Victim shocked at SMS transaction alerts

[MarrickG]

THE bank sent him an SMS saying that he made a transaction on his credit card amounting to RM1 (S$0.40).

Eight hours later, it sent another SMS notifying him of a transaction for RM9,596.80. Mr Tan Eng Chuan, 83, did not make any purchases and was unaware of the alerts because he knows only how to make and receive calls.

When his daughter, Miss Tan Lee Lian, 48, was helping him to clear the messages a day later, on April 28, she was shocked to see the alerts.

Miss Tan, a technician, had given the supplementary Visa credit card from United Overseas Bank (UOB) to her father more than 20 years ago.

It was for him to pay his bills in case she or her sister could not accompany him for his medical appointments.

The last time he used it was a year ago.

Worried about the purchases, she called UOB and was told to wait for her monthly statement. She then cancelled her father's card.

The next morning, she sent an e-mail to the bank, asking for the transactions to be cancelled and the details of the transactions.

Last Monday, her sister received a similar SMS - that RM3,500 has been charged to the supplementary card given to her by Miss Tan.

Miss Tan said she again contacted the bank to cancel the two remaining cards. She then lodged a police report.

A police spokesman confirmed that the report was made and added that Miss Tan has since been advised accordingly.

Said Miss Tan: "We don't do online banking or online shopping because we don't trust all this (sic) online things.

"We have never lost our cards before either."

Said a UOB spokesman: "As part of the bank's security for credit cards, an SMS alert is sent out immediately to a cardholder after the first transaction is performed on a new or renewal card or for high-valued transactions.

"Hence, the cardholder is immediately alerted when there is an unauthorised transaction on his card.

"Upon notification by the cardholder, the bank will block the card to prevent further transactions on the card.

"For fraud cases, cardholders are not liable for the charges."

Miss Tan said she was told by a bank officer that her new cards might have been stolen. Her credit cards were supposed to have expired this month.

She said: "The bank officer said they usually send new cards two months before the old ones are supposed to expire.

"But I haven't received any cards."

Additional security measures have been implemented over the years by banks and global payments technology companies like Visa.

Said a Visa spokesman: "All transactions processed by Visa's global processing network, VisaNet, are analysed in real-time and scored for its fraud potential.

"Visa is able to use a comprehensive view of the global payments system to identify fraud patterns and detect suspicious transactions right at the check-out."

DBS noted that with additional security measures implemented, its number of card frauds has dropped.

Said its spokesman: "Before the implementation of the One-Time Password SMS validation for e-commerce transactions in 2010, we did note an increasing number of Card Not Present (CNP) fraud cases.

"With the replacement of magnetic (stripe) cards to EMV chip standards and SMS transaction alerts, there has been noticeably a reduction in card frauds today."

CNP refers to credit card transactions like mail, online or fax orders where the customer and merchant are not in the same physical location.

Credit card fraud falls under commercial crimes.

Police statistics showed that there was an increase in the number of commercial crimes last year compared to 2009.

It went up 13 per cent to 3,807 compared to 3,359 in 2009.

How to protect yourself

Acknowledge receipt of your new credit card via a phone call or written note, and sign on the reverse of the card before using it.

Avoid using personal details like date of birth, vehicle number or telephone number when choosing a personal identification number (PIN). Memorise it, do not disclose it to anyone or write it down.

Keep your credit card transaction slips for the month and check them against your monthly bill statement. Inform your card centre immediately if there is any indication of fraudulent use.

When making an order online or through the phone, always check and ensure that you are comfortable with the company's privacy policy before proceeding.

Inform the bank immediately if your credit card has been lost, stolen or if you suspect that someone else is using it.

Inform the bank immediately if the new or replacement card has not arrived after a reasonable period of time. Upon receiving the new card, cut up your old card and return it to the card issuer.

Update your particulars promptly so that the bank can contact you to verify transactions.

Be wary of e-mails that ask for your personal and financial information. Under no circumstances would a bank send you an e-mail asking you to reveal your PIN or any account specific information.

This article was first published in The New Paper.