[airbus]

I doubt it has to do anything with the petrol pump. In the last two months, I have heard good number (~50) of Citibank debit/credit card frauds from colleagues in my company. The problem was so acute that Citibank people came to inspect the Citibank ATM in our tech park for any external skimming device. Though I am not a victim, I called Citibank customer care to disable International transaction but problem is that they can disable only swipe transaction not online. So, I have asked them to reduce my credit limit to lowest possible and got my card replaced. I feel HDFC is better in this aspect, you can disable International transaction from netbanking as well as set different limits.

Looking at the magnitude of the problem, I suspect that data may be compromised at bank level. One of the victims mentioned that Ulsoor Police Station have got many complaints about frauds related to Citibank debit/credit cards.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by actinium15

The portion of your comment explaining the two-step process is correct, but the unbilled-transactions are pretty much what they are - "unbilled" transactions; i.e., the credit card card bill containing those hasn't been generated yet.....

Terminology may vary across banks, but this is what my ICICI credit card account says (both points are self explanatory):



The 'Current Statement' section shows all transactions for the running billing cycle for my primary and add-on cards in separate lists.

[actinium15]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Terminology may vary across banks, but this is what my ICICI credit card account says

Hm. Interesting...
This is slightly OT, but just for the sake of completeness, here's what people on Quora have to say [0]:

Total unbilled debits - Sum of all retail transactions, both debit and credit, made by you after your last statement date.

Total unbilled credits - Credit transactions after last statement

For authorized transactions (irrespective of their reconciliation/settlement-by-merchant status) the term they use is "Total outstanding authorization amount".


Apropos 'unbilled transactions', FAQ on HDFC website seems to agree with experts on Quora too: [1]


[0] https://www.quora.com/What-are-all-t...his-in-details
[1] https://www.hdfcbank.com/personal/fa...8mitn-gts8mitr

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by actinium15

.....here's what people on Quora have to say.....


....Apropos 'unbilled transactions', FAQ on HDFC website seems to agree with experts on Quora too: [1]

Like I said, appears to be a case of non-standardized terminology.

I remembered specifically, because when I filed a credit card fraud claim a couple years ago, the bank told me they'll block & decline transactions 'pending reconciliation' ('unbilled transactions' by ICICI terminology) immediately, while they'll need to investigate those already claimed by the merchant. They gave me interim charge-back credit for the disputed transactions, subject to condition that it will be either made permanent or reclaimed depending on whether the investigation goes in my favor or not (it did).

P.S. This discussion belongs in the credit card thread, though the point is also relevant here as fraudulent transactions are easier for banks to block/reverse before a merchant claims it, as money hasn't changed hands at that point. Once reconciled, the bank has to take on the loss by repaying the customer.

P.P.S. I've also been in a situation where I had to request the bank to block a transaction I made willingly, because the vendor went incommunicado after accepting payment (rare item not available mainstream so had no choice ). The vendor finally contacted me when the bank refused to honor the transaction (the transaction stayed in 'unbilled transactions' for a while), I withdrew the block once the vendor provided verifiable shipping details.

[NiInJa]

I had a similar experience with citibank credit card, maybe OP can check for this.
Have you ever done a booking of hotel overseas on your credit card by blocking your credit card details against the suite/property ? Or entered card details on any e-tail site ?

I had done the same on booking.com where I had booked a hotel room in UK by providing my credit card details, the instructions were clear that hotel would deduct 1 day room charge 2 days prior to arrival, but I got an SMS 15 days before my travel that some GBP has been charged on my credit card at 4 AM in the morning on booking.com, for the same hotel. I woke up and saw this message, then calculated the amount which would be ideally charged for me two days prior to my stay but it was way off (256 GBP to be exact)
Called up Citibank helpline and blocked the card immediately, they said that such transactions are happening a lot and we are blocking all cards immediately. Card details leaking on internet is pretty common these days, I recommend not to store any card details for further transactions if prompted.

