Understatement of the year - A tad miffed.

[K]

I'm bleedin' fuming. :evil:

Mostly at myself for being a twonk for what, oh, about five minutes, just enough time to allow some little stalking scroat to get the better of my normally paranoid nature. :x

Scummy little degenerate lifted my 'Life' - the organiser/wallet thing that I keep anything important in. Money, Bankcard, repeat prescription, notebook, diary, lists of everything I should be doing cos my brain is like a sieve and I'd otherwise forget...

... all gone.

Luckily my passport wasn't in there as it has recently run our and I have it with the renewal forms in my study. My Driving licence and AA card were absent too as they were still inside my bike leathers from my last trip out a couple of weeks ago...
... which is exactly why I usually keep everything together otherwise I forget where it all is and invariably lose stuff.
Simply because it's so important I'm also paranoid about the thing. I always know where it is, it's got a strong shoulderstrap and I wear it so it's slung infront of me and not behind - therein is the tale of my 5 minute twottery. :roll:

I'd gone to the Post Office in Tescos then done a bit of grocery shopping there. After paying put the 'Life' at the bottom of my big crippo shoulder bag and piled the shopping on top. Slung it behind me and toddled off to a few stalls that were lining the shopping centre.

Saw a really nice rock crystal lamp at one of them so bought it as a pressie (for me) but it was a bit heavy to carry hanging from my crutch. So - out comes the lighter groceries and in goes the lamp to see if it will fit - yes, just. So I pay the guy and then realise the only place to put my life was on top of the lamp at the top of my bag. So I do - I'm now tired and feeling the strain a bit so probably not really thinking too straight and now just wanted to get home. Slung ig behind me and made for the car.
BAH! I should have taken my time to rearrange things as the aforementioned scroat must have lifted it from my bag in the five minute potter through the centre, down an escalator and across the car park.

I didn't notice whether it was there or not when I got into my car as I just dumped my bags in the passenger seat and drove home... which is where I missed it as I was unpacking.

So - panic as I can't find the number to cancel the card over the phone so deparately (and as luck would have it, successfully) search for my driving licence as ID and drive back into the bank.


I've also had to buy a new wallet and lost the picture of my dog that was in the old one. :evil:

Meh.

So - just be careful folks when out doing your crimbo shopping - or any other kind of shopping for that matter. Always keep your bag to your front or side with your arm on top of it.

[Skip]

Nightmare - sorry to hear about that K :(

[falc]

Thats proper awful news K :( :(

I hope they catch the little scrote what for but chances are it will be hard to catch him :evil:

Best of luck getting it back and hope everything turns out relatively ok.

They know how to ruin Christmas :evil:

[Baph]

Unlucky K.

Hopefully the bank et al will be quick enough on their toes that the only inconvience you have is telling everyone to cancel everything.

However, be very wary of identity theft because of this!

This incident has started me thinking about something though... but I'd hate to derail, so I wont.

[Beenz]

Thats crap news.

Take care, the annoyance will pass. Don't keep blaming yourself either, it was not you who lifted your 'life', was some pond scum.

[fizzwheel]

:cry:

[Alpinestarhero]

Thats awfull news. Did you get the cards and stuff canceled before any large transactions?

My girlfreinds freind was pick-poketed the other week too

Matt

[K]

Unlucky K.

Hopefully the bank et al will be quick enough on their toes that the only inconvience you have is telling everyone to cancel everything.

However, be very wary of identity theft because of this!

This incident has started me thinking about something though... but I'd hate to derail, so I wont.

It can't have been more than an hour between me buying the lamp and then cancelling it at the bank - though my natural paranoia does make me wonder if they had been watching me as an easy target.
I dont' remember anyone following me per se - but then each baseball hatted scroat looks the same. :roll:

I've actually found my repeat prescription (in the pocket of some trousers I was about to put in the wash :oops: ) so I couldn't have put it in there after collection it last. See, told you I had a memory like a leaky bucket. :roll:

What that does mean though is I'm fairly certain that there wasn't anything in there with my address on - which is good - and I only have the one bank card so that was simple too.

I am now going to have to phone up places like the Doctor, hospital etc and get them to remind me when my appointments were as they were all written in there so I didn't have to remember them. :oops:

The most inconvenient thing is I'm going to have to resort to using cash until my new card comes in - I hardly ever carry cash. Oh yeah, and it scuppers internet shopping too until I get my new card. :evil:

Bah humbug.

[jonboy]

Really sorry to hear this K, just what you wanted at this time of year. And if you ever find the culprit, I'm quite sure we can organize a clutch of SVs and tie each of his limbs to separate bikes, then roar off in different directions :twisted: .

Sadly, he's likely to get half a day's Community Service, but there you go. Bummer.


.

[Pilotdom]

Hang on a min....... Are you definatley sure it was lifted,could it not have fallen out? If it was at the top of your bag with a large item in could it have fallen out? Have you called the shopping center to see if its been handed in?

