[LINK] Card Cancellation as a Condition of Statement-Entry Enquiry

[Roger Clarke]

Has anyone encountered this before?  On the odd occasions I've queried a 
statement-entry (as often resulting in dispute-and-refund as not), I've 
faced the prospect of a fee, but not card cancellation.


My WhichBank Visa account statement shows:
01 Sep     Telstra Melbourne       $150

I've not used Telstra for anything for a couple of years now, could 
(initially) find no documentation, and can find no email-traffic.  And 
it's my company card, so my 'paperwork' is pretty reliable.

The IVR process was actually pretty good, and only c.10 mins.
(That's sufficiently unusual to be worth recording!).

At first 'Michael' said he could see no other information.

During the conversation, he accidentally mentioned that it was a 'card 
not present' transaction.

I could have pressured him more, but as far as I could tell that means 
either phone or Internet (or he doesn't know either).

The killer was 'I can put a dispute through.  We'll cancel your card'.

Probing didn't unlock any fallback position available to him.

For example, the propositions that (a) the possibly valid, possibly 
fraudulent transaction occurred precisely 1 month ago, and (b) every 
fraudster knows to extract what they can before the boom lowers, rather 
than sitting back for a month.  I could have added (c) any fraudster 
knows that it's less obvious if you use a little-known name rather than 
a major brand as your cover-story.

He offered to record the complaint.  (He may have had to deal with more 
astonished callers than just me).


Can anyone see anything other than security theatre (and consumer 
hostility) in such a policy?


P.S.  After due consideration, I remembered a telecomms-related 
transaction.  It was a Boost 4G Prepaid/Data-Rollover service.
Sure enough, in the Boost fineprint is "service provided by Telstra").


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA 

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University