[2theMax]

Sorry about that Sam, It happened to me as well, I was stupid enough to take a copy of my card at the local Xerox shop for my records and later while I was in the UK leaving my ICICI card behind, I recieved a statement for 2000 $ used in Amazon.com. That was higher than the card limit.

I had to send out a written complaint from the UK disputing the transaction and requesting the card to be blocked. In a weeks time the transaction was reversed. The bank has 3rd party agents who track fraudulent transactions of this kind and this would take a while.

You can pay all your outstanding minus the disputed transactions and request for the card to be blocked.

I remember faxing the dispute form to (customer.care@icicibank.com) , 02256661421

You could harp on reversal as early as possible. That was the last associatoin I had with ICICI.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Sam, in all this chaos you have still not mentioned whether you finally managed to login to your Infinity account (ICICI netbanking) and check your transactions.

20,000 ued at the Spurs club in Tottenham. Shows in my statement.

[bblost]

Search for: hotspot tottenham
In: Google Maps

Hotspot
428 Hertford Road, London N9 8AA, United Kingdom
020 8804 8049‎

Category: Tanning Salon

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

20,000 ued at the Spurs club in Tottenham. Shows in my statement.

Correction. It shows as Spurs M/O Internet. I think this was an internet transaction.

[vdiatech]

Originally Posted by bblost

Search for: hotspot tottenham
In: Google Maps

Hotspot
428 Hertford Road, London N9 8AA, United Kingdom
020 8804 8049‎

Category: Tanning Salon

exactly what I posted in #24 . I am not sureif a tanning slot or treatment costs that kind of money. Costs about 10-15£ for a session. What scamsters do is, buy gift vouchers from them and sell on ebay.

Edit: But after seeing Sam's update then it is confirmed that they have bought tickets for the entire season of home matches with the club ! They can be easily tracked now if the police get involved. But usually banks dont pursue for this kind of money. They reverse, claim insurance or write it off and forget !

[bblost]

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Correction. It shows as Spurs M/O Internet. I think this was an internet transaction.

This info was already posted earlier. I am just providing some more information.

Sam if it was a online transaction it would have hit this
Visa South Asia | Secure Online Shopping

Its a new security feature that requires users to enter a 6 digit number.
If the number has not been setup then the user is asked to enter information like month+year of birth.

Did you hand over your passport by any chance to the person at the Mumbai Duty Free place?

@vdiatech: sorry, missed your post about the tanning salon.

[Sam Kapasi]

Originally Posted by bblost

Th

Did you hand over your passport by any chance to the person at the Mumbai Duty Free place?

You have to. Passport and boarding card.

[optimist]

Originally Posted by vdiatech

HI, I speak based on my experience of half a decade with Halifax , Fraud Prevention ( IT Dept ).
<snip>
In a single stroke the card is swiped first on the reader and then on to the EDC. This little device stores the Track 1, track 2, track 3 information that is held in magnetic strip.

I have a few question. is the CVV also encoded on the card? In order to maintain the secrecy of the same, I have disfigured it on the card and is known only to me.

Have any images of things to watch our for? Now onwards, I resolve not to let the card go out of my hand for swiping also. Thanks.

[wolfinstein]

Just remove the CVV on your card using a nail paint remover, usally its a 3-4 digit number which can easily be memorized.

Second, Register for Verified by VISA or Secure Code by Mastercard.

I don't think the bank is an issue in fraud cases, its reaching the customer care as pointed out by Sam.

I have been using ICICI Mastercard Titanium for 3 years and counting, never any issues more or less. I keep a regular watch using internet banking.

Its recommended to change your cards when you travel into Fraud pro countries like Thailand, Malayasia, Hong Kong.

As a standard, when I was working with Amex. We would always recommend the customer to change his card on his return back from these countries.

While Fraud Transactions made on the card prior to blocking will continue to show. You can easily raise a dispute- A mere 10 min job and pay the outstanding amount minus the disputed charge.

Usually the Amex server waives off charges less than USD 10, Since it takes an internal cost of around USD 25 to pursue a Fraud Investigation.

[vdiatech]

Originally Posted by optimist

I have a few question. is the CVV also encoded on the card? In order to maintain the secrecy of the same, I have disfigured it on the card and is known only to me.

Have any images of things to watch our for? Now onwards, I resolve not to let the card go out of my hand for swiping also. Thanks.

Hi, CVV is not stored on the magnetic strip of the card. If you disfigure it, then the retailer will suspect your card to be a cloned one ( in Western countries ) . One of the tip given to retailers in UK/USA is to just look out for the numbers (esp CVV ) on the signature strip. Most cloned cards dont have CVV on the back.

