Wed, Oct 25th - Bankers, all of 'em

Having succumbed to local germs, on Wednesday I worked from home to avoid contaminating others. It was a jolly good thing I did as early in the afternoon the land-line rang. I answered to be confronted by the fraud department of my bank.

her:"Have you book any train tickets for travel in Eastern Europe sir"
me:"no"
her: "Have you booked a foriegn holiday"
me: "no"
her: "I am afraid Mr T your bank card details have been compromised and you need to destroy the card immediately. What this also means is that you cannot use it to withdraw any money or pay for anything until we get a new one sent out to you sir"

The pleasant lady then explained that someone at one of the many places I shop online (or not) has sold my card details to a criminal. I accepted her explanation as I was a little shocked.

After I hung up, my brain stirred and the cogs whirred. Hold on a minute!!! I've been banking with TSB for 15 years and have been dealing with the same companies all that time. When I do anything online, it is encrypted and no readable by people. That leaves only people I have paid over the counter or read my number to over the phone.

Now I know only 1 company I have had to read my number to, so that leaves only 3 real possibilities: a local shopping "skimming" the card, it was an allegedly inside job or the alleged bank's own sloppiness is disposing of account paperwork.

Speaking to a work friend, it turns out that he banks with the same company, and the same thing has happened to him twice.

The bank's name is the Alliance and Leicester. Ironically, this year I have moved my current account, savings and mortgage (yep, that's all the money I have) to this very company. Suffice to say I will be watching my statements like a hawk from now on. So much for the "it's really, really secure, honest Guv" Chip and Pin.

Some related links:
BBC, MSN, CardWatch (UK), BillPay (oooh, the irony, is from Alliance and Leicester).