[K]

Nice thought, but yeah, I've already checked. Not fallen out anywhere.

Plus £200 has been withdrawn from my account (just checked online) - and the remaining figures don't add up so I think there's a transaction in the works somewhere. :roll:

So, looks like I'm in for another trip into the bank tomorrow. :roll: I don't suppose anyone knows what NatWest's procedures are do they. :wink:

Pah. I'm off for a long soak in a candlelit bath, then a cuppa with a bar of chocolate and a good movie to try to relax 8) ... watched in the soothing light of my new lamp. :wink:

[anna]

:cry: :grouphug: really sorry to hear about this K

[Pilotdom]

Ahh well that confirms it then. Sorry to hear about that. Im with Halifax not Natwest and I had £400 taken from my account and they refunded it within about 2 weeks. Youll need a crime number from the Plod though I suspect.

[northwind]

You'll get a refund, since you reported it so fast- they might make you jump through hoops to get it, but get it you will... Thieves tend not to be stupid, they've got to use the card quick-snap before it's cancelled. Usually lots of small value transactions. The bank are going to ask you about your PIN- no matter what, you don't write it down or disclose it to anyone else, OK? Even if you do. I used to deal with the theft and fraud claims in my branch, and unless it was obviously relevant we'd just lie on the forms, to stop people having legitimate claims rejected for being honest. If there's been a cash transaction then either your bank has screwed up, or the scumbag had your pin- could they have observed you using it?

Wee scumbag... I used to hate my old job, but we got a few people into prison that needed it, so I suppose that's something.

[Apophes]

sorry to hear about this but there is a pretty good chance most of your stuff will be in a bush or a bin near where you had it lifted so you never know if you take a strole round there and have a peek in the shrubbery and bins you may find it

[21QUEST]

:( :( Really sad that.

I'm one of those that gets really out of sync(not that I'm ever in sync) if Iose stuff like that ie phone, wallet etc.

Hope doesn't take you too long to get everything back into line.

Cheers
Ben

[Steve W]

Really sorry to hear this and understand the anger you feel... You just have to think the worst is now over which is the initial feeling and the anxiety before you got it reported... The hassle factor is a pain but not, in my experience, as bad as the initial feelings.

Hope it sorts without too many problems.

[ArtyLady]

Evil scumbags :shock: :evil:

Hope you feel a bit better soon K, Im sending you a cyber ((((hug))))

[valleyboy]

Feck.. not a good thing to happen at this time of the year :(

[Cazza]

Really sorry to hear about this K. I know how it feels - I had my purse stolen a few years ago when I accidentally left it on the counter in a coffee shop for a couple of minutes - it had all the cash for the Xmas shopping I was about to do in it. :(

Hope you get back what you can okay, without too much hassle.

[rictus01]

Now that's just not nice :? and I do feel for you , still I suppose this time of year they're out in numbers, after all it's a fair bet people will be carrying more cash than normal and they probably saw you're not going to be chasing them even if you saw them doing it (I've only been out twice myself on crutches and if it wasn't for the fact I had friends with me each time I'd feel well vulnerable).

the card business is a bummer to; just about ruins Christmas shopping well the online stuff anyway.
I'm with Natwest and lost a card several years back, they verified with me all transactions after I'd reported it and refunded two that weren't mine, so you shouldn't have any worries there, although it did take sometime.

Still if the worst comes to the worst and your Christmas is ruined you can come to mine as I'm planning on having it about the end of March.

I really hope it all works out and the candlelit bath sheds a warmer light on the whole thing.
It'll have to be a sit down hug I'm afraid; but no less heartfelt for that.

Cheers Mark.

[K]

Mmmmmm, the bath was nice and relaxing and my new crystal lamp gives everything a lovely warm glow (still didn't sleep too well last night anyway :roll: ).

Thanks for the words of support and wisdom guys. It's times like this I guess that only go to reinforce what a cool site this is due to the people that populate it. :oops:

[mattSV]

Nice thought, but yeah, I've already checked. Not fallen out anywhere.

Plus £200 has been withdrawn from my account (just checked online) - and the remaining figures don't add up so I think there's a transaction in the works somewhere. :roll:

So, looks like I'm in for another trip into the bank tomorrow. :roll: I don't suppose anyone knows what NatWest's procedures are do they. :wink: Pah. I'm off for a long soak in a candlelit bath, then a cuppa with a bar of chocolate and a good movie to try to relax 8) ... watched in the soothing light of my new lamp. :wink:

Northy pretty much summed it up :lol:

NatWest do now have a dedicated Fraud Centre that the paperwork you will be asked to complete at the branch is sent to - you should then be able to deal with them directly, rather than via the branch. It is a real PITA hwever there is no reason why you would not get a full refund, unless you had been negligent (e.g. kept your pin with the card :wink: ) which obviously you were not.

Just keep checking your transactions regularly online and let them know of any dodgy ones.

If you get any grief PM me and I'll see what I can do - a friend of mine is the head of the Fraud Centre.

