Online debit card fraud

[mystery]

Bank has called me about repeated transactions with Just Eat over the weekend ( I have never used them or joined up with them, never heard of them before) several of which they have paid up on already. They are going to get the money back for me so it's not an issue. The same conversation also unearthed another payment to an online shop which I did not make this weekend as well - again one I've never used, signed up for etc. Again, they say they will get the money back for me.

In the course of the conversation they indicated that the repeated transactions with just eat should have been refused after the second one so apologised for having let it go on as long as it did. The other isolated payment would not have rung alarm bells.

They also mentioned that for some suppliers (e.g. Amazon, Paypal) it is up to the defrauded customer to try get to the money back.

Just left me feeling lucky - it left me with the feeling that one could end up with a lot spent on one's debit card online (if there was a lot in the account!) and not necessarily get it all back.

Is a credit card any safer from the online fraude point of view? ( Last time my DH purchased something faulty on a credit card we could not get any satisfaction from either the credit card company or the supplier so I lost my faith in the supposed better protection offered by a credit card. Chasing the credit card company through the courts just felt like too much effort and we put up with the faulty goods as they worked. ) I don't mind being defrauded if I will deffo get the money back from the bank which issued the debit card but otherwise I'm not too keen!!

[PerpetualStudent]

Hi Mystery,

Sorry to hear of your troubles with debit card fraud. Good thing it was noticed while transactions have been small!

We have always avoided doing online transactions with a debit card. As annoying as the credit card fraud can be it is usually less bad than having your bank account cleaned out by fraudsters as happened to a friend a few years back.

I assume the compromised debit card is cancelled and you are getting a new one?

Good luck
PS

[Amber]

I have so much trouble getting into my own bank account online, what with passwords and pass codes and the name of my aunt's first teddy bear, etc, that I would have to take my hat off to anyone else who managed it. And to be honest as things stand at the moment it would not be worth their while either.

But seriously...I had a weird one last year when someone tried to make a credit card (not debit) payment from the US for over £3K. It was for a restaurant (some restaurant that must be!) and happily the company spotted it before it was allowed. I don't understand any of it to be honest and I probably ought to check more often than I do. I do use my debit card online a fair bit - not sure it is any worse than using a credit card any more is it, since the rules on protection were changed?

[mystery]

Thanks Amber and PS. It's that final point I am not sure about - whether the protections are any better with a credit card. And what the worst scenario is with either of them. Until today, I always thought it would be easy to get the money back after an online fraud on either type of card but after today's conversation and after our previous credit card experience I am not feeling quite so sure. Hard to avoid shopping online / over the phone these days really.

[stroudydad]

I have an account that i use specifically for online purchases, it has a very low balance and I basically transfer in what i want to spend. A bit more trouble but Just s a little peace of mind

[Tinkers]

I’m tending to use PayPal more and more for online purchases.

[Ricky74]

I've had my credit card used illegally three times with Natwest. Got the money back each time, but now with a different provider as I found three times just too much, given how little I used that card.

I've put holidays on the card in the past in the hope it offers some protection should the company go bust.

I buy most purchases on line with my debit card, but this has really got me thinking.

My dad's Paypal account was also compromised, so not sure what best route is - maybe the option of having the separate account with a small float in.

[Reading Mum]

you only get section 75 protection with a credit card not a debit card - and some credit cards also include insurance on goods over £100.

[mystery]

Yes, that's right about the Section 75 protection. But when we needed it for a tumble drier which was delivered with a damaged outer case, the credit card company would not help and the retailer lied and said we had damaged the goods ourselves after delivery when we took it out of the box. The credit card company was not interested in what we said.

Do you think that Section 75 protection is more clearcut in the case of goods fraudently purchased on one's credit card than in the case of damaged goods that we experienced? (Was Barclaycard that would not help us despite us quoting the law at them correctly via all the right model letters etc and providing photographic evidence).

If so, I'll get a credit card. Just don't really need one so was keeping cards to a minimum and last time I applied for one I was turned down.

[Surferfish]

Only problem with using a credit card is that some companies (e.g. airlines) charge an additional percentage for booking with a credit card (rather than debit card) don't they?