The bank card is a practical and safe means of payment. However, the hacking techniques used by crooks are also sophisticated. If you realize that your bank card has been hacked, remember to adopt the right reflexes to minimize the damage. In this article, I take stock of what you should do if you are the victim of a credit card hack.
According to a study by NordVPN, hackers can hack your credit card in just 6 seconds. Indeed, these few seconds are enough for them to hijack your banking information.
It’s usually when you check your bank statement that you’ll notice a suspicious charge to your account. If so, you are probably the victim of a credit card hack. Indeed, cybercriminals use several means to withdraw information from your bank account and attempt to defraud you.
In concrete terms, credit card fraud refers to the use of your bank details without your knowledge. While you are still in possession of your credit card, fraudsters have no shortage of ideas for hacking into your account.
In most cases, you receive an email and an invitation to connect to a website. For this, fraudsters use several pretexts. They may, for example, ask you to update your data, or to change your code. They send you a link that takes you to a pirate site. Their goal is simple: to recover your banking information.
Upon identification of a fraudulent charge on your bank card, you must immediately oppose it. To do this, call the stop number set up by your bank branch. This is on your contract, behind the withdrawal tickets, and next to the cash dispensers.
You can also call the interbank server reserved for the opposition to the credit card. He responds 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 0892 705 705. Note, however, that calls to this server are billed.
If the fraud is noticed during the opening hours of your branch, you can contact your bank directly. It is best to do this as soon as possible. Otherwise, you have 13 months from the fraudulent charge. If the disputed transaction took place outside the European Union, this period varies from 70 to 120 days depending on the case.
You can also file a report with the police. If the incident took place abroad, contact the consular authorities.
By blocking your bank card, you will no longer be able to use it. Indeed, this step is imperative to make your card permanently unusable. This action takes effect immediately.
To confirm your opposition, you must send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt to your bank. As a result, you are released from any responsibility for the use of your credit card, and you will be able to request a refund. Anyway, know that you are not obliged to file a complaint to be reimbursed.
After contacting your bank branch, it is also advisable to make a statement to the police. Indeed, you can make a report online, on the Perceval platform of the Ministry of the Interior. This report will help the authorities identify the perpetrators of the fraud.
You can also file a complaint at a police station, at the gendarmerie brigade, or by mail by writing to the public prosecutor of the judicial court. To do this, you must provide all the evidence in your possession.
For this process, the police station can provide you with a certificate (or filing of a complaint). This document may be required by the bank as part of the reimbursement of fraudulent transactions.
If your bank does not respond to your request, send a registered letter to the manager of your branch. You can also contact your customer service. If necessary, you can call on a designated mediator. The information concerning it must appear on your bank’s website, on your bank statement, or on the website of the Cercle des Médiateurs Bancaires.
As a last resort, you can go to the court of law where your agency is located.
In theory, the bank is required to reimburse you in the event of an undue debit, as long as you are still in possession of your bank card. The refund must take place immediately. It must include the amount of the disputed transaction, and possibly the agios as well as the costs generated by the incident.
Indeed, once the fraud is recorded, your bank must restore the debited account to the state it would have been in. No need to have contracted a particular insurance to benefit from this legal provision.
The fact remains that some banks refuse to reimburse you the full amount lost. Therefore, part of the damage will be your responsibility. Indeed, you will be required to pay a part, within the limit of 50 euros maximum.
Also, the bank may oppose a refund in certain exceptional cases. It may be fraud on the part of the credit card holder, or gross negligence. Be aware, however, that for this, the banking establishment must prove the existence of these actions.
To date, there is no infallible method to avoid fraudulent use of your bank card. However, you must take certain precautions to limit the risks.
The security of your credit card is intimately linked to your behavior. Therefore, caution is required to preserve your bank details and thus reduce the risk of hacking. No one is safe from danger, but if something goes wrong, you must react appropriately.