data protection bollocks..
Some evil shite managed to get hold of my card details, which I found out about when the Co-op bank rang me to let me know. There followed a long conversation establishing which transactions were mine and as I knew exactly when I'd last used it (as I'm paranoid I generally try to use cash) it was quickly established that a whole range of purchases (on-