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Visa card blocked because of Skype


tinabee
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I had been having a few problems with the Nationwide visa for online purchases but put it down to using French websites and used a French card instead. However after trying to  buy something on Lands' End UK today the card was again rejected. I rang Visa and they informed me that the card had been blocked some weeks ago due to an attempted purchase on Skype, which was in my case legitimate. Apparently there have been a number of fraudulent transactions associated with Skype and other telecoms services, so Visa are blocking all internet transactions following any transaction of this type. To get your card unblocked you have to ring them up (be prepared for a long wait).

 

 

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Something a bit similar happened a year or so back with my UK credit card, on arrival in France.

Suddenly it was rejected in several places.

I phoned up to ask why, and was told that there had been a suspicious transaction the day before: a Vodafone pay as you go credit purchased online.

This was in fact my transaction, and totally legit, but as it was the first time I had done it that way they thought it unusual. The person explained that if someone steals a card, they will try it out first on some kind of transaction that doesn't bring unexpected goods to the address of the real cardholder. So buying something like phone credit or, in your case, Skype perhaps, sets the alarm bells ringing.

I suppose one has to be grateful that they're so vigilant.

Angela
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Could it be that in both instances Visa were not able to contact you perhaps due to a UK contact number or something?

That was the case for me when my card was blocked following a €2 debit from Leboncoin, again legitamate, they told me the same story, the fraudsters always try a small amount first, now what can be a real problem and I have twice been caught by this is that the merchant name bares no resemblance to the company that you deal with, I had forgotten the leboncoin payment but I realised that the sterling figure related to €2, if the merchants name was even close to Leboncoin it would have jolted my memory, as it was i had to say no I didnt recognise the debit and hey presto card voided and a long wait for the new one to be issued, posted to my UK address and then forwarded to me.

Last year, my card was re_issued 3 times! Once i left it in Tesco's at Folkstone, then the Leboncoin affair and another time when they did it off their own back saying that a large block of card details had been compromised. 

 

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Actually mine was MasterCard, not Visa. And they do have my mobile phone number, but I probably had it switched off or something. (They have phoned me a couple of times on other occasions for spot checks, after a purchase, just to check it was OK.)

I agree about the difficulty with identifying some payments though, Chancer; some names bear n relation to the name of the shop where you made the purchase.

Angela
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[quote user="Chancer"]

Could it be that in both instances Visa were not able to contact you perhaps due to a UK contact number or something?

 

[/quote]

As far as I know, no attempt was made to contact me. I didn't notice for some time as it was only internet transactions that were blocked, so the card worked perfectly well in stores.

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I have some sympathy with card providers. Dammed if you do, dammed if you don't.

EGG [UK credit card provider] used to contact me with an automated phone call.

I do like the system Credit Agricole use. Every time I make an internet purchase I receive a call with a 6 digit code to use to confirm the transaction is genuine. If I am away from my phone I can retrieve the code by email.

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