RAC Refuses to Disclose Details of Fraudulent Charge to My Debit Card

nomekop on 22/06/2020 - 22:22
Last edited 22/06/2020 - 22:45

Hi all,

On April I was surprised to find in my statement a charge from RAC, specially since I don't even have a car and I have never had an account from them. Furthermore, this charge was from WA, while I am based in VIC. I called the bank, but they advised me to contact the insurer first in case is related to another policy and I don't loose insurance.

After many emails, RAC team has confirmed that:
1. They confirmed I don't have a policy with them
2. They found a policy linked to my card details.
3. Due to privacy restrictions they cannot disclose further details on how this happened. They mentioned a "typo" might be the cause.
3. They insist that they can't process a refund and I need to lodge a bank dispute.

I don't see how a "typo" can be the cause of the problem as I don't have an account with them. I am quite concerned this was a fraudulent transaction, and I am not even able to contact the police as RAC refuses to give me my personal information. I have lodged a dispute already as I don't have a choice, and I am also surprised they can't provide a reimbursement even though they have confirmed something is wrong.

Can a company really refuse to disclose information when there is debit card fraud? Is there any way I can ensure this doesn't happen again with this company? If RAC did a "typo", how can they be held accountable of this situation, and how many other people are affected?

In the end, I will get my money back, but I am worried if this practice is common across the country.

Happy to hear some feedback!

Edit:
I am not interested in the details of whoever used the car. I understand this is private information. However I just want to know if indeed my details were stolen and if I need to go to the police or not.

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Comments

  • Smulder on 22/06/2020 - 22:30

    Privacy laws would prohibit them from giving you another customer's information.

    I am sure they would give it to the police, if it came to that.

    I wonder what the odds are of a typo in a credit card number also matching the expiry date and CVC number? Surely one in billions?

    • dazweeja on 22/06/2020 - 23:15

      If you give them your credit card details over the phone, they don't ask for your CVV. At least, that's how it works with RACV (not the same company of course) and other companies in my experience.

    • [Deactivated] on 24/06/2020 - 19:12

      A typo is near impossible. The first six digits of the card number are the BIN (bank identification number) which identify the type of card (e.g. "Mastercard, Westpac Australia, Consumer Credit"), the next seven are the actual card number, and the last character is a check digit which is the result of the Luhn Algorithm run over the rest of the digits. If a number in the CC was typoed, the Luhn check would fail, and the card number would be rejected.

  • Randxyz123 on 22/06/2020 - 22:41

    Of course they will not tell you who it is. What did you expect? Them to give out their name and address? It is a job for the police now.

    The real question is, was your card skimmed or did your details get released somewhere? Did the scammer use your name for the policy?

    Put any emails you’ve used into https://haveibeenpwned.com/

    At the end of the day this is your bank’s job. They have protection on your card for a reason. You will get your money back, end of story. I’d be looking into if any more of your personal details have been compromised.

  • nomekop on 22/06/2020 - 22:44

    Just to clarify!
    I am not interested in the personal details of another client. I just want to understand if my card details were indeed stolen and if I need to contact the police. How can I ensure RAC send the details of this situation to the police?

    • Eyetie on 22/06/2020 - 22:53

      Out of interest, when did this fraud take place in April? If you would like to private message me your details I may be able to assist you as I have connections in RAC Compliance team. No pressure though

    • Randxyz123 on 22/06/2020 - 22:56
      +3

      Yes, contact the police. Because of how they are created(https://medium.com/@ma.juber/mathematics-behind-credit-debit…), I highly doubt it was a typo. Treat it as if your wallet was stolen.

      Push RAC to give you a reference number for your complaint/enquiry that you can pass onto the police. You probably won’t hear anything back.

      • dazweeja on 22/06/2020 - 23:24
        +1

        Very interesting article. Hats off to Hans Peter Luhn for devising an algorithm in 1954 that's still in use today.

  • randomusername2017 on 22/06/2020 - 23:41

    My Debit Card

    The typo explanation is quite plausible if it was a direct debit from bsb/acc submission.

  • apsilon on 23/06/2020 - 07:14

    Not being able to process a refund makes zero sense. Of course they can reverse it and having thee bank do it I believe involves them being charged a fee. Weird.

    As for the actual charge, typo is possible but are many other scenarios. The bank will most likely issue you a new card which means you then have to update any automatic payments you make from it.

  • BobD on 23/06/2020 - 07:41

    My card had some large fraudulent charges against it about a week and a half back. I notified the bank at 11pm on the Sunday night. They cancelled the card and closed the account immediately and I had a new card 4 days later. The money was recovered within a couple of days. It was a real pain in the butt. I had my card number out for quite a few regular payments. Most of these organisations were very helpful but several were just difficult to deal with. Foxtel even charged a processing fee on a BPay that I used to make sure that they got their money on time.

    This problem should be dealt with by your bank. Go back to them and try again. If they are difficult then when it's all over you should change banks.

  • Jugganautx on 23/06/2020 - 10:26

    Whenever you see anything that you didn't authorise you should just call the fraud line and tell them it was an unauthorised transaction and they'll take your details deactivate your card associated with the account and refund your money after a few weeks.

    Just went through this process with Nab and they don't bother me with anything other then to tell me they're putting the money back into the account.

  • brad1-8tsi on 23/06/2020 - 16:18

    I've had this happen a few times in the past 18 months. It's a waste of time trying to get information. Go to your CC provider, tell them it's a fraudulent charge, get a new card issued, move on.

    • nomekop on 23/06/2020 - 20:49

      Sorry to hear this, so scammers get away with anything without consequences? This is quite convenient for them

      • brad1-8tsi on 24/06/2020 - 14:17

        It has to be a big scam to get investigated as a criminal matter.

        As long as we have cash the banks will continue to return the money on credit card fraud even though they aren't obliged to (unlike a cheque).

        When cash is phased out I doubt the banks will be as amenable. Notice how every year there is a push by various entities to remove cash as a legitimate form of payment? eg: cryptocurrency, our own governments $10k cash limit on transaction, faster online payments and the latest being the publicity around "dirty cash" due to COVID19.

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