30.A Case of VISA Fraud

Ten days ago we were due to see Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe. Together with Judith, Daphne, Jeff, Ruth and Heather we had a meal at Strada restaurant near St Paul's. When it came to payment, the waiter brought the Visa device to our table for me to enter the pin. He tried three or four times with [apparently] different devices. Each time he said that the Tesco card was faulty. Finally I used a different card and it 'worked'. We crossed the Millennium bridge to the theatre. Being suspicious, I mentioned to Judith that we should check the Tesco visa account next day.

But before we did, Tesco Visa Fraud phoned. Of course, I phoned back to make sure that it was them. ' Had we withdrawn cash with our card?' - which we had not. Apparently we never use this particular card for cash withdrawals. So our account had been robbed, and we were told to destroy the cards and wait for replacements.
I subsequently found out from Tesco Visa Fraud that the cash withdrawal attempts had been made at Hammersmith. They got £100, which Tesco assured us would not be debited from us. But then, when they tried to withdraw £200, then £100, and £200 again, these further transactions were blocked. I was also told, that they had copied the magnetic strip data from my card and cloned it - they apparently did not need the pin, that I had to key into the device at the restaurant. This copying must have been done with one of the devices at the restaurant. It had been modified but I had not noticed. I would look more carefully in future!

I phoned the manager of Strada to inform him what had happened, and of my suspicion. Our only use of the card had been there. He was quite aggressive. They had some faulty devices but definitely honest staff. He denied any responsibility or interest and advised me to go to the police. So I suspect that he might be in on the scam.
I phoned the police who explained, that as I had not lost any money, I was actually not 'a victim': Tesco visa were the losers, and they would investigate if they wished. I'll wait to hear. It would be interesting to know the following:
# at what time after we had paid for our meal, had the cloned card been used?
# what are the home addresses of all the restaurant staff: any near Hammersmith?
# an inspection of all the card devices that are used at Strada - although I suspect that the 'faulty' device was quickly rotated to another premises - that's what I would expect them to do.

Within a week we received our new Tesco cards. We signed them, and phoned as instructed to activate them. I also phoned and was assured, that the pin for the new cards had not been changed.

But Judith returned from shopping [at Tesco!] to report that the new card had not been accepted at the till. So I phoned Tesco Visa. They confirmed that the card was valid, but that 'no transactions had been registered'.
To quote Ronnie Corbett on TV, I thought: 'Funny?'
On a hunch, while still on the phone, I turned the card over. There was no dark brown magnetic strip across the upper back of the card! The person at Tesco visa went to consult her supervisor. After some lovely Bach Brandenburg music, she returned. The cards that we had received were faulty. She apologized. I commented that if it was a faulty batch, they would get more complaints. I don't think that she was impressed.

She promised that we shall get replacements within 10 days. And by the way, She had some special offers for me from Tesco. I kept my cool and politely declined. It shows you that I have mellowed with age. I did not even tell her, that she couldn't possibly make me an offer that I really wanted... not over the phone. That would have turned a case of fraud into one of vice. It would have shocked my reader[s] - and Judith was listening across the landing!