Author Topic: Personal security whilst hiking.  (Read 6294 times)

Addingham

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #15 on: 09:57:21, 19/01/18 »
There seems to be a lot of paranoia about using Credit Cards. Especially contactless. If nicked they can't be used indefinitely especially if used quickly over time. A rejection then needs the machine to read your pin. .


Plus your bank has to guarantee refunds if used fraudulently unless it was your own stupid fault. The latter is exceptional. IMHO better than carrying cash.


Waiting for the contradictory replies. ;D

gunwharfman

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #16 on: 14:30:00, 19/01/18 »
Do they actually make contactless credit cards? I thought contactless cards were only issued as debit cards? I've just cheacked my credit card, definately not a contactless one.

Welsh Rambler

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #17 on: 20:58:19, 19/01/18 »
Do they actually make contactless credit cards? I thought contactless cards were only issued as debit cards? I've just cheacked my credit card, definately not a contactless one.
They do and I got sent a new card that was contactless. It's locked away for emergencies and I use a non-contactless one.


I had a card cloned once and the scoundrels went through £3k over three months which the bank refunded no problem but it was a faff checking the statement every month and identifying the fraudulent transactions.


Regards Keith

gunwharfman

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #18 on: 09:34:51, 21/01/18 »
I found the following Barclays Bank link interesting. Its bluff because they obviously dont want customers asking about this.

One of my drinking pals and his wife both banks with Barclays. They ordered and have now received two new non-contactless Barclays Debit Cards, they had no problems in getting them. There was a short delay because the young bank staff, at first, could not find how to organise it on his computer. Another older member of staff solved his problem.

https://ask.barclaycard.co.uk/business/allfaqs/1_contactless/alternative

gunwharfman

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #19 on: 09:40:15, 21/01/18 »
Sorry, I pressed the 'post' button too quickly. My friend then took his elderly mother in law to her bank, Lloyds. He asked for a non-contactless card for her, the member of staff was flummoxed and muttered it can't be done. In these circumstances my friend has a great way of dealing with such people, he says nothing but just stares at the other person. The young woman was so unnerved she called a colleauge over who ordered the new card, done in about five minutes!

Welsh Rambler

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #20 on: 19:51:28, 21/01/18 »
What made me distrust the contactless card was at the checkout in Sainsbury's where I took the card out of my pocket and the assistant said 'all done' when I had not put the card on the card reader or anywhere near it!


I like to check the amount on the screen every time and I can remember on holiday buying a jigsaw puzzle for £10.99 but when I checked the screen the amount showed £109.90 because the cashier had added another nought. The girl was very embarrassed and I think it was a genuine mistake but could have been a very expensive puzzle.


Regards Keith

ninthace

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #21 on: 20:21:10, 21/01/18 »
I have several contactless cards including my OAP bus pass and, on occasions, a ski pass. In my experience, if you keep them all together in your wallet the system is incapable of differentiating between them so none of them work! Mrs N has a leather credit card holder with a Faraday cage built in to protect her cards.
In the past, I have had a non contactless cloned but my bank was on the ball and blocked it before I was even aware I had a problem.
IMHO the best security is to keep your cards together in Faraday cage wallet in a zipped pocket and never let a card out of your sight when you use it. To this end contactless cards are superior because you never let go of them.
I have also come across pubs and restaurants that let you run a tab but ask to keep your card behind the bar against payment. I have a dead card that I give them on these occasions - they never check until it is time to pay.
Solvitur Ambulando

jimbob

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #22 on: 21:21:15, 21/01/18 »
Those Faraday  cage things are  called RFID enabled.  You can buy card sized ones for pennies. I check them out by not taking them out of the case just to be sure they work . To date mine and the ones I bought for family all refuse to cough up the shekels at the scanner until removed from said RFID case.
Too little, too late, too bad......

gunwharfman

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #23 on: 11:54:42, 23/01/18 »
I have now found out the full story of the contactless card saga. The contactless card, it seems, was taken from an old lady in a residential home by an Agency Care Worker just before Christmas. From then on, until the second week in January, the card was used 93 times by under £30 amounts, including 5 spends in convenience stores on Christmas Day, to buy drink and food, but the majority purchases were scratch cards! The card failed 31 times during this period. At no point during this spending spree, or when the card failed to pay up, did the bank (NatWest) attempt do anything! When the niece tried to get some of the money back, the attitude generally was, its not our fault, you need to prove it, perhaps the old lady lent the card to someone, etc.

I believe the cuprit has now been caught, only because the niece and her husband took the time to ring around everywhere to find out if he/she with the card, could be seen on a CCTV camera. In the end Waitrose came up trumps, the member of staff that they phoned was really helpful.

Its very easy why some people want to believe belive that our banks are crooked in some way, what with Barclays appearing to lie in their literature that you cannot have a non-contactless card when plainly you can, to trying to weadle out of any resposibility that they may be at fault themselves in some way. The banks designed these stupid things, they must known the weakeness of them before they persuded the public that they are so wonderful. Or they knowingly did it because they knew that they would be the main benificiary and rake in money by the bucketful because most people (including me for a while) would trust them simply because they are banks.


Mylo

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #24 on: 18:45:01, 23/01/18 »
Some banks, Nationwide being one - your card will still be able to be used for contactless purchases up to a week after being stopped (if you lost it or had it stolen).

They will refund you for any purchases made after you've reported it but you'd think they'd have found a way to block it when reported.

Another issue that many people aren't aware of is that some petrol pumps now allow contactless up to £30 - again, your card can be used even if there's no money in your account. Much in the same way that if you only have £1 in your account, using chip and pin will allow you to fill up to a maximum of £99.

Petrol pumps can't tell if you have adequate funds or not. As long as there's £1 in your account, it will go through.

RuthW

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #25 on: 21:31:08, 24/01/18 »
Going back to prepaid, the Post Office do quite a good one. We always use it for Euros. Pretty sure it's free too.

NeilC

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #26 on: 09:24:28, 25/01/18 »
So are we saying the banks won't refund money taken illegally on this system?


Seems to me that it's entirely their problem. If they choose to hand out  money on illegal transactions then it's their problem.


According to the FCA: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/unauthorised-payments-account it's pretty cut and dried. You don't even need to report unauthorised payments for 13 months.


I'm guessing it's not as simple in real life?


sussamb

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #27 on: 10:09:14, 25/01/18 »
Seems that article needs updating as it doesn't specifically cover contactless cards.  I believe the first time you use one you have to enter your PIN.  I've never used my card contactless so have never entered my PIN.  I'm hoping that means no one could ever use it  O0
Where there's a will ...

pleb

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #28 on: 10:31:45, 25/01/18 »
Seems that article needs updating as it doesn't specifically cover contactless cards.  I believe the first time you use one you have to enter your PIN.  I've never used my card contactless so have never entered my PIN.  I'm hoping that means no one could ever use it  O0
Ditto. Dont trust the damn thing.
Whinging Moaning Old Fart

jimbob

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Re: Personal security whilst hiking.
« Reply #29 on: 11:37:57, 25/01/18 »
My experience was from you over ten years ago. I got little help from the bank so reported a theft at the local police station. They were amused but gave me a crime number  I then told the bank that I had reported the theft and gave them the  crime  number.  They went ballistic and phoned me at least four time to state I had no right to report a theft but the money was refunded same day. I wasn't  in the least concerned for their feelings.
Too little, too late, too bad......

 

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