I like these desi cards (SBI/HDFC) better, they call immediately if they feel something is wrong with the transaction I swiped a big amount when I was travelling to Chennai and they immediately called me and told me somebody has swiped your card in Chennai.

[amalji]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just thank your lucky stars that it was a credit card (bank's money) and not a debit card (your money). That's why I have ZERO debit cards on me.

This is a very important point.

During the initial days when I shifted to Bangalore and was not used to the kind of cheating involved in big cities, I made a transaction of 1,92,000 INR using my HDFC credit card to a fraud vacation ownership company named Country vacations. The nature of the fraud is that whatever you ask during the negotiation process, they will agree to it. But, none of it will come in the actual contract that you sign with them. Some examples - they promise 30 years membership, but it's actually 5 years.

The biggest advantage with a credit card transaction is that you have 2 months to file a dispute ( atleast with HDFC ) if you feel that you have been cheated. In my case, I was trying my best to get the features promised by the company for the first 3 months and when I realized that this is never going to happen, I filed a dispute with HDFC. Initially they refused to accept the dispute since I delayed it by more than 2 months. But, then I quoted all the news articles mentioning about the fraud dealings of this company - Country Vacations and they accepted my dispute and stopped charging any interest on the amount immediately. After 10 months of investigation, the disputed transaction got reversed as well. The SMS and email communication that I had with this company from day 1 of the transaction helped a lot in proving the nature of the fraud.

I learnt several lessons from this episode. But, one important lesson was the advantage of credit card transaction vis-a-vis a debit card transaction.

PS: In addition to the dispute, I also filed a consumer court case. It's been 2 years since the case was filed. All the hearing got completed within an year. But, the judgement gets postponed every month there after. Maybe, we've lost the priority because the money is already refunded and the only thing left is the compensation for mental torture, court expense and interest.

[poised2drive]

Having been at the receiving end of the fraudulent transactions to the tune of Rs.78000.- in one day - divided into 3 equal transactions , let me share my experience
---------------------.

On 23rd June, my SBI credit card was debited Rs. 78000 as mentioned above without any OTP verification. I was instantly frozen.

I immediately blocked the card but as per their rules, it would take at least 45-60 days for the case to be solved and would have to pay from my pocket to maintain my credit rating.

As per the conversations, they said they could not cancel the transaction , which I believe was untrue.

Meanwhile, I looked at the merchant's name , which was 'GOOGLE *Octro Inc' , alias Google Play store.

I called the google play store contact . There's a special cell to complain about Google play store transactions.

I immediately shot a mail stating the fraudulent transactions on my card. They reverted to me , very swiftly ,stating that my gmail account had not had any transactions and there was a possibility of transactions being made from another google account.

Later, they confirmed it was from another account and cancelled the transactions and money was credited back to my card in 2 days.

--------------Reply from the Google Team------------

Ref: 121782108050

Review of Transaction dated 23/6/2017 at GOOGLE *Octro Inc g.co/payhelp# CA For Rs 26000 on your SBI Credit Card.

Hi Manas,


Thank you for contacting Google Support Team.
We've investigated the charges dated June 23, 2017, and confirmed that they weren't made from your teja.katakam@gmail.comaccount. For security reasons, I can't provide information about who made the charges. However, we have taken action to prevent further charges to your payment method from this account.

Our refund policy requires that you report unauthorized purchases within 65 days of the unauthorized purchase, but as a courtesy, I've refunded all the charges that were done within the past 120 days that you claim were unauthorized to YOUR CARD-ISSUING BANK account. The time it takes your refund to appear depends on the payment method.

IMPORTANT: You should also call YOUR CARD-ISSUING BANK right away to secure your payment instrument. Report what happened and ask them to cancel all unauthorized charges. They may advise you to cancel your account or change passwords. Further, it’s important that you avoid sharing your payment details with others to minimize the risk that your payment instrument is used in an unauthorized manner.

