I suppose I should begin with a mea culpa. I recently wrote a comment article complaining about the standards of customer service from my bank. Specifically, I questioned the explanation that closing my local branch and moving my account to one that was further away was done in the interests of serving me better.
Having to walk further to carry out a counter transaction may be a nuisance, but I have since discovered that my bank – ADCB – is there for me when I really need it.
About three weeks ago, just after I returned from a week’s cruise in the Mediterranean and a few days in Italy, my phone lit up with a rapid series of text messages announcing cash withdrawals from my Visa credit card apparently made in Cebu in The Philippines.
Now, I have never been to Cebu, and I was sitting at my desk in Abu Dhabi, with the Visa in my wallet, when the messages came through.
I immediately phoned the bank – but by the time I got through to somebody, another bank employee was already calling me on my mobile. They had recognised the “irregularity” of the transactions and wanted to confirm whether I had, in fact, made them.
They quickly cancelled the card – but not before the thief got away with four transactions in Philippines pesos that added up to about Dh7,000. They would have taken more, but the transactions were declined because my credit limit had been exceeded (I’d already given it a good thrashing on my holiday).
When I told the bank representative where I was, he asked me to try to use my card at a nearby ATM to prove that I was, indeed, in Abu Dhabi.
The upshot is that I have a new Visa, with a different number, but it’s still showing Dh7,000 in transactions that I did not make. The bank tells me it will take between 40 and 120 days for the investigation to be completed, after which all charges, including interest, should be reversed.
Exactly what happened has not yet been determined. The best guess it that somebody – perhaps in Europe or here in the UAE – electronically “skimmed” my card, stealing the details, then passed them on to an accomplice in The Philippines.
I’m not sure what happens next. Hopefully, I get the money back and the authorities catch the bad guys – although the second part is less likely than the first.
Has anybody else had a similar experience? I’d be interested to know the outcome.
bdebritz@thenational.ae
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