Also, if a retailer's EDC has failed, he will usually call in his bank to obtain an authorisation code over phone. A CVV is mandatory here ( although I doubt if any Indian retailer will go for a telephone authorisation if the EDC fails, they will just say that the card/machine is not working and ask to pay cash)

When at a retailer, always ensure that you dont lose sight of your card. EDC is a one piece machine, if you see anything attached to it, then best not to use the card there.

For Lebanese loops at ATM's watch out for a losely fit panel, not a good finish. Darker/lighter colours than the actual bank logo's . If you see any signs of tamper to the card slot or to the entire panel, best to try some other ATM.

Attached a pic of a magnetic strip reader, the data can be downloaded to a laptop and a card printed in a few minutes !

Also, many retailers dont use a stand alone EDC, the car reader for transaction is built on to their keyboard or monitor ( display ). These are fine

Also, some banks in UK/USA insist that you inform them about your overseas travel. Without which, your card will not work in other countries.

[Sam Kapasi]

Hello there,

I received a reply from the bank today that has put all my fears to rest. FOr your own information I will share it with you.

Dear Sir,

We have placed the request XXXXXXXX for dispute of the transactions at

XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX

We understand your state and as an ICICI Bank customer we are providing you credit of the mentioned disputed transaction. This credit has been provided , you need to only make payment towards the balance amount.
Now onwards, the bank will take charge of the investigation and you can enjoy the services as usual.

Only scenario we may need to consult you back is, if the merchant claims this amount by providing concrete documents/details. In all probabilities this should not happen in your case.
As confirmed, the dispute process is guided by the VISA/MASTER regulations and involves multiple parties. For the interest of all parties involved, the dispute resolution timelines are high (in your case it is 91 days). But, you may not worry as we have provided you a credit for this transaction and you may leave the rest to us. We will carry out the necessary investigation on your behalf and keep you updated periodically through SMS, Emailers & letters. We request you to provide us with your latest contact details & email id to be updated in our records.

We thank you to your patience and co-operation in the interim and assure you the best of our services.
Looking forward to your cooperation towards a better service


Sincerely

XXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Customer Service Executive
ICICI Bank Limited

I am both impressed ad happy with the way ICICI has handled this case. Well done.

[~~h]

Great, I'm impressed as well; quite uncharacteristic of ICICI, but we welcome this change..

Sam finally you can be at peace..

[Ravindra M]

This is incredible ! I never expected ICICI to be so polite and professional if I go by my personal experiences with them. For example, it took 6 months to reverse a failed ATM transaction of Rs 15000, in its own ATM !

@Sam - Hope you are relieved by now. Somehow I also felt better to know that.

[ph03n!x]

I did read on a post that the fraud could be an online transaction. But online transactions for any Indian credit cards must be authorized by Verified by Visa or something similar- so unless the credit card online account is compromised too (highly unlikely), then this is... umm.. interesting.

On the other hand, when I was travelling in UK, I had a lot of trouble using my credit cards / debit cards in popular/ frequented places, because they insist on a "smart" credit card, the one that looks like a chip (a la a SIM card) embedded. Not sure even if someone duplicated, they can get away with it- hell, I had troubles using my own card!

[vdiatech]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

On the other hand, when I was travelling in UK, I had a lot of trouble using my credit cards / debit cards in popular/ frequented places, because they insist on a "smart" credit card, the one that looks like a chip (a la a SIM card) embedded. Not sure even if someone duplicated, they can get away with it- hell, I had troubles using my own card!

Yes, the UK credit cards are a bit difficult to duplicate but certainly not impossible. We have seen set ups of CCTV cams to capture the pin, modified EDC to read the chip contents.

In fact, the day UK made Smart Chip/PIN as mandatory for card transaction , a channel 4 documentary showed an Oxford student, duplicate such cards in few minutes, including the chip and retrieving pin using a remote camera !

Majority of card related scams was attributed to Srilankan Tamils (in the UK). HotSpots for cloning were petrol stations owned by them , restuarants etc. For years, they have been cloning cards, globe trotting - shopping (mostly buying GOLD). Now Indians, Pakistanis and a few Arabs have also joined this.

As customers, we have to check the transaction statements very frequently (not wait for monthly bill/statement), watch out for suspicious devices/people/websites.

The scamsters are getting very intelligent. Recently an improvised card reader was detected at a RBS ATM in Kendall. We have never seen anything like that before !