Thanks!
Daisey
The Google Support Team


-------------
SBI card sends me a cliched mail and it had been a week or so after the Google cancels the transactions

------SBI Card mail------

Dear Manas Teja K,

This is with reference to the review of the above-mentioned disputed transaction on your SBI Credit Card Number XXXXXXXXXXXX3819.

We would like to inform you that the matter is under investigation
Incase of any further query on your card account, please contact the SBI Card helpline at 39 02 02 02 (prefix local STD code) or 1860 180 1290. IVR & Emergency Services are available 24 hours And Customer Service representatives are available from Monday to Saturday between 8am to 8pm or you can get easy access to exclusive services & account information with just a click. Visit our website sbicard.com or download the SBI Card Mobile App http://bit.ly/SBICard-App to access self-servicing options on the go! “

SBI Railways Cardholders, Please call the 24 hour Railway Card Customer Care Helpline at 39 02 12 12 or 1800 180 1295 (if calling from MTNL and BSNL lines).
Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
PANKAJ SINGH
(Chargeback)
---------------

I was lucky since I could find the merchant and they were swift enough to investigate into the issue and resolve it.
The Google Customer Service was an American and his accent was quite tough for me to understand . So I asked him if he could send me a mail as what he was saying and he was polite enough to do so . And the SBI customer care was , outright ineffective, if not helpful.

I was sure I'd would have to run from pillar to post if the Google had not cancelled those transactions.

[kavu75]

Even I too faced a similar situation with my Citibank Indian Oil Credit Card.
On September 6th, my card was debited for 870 GBP, used at SYNERGY MANAGEMENT & Solution LONDON. No OTP received, got SMS and mail notification for the transaction.
Immediately I reported this to Citibank, raised a dispute and blocked my card, they told me with in 5 working days they will provisionally credit back the amount into my card account. Investigation procedure may take around a month, will settle the issue permanently after this.
As explained by Citibank, got the amount credited into my account after 5 days.

I was extensively using this card for my fuel purchase and other merchants. For fuel purchase, I had used this only at Bellandur IOC outlet( Using the same outlet from last 10 years) and paying by cash if I use any other outlet.
Not sure from where my card data is skimmed. What I am suspecting is, during the month of July I have used this card in Srilanka and the swipe machine didn't ask for any PIN. But I had used only at duty free shop and small eatery outlet inside airport.

Surprise to see so many issues are reported from Citibank Cards

[i74js]

Since the time PayTM acceptance has expanded, I have started using it extensively including most of the online purchases right from ordering Pizzas to paying for fuel at bunks.

I keep on getting some cash backs and my credit card points are always intact as I use the card to charge PaytM wallet. Even for purchasing airline tickets I have started using PayTM, as it offers good cashback. I have dedicated one single card for PayTM recharges for all family members. This card contains only PayTM transactions every month.

So far I am able to manage 60%+ of my monthly expenses through PayTM and handing over card to everyone is something that I don't do anymore. I use the cards only at very reliable PoS essentially when its buying cloths, shoes etc. For online transactions (wherever necessary) I use Amex as they happen to be most consumer friendly. I had purchased McAfee antivirus online last year and this year I received sms that about 700 has been charged on my Amex card; raised a dispute and the amount was credited back while I was talking to the customer care representative. On investigation, the bank discovered that my McAfee subscription was auto renewed which was never authorized by me. The long & the short of it was that auto renewal was done without permission thus Amex stood by me and the amount was permanently reversed. The bank issued a fresh card to me immediately.

Outcome: The renewed subscription is working alright without payment (though I am not happy on getting it free, but even businesses are growing insensitive and ethical walls do not exist anymore)

Not sure using that laptop with free valid subscription has any additional risk; so far so good.

[Aroy]

In my experience AMEX cards offer the best protection against fraud.

This summer a friend's cards were stolen in Rome. The thief immediately used the Visa for a number of high value purchases. Generally the thief and the shops are both in the game, so PIN is never verified.

On the other hand the AMEX was not used at all. On inquiry they learned that AMEX has pretty stringent rules for merchants, hence thieves rarely use stolen AMEX cards. The AMEX was replaced in a day, the VISA took a week.

[FIAT3031]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_chn

Transaction successful without OTP without physically swiping the card? But how???

Then you must try the Linkedin 1 month Free Premium Membership [whatever it is called]
Where in you have to just punch in your card details to avail the free services.
God Forbid, if you forget to get the "Free" services de-activated within a months time, the (penalty) hefty charges will be levied onto you.

Moral: You do not need a PIN / OTP for certain transactions

[RICK004]

My father's debit card had experienced fraudulent transaction in tune of Rs. 1 lac last year. I traced backed the sequence of events:
1. I along with my mother shopped at a prominent store at CP Delhi
2. Next week this amount was withdrawn from an ATM within the bank premises at prominent location in Delhi.
3. Notified the bank and got the card blocked and received the money within few days.
4. Checked my card usage history and zeroed in on this store in question. I remember my mom had entered the pin twice as the first transaction got declined.
5. Visited the store later to find out 2 cameras positioned right at the cashier's desk.

Moral: Never since have I entered card PIN (Credit or Debit) without hiding the number pad with my palm. Even in petrol bunks when the swipe machine is in my car and may be safe from camera surveillance. Feels awkward at first as my trusted shop owners/cafe reps think i am mad, however case of once bitten twice shy.

[gkveda]

Hearty thanks for all the TBHP friends who responded and cared to support me on this thread. Almost all the posts in this thread are so supportive that I got the knowledge/Idea and confidence in many aspects that I would like to summarize below

1. I am not the only one who is trapped in this transaction and there are many such instances happening around the city.
2. Petrol bunk is only a coincidence and may not be the real culprit.
3. In most cases, Citi investigates and risk on the Card holder is reduced if the complaint is genuine.
4. Try to reduce the credit limit to minimum so that the risk is further minimized.

By the way, as suggested by many in this thread, I have got the provisional credit for all the transactions to the accuracy of second decimal paise. So, Net, Net, Temporarily, I have got complete money credited back. Got clear mail from Citi that they have started the investigation on all the disputed transactions.

Keeping the fingers crossed till the dispute is closed by Citi and credit amount is permanently credited back to my account and will update all once I get the updates.

Also, curious to know, what is the investigation that citi does to prove that my claim is genuine. And how does it get the evidence that My claim is genuine?

In other words, given that my claim is genuine, is there a possibility that Citi fails in the investigation and may still ask me to pay the amount?

[speedguy]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

In my card, the moment I make a transaction which seems out of place (say a different country, different cities or some extremely high amount), I get a voice call by a bank officer verifying if I have done that transaction. Incase its a fraud, the transaction is reversed and the card will be blocked. Also I get sms for each transaction and card is chip enabled with a pin. I wonder why all cards can't be like that?

Same is with mine card also. I purchased a bike worth Rs. 1 Lakh on my CC last month (Initial ownership review is under construction )
After swiping of card by dealer's cashier & entering pin number by me, next second I got a call by my relationship executive confirming the authenticity. Out of curiosity, I asked him what if I have not carried out this transaction, he said they will reverse the amount & block the card. Way to Go.

[chintazz]

There seems to be some kind of a racket involved here....I too had got a call pretending to be from Citibank asking if I would like to convert my balance reward points to cash. The person on call asked for my credit card no. Validity period and the cvv number. When I refused to give these details, he hung up!

It is generally very difficult to identify a real bank executive and a fake one.
As a rule, I don't entertain any incoming call saying it is from a bank/credit card company.

If required, I call the customer care number where you can be sure that you are talking to a genuine bank executive!