transactions immediately, whether he will ultimately be held liable will hinge on the credit card company’s investigation into the incident, which could take up to 45 days. In case the response is unfavourable, he has the option to escalate the matter with higher authorities, or take up the matter with the banking ombudsman as a last resort.

One of the factors in Varma’s favour was that he reacted promptly to the SMS message on his mobile that alerted him to the fraud. If he hadn’t contacted the card company immediately, there is a chance the payment might have gone through, making it difficult for the card company to recover the money. More fraudulent transactions could have been carried out.

Bottomline

The lesson here, is to be methodical in checking your SMS messages and bank alerts from time to time, making sure you don’t gloss over any messages from your bank.

Make sure you receive a message on your mobile that reflects the transaction. If not, call your card company to determine whether your mobile number is lodged in their records and complain that you did not receive a notification. It is mandatory that all credit or debit card transactions are alerted through SMS to the cardholders.

Keep note of the correspondence between you and the bank, such as the name of the representative you talked to, date and time at which you filed complaints through the hotline and so on. It could help if you are not happy with the bank response and decide to take it up with the ombudsman. Last but not least, in cases of serious fraud, lodge a complaint with the police.

> arvind.jayaram@thehindu.co.in

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