credit card fraud

At 18:50:08 on 01/03/2005, Fat Freddy's Cat delighted uk.finance by announcing:

send me details of the transactions.

If you didn't close the account or notify Tesco of your change of address at the time then it leaves you in a weak position. What are the Ts&Cs of the account?

If it's not sorted out, yes.

Ask to see the signed credit card slips.

They'll say "customer not present" and the airline tickets were mailed to the valid card address. :-)

Must be the new occupiers of the old address thinking they could pull a fast one.

Was that in the OP? ( tickets were mailed to the valid card address?)

If so, given the ticket name is probably that of the new occupiers, the police are the obvious next step. Clear cut fraud.

"Tumbleweed" wrote

... and then the cardholder is only ever liable for a maximum of 50 (if anything), isn't he?

Airline tickets must bear the name of the passenger as it must match the passport, ask the Police to request the name of the passengers. If it's the new house occupiers they'll be in the sh**!

Jerry

No, the best you could do is pay £30 or so for a small claims court summons. That will keep the transaction off your credit report, and get the bank cracking.

The airline was supposed to have seen the credit card at check-in. As others have said, they would have seen the passport -- and both would have been keyed into their computer.

All the evidence needed to convict is right there. But nobody -- not police, credit card issuer nor airline -- will do anything until forced to do so. A writ works wonders, concentrating minds and getting action.

No, I was guessing. Seems plausible, though. I suppose the tickets could have been bought over the counter but that would have needed a real card. It's possible the card company sent the OP a replacement card out of the blue, as they sometimes do. That would have been a nice convenient surprise for the new occupiers. It's not looking very good for them, is it?

A summons for what?

The card company allege the OP owes them for air tickets he hasn't bought. He hasn't paid. He has no cause of action. If anyone, the card company have, but of course theirs appears to be unfounded since they presumably lack evidence that he authorised the transaction.

So they can "consider" him liable until they're blue in the face, he need not pay until they sue him, and they would presumably lose.

A writ seeking what? I suppose the only thing would be an order to unblacken his name with any credit reference agencies, if the card company have already blackened it.

A similar fraud happened to me last year (airline tickets bought on my card) but without the complication of house moves, someone just got hold of the number (almost certainly one of the places I shopped in in Spain when on holiday, as the ticket was bought in Spain on a Spanish airline a few months after that visit. So it may not have been the new occupiers at all.

"Tumbleweed" wrote

I've heard of a number of frauds where the purchase was air tickets. Are we missing something here? Is there some scam way of laundering money by buying and then returning air tickets, or something?

"John Redman" wrote in message news:d04q12$m8l$ snipped-for-privacy@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk...

apparently, you would think that whatever it is they would stop it.

thanks for all replies.

the new householders are a nice couple and the bloke is police, so not really likely they did the dirty deed!

anyway, for update, I've written a fairly lengthy letter to Tesco credit card asking them for help and advice, and at the same time pointing out that under the 74 act I don't think I am liable.

Happily, the airline themselves have responded positively to a mail I sent them - they will get back to me with information if I fax them the transaction details.

I'll post more updates if anyone is interested.

g.

Doesn't matter. You want to get their attention. Somebody other than a call centre clerk in Mumbai.

Every major firm has a desk charged with responding to writs. That desk has the authority to settle a complaint. Few others in the firm have that authority.

Trust me on nothing else, but trust me on that. The voice of 40 years of experience.

So what would you suggest as a cause of action? A writ has to be for *something*. Compensation for mental anguish?

Certain full fare tickets bought via an IATA airline are refundable on sight anywhere in the world. Used to be very useful if you wanted to shift money from a country with exchange control regulations.

Mark BR

Not refundable for cash. Exchange control authorities figured that one out right away. An unrestricted, refundable ticket could, and no doubt can still, be exchanged for an MCO. But the MCO can only be refunded in the original currency and (in my experience, but perhaps not invariably) used by someone with the same surname.

I have done the above with Iranian rials and Algerian dinars in years past (1980s).

Think this is a very variable thing, I've cashed in tickets bought in South African Rand for GB pounds in the past, but also know that Nigeria insist on you getting exchange control reg's permission to buy an international ticket.

You used to be able to use an MCO in your name to buy someone else a ticket, but then you used to be able to travel on a ticket not issued in your name - hence a board of return half's of tickets always available at very cheap prices in Hillside, Jo'burg. Life moves on and nothing gets easier!

Mark BR

At 13:39:24 on 02/03/2005, Stormlx delighted uk.finance by announcing:

Claiming what? The only summons action he could take would be to respond to one sent by the CC company.