HTH

Matt

[Iansv]

Doh, sorry to hear that K :(

[Tomcat]

thats sh*t k, chin up hun, chocolate by softly lit new lamp, not all bad :wink:

[Jools'SV Now]

Remember
1.Not your fault.
2.Still not your fault.

Unless you stay in doors and turn your home into a bank vault, **** can always happen.

We've been burgaled twice, 1st time thay forced the front door, hit it so hard the frame split. So we reinforced the door security.

2nd time, they tried the door - no joy :) , so put a brick through a rear window instead :( . Genius, there's no combatting polished subtle artistry like that :roll:

If they want to get in, they will. If they want to rob you, they will. They're scum, they're desperate....there's nothing you can do about it.

and it's still not your fault if they do.

[K]

Update: Well, so far there has just been two transactions that have shown up on my account that the little scroat made.
First was the cash withdrawl and thena purchase in Tescos for just shy of £300. :shock: It's a huge Tescos though, so there's no end of electrical goods, phones, clothing etc. :roll:

All been reported to both the police and the bank, who I have to say, have both been very sympathetic and supportive. The woman at the bank I spoke to sorted all the forms and stuff for me and said it could take as little as a week to sort out.
I'm not going to hold my breath, but she was very nice about it.

The thing that did surprise me was that I got my new card through and it came with instructions that it was set to continue using my old PIN.
Now that had obviously been compromised so I was a bit surprised that they didn't automatically change it with the new card. :?
Either way the first thing I did was change it myself at the nearest cash machine...

... though I was halfway through doing it when I realised I was hunched over the terminal like some deranged paranoid hunchback. :roll:

[rictus01]

Well that's sort of good news, glad they got the card sorted quickly.

Hope that means your Xmas goes to plan.

Cheers Mark.

[northwind]

That seems a bit odd to me, I know we issue a new pin every time a card's stopped. Nothing to stop you changing it right back of course, but at least we make the effort ;)

[the white rabbit]

Just saw this! Very sorry to hear about it and glad is seems to be under control. We shall have him executed...

[Caddy2000]

Sorry to hear about K! Ping told us all on Friday night @ the Lounge knees up (U rated site - remember Ping!!).

Still if they did buy a couple of big items from Te*co then there is a good likelihood of the thief being caught on CCTV and Te*co will be able to find out which till and when the transaction took place.

[Law]

Cr*p, only just seen this. :(

Hope you get the money back quickly and the thieving scum gets caught and hung by his b....

[K]

Cr*p, only just seen this. :(

Hope you get the money back quickly and the thieving scum gets caught and hung by his b....

That's made me think actually. If it was a bloke, how'd they get away with using a card in Tescos with 'Miss' infront of the name? :shock: Does nobody check cards anymore?

[Baph]

Cr*p, only just seen this. :(

Hope you get the money back quickly and the thieving scum gets caught and hung by his b....

That's made me think actually. If it was a bloke, how'd they get away with using a card in Tescos with 'Miss' infront of the name? :shock: Does nobody check cards anymore?
You'd be supprised how few staff look at the signature strip these days let alone anything else.

Also, the new Chip & Pin readers, how many times have you put your own card in the machine, tapped in the pin, and put the card in your pocket? If the staff never hold your card, how can they check the name? Obviously this assumes they have your pin, but a tooled up scumbag could have a PIN for a card quicker than the banks can cancel it.

[northwind]

Also, the new Chip & Pin readers, how many times have you put your own card in the machine, tapped in the pin, and put the card in your pocket? If the staff never hold your card, how can they check the name? Obviously this assumes they have your pin, but a tooled up scumbag could have a PIN for a card quicker than the banks can cancel it.

Yep... The reason that was allowed is that the body that agreed the chip and pin standards were quite pragmatic, they knew how rarely the name checks make a difference (largeley because they happen so rarely) so they didn't consider it too much of a loss. Chip and pin's great in some ways but if the thief gets the pin it's pretty insecure. But don't worry about it, since as long as you don't disclose your pin, and you advise the bank as soon as you become aware of a loss or theft, you're covered. The banks weigh up cost of fraud vs cost of fraud prevention, it's cheaper to take some losses than it is to make it foolproof.

[Tara]

Really sorry to hear about this K, looks like it is getting sorted, but i bet you could do without the hassle

[timwilky]

Interesting.

Many years ago my wallet disappeared in Preston. I came home to get the card details and suddenly National Westminster Bank rang me.

"Mr Wilkinson, we have been advised a Mr x of blah blah has found your wallet and will be at home all day if you wish to collect it." Damm right I did. I went to the scumiest part of Preston a depressing council estate and met Mr x. My wallet intact. all cards, licence, cash. I wanted to give him the cash about £60 and he would not accept it. So I went back that night and left a thank you bottle of scotch on his doorstep.

There are still some honest people out there in the most suprising places. Pity they are so few and far between. With a bit of luck Tesco etc should be able to tie the cctv and transaction times and identify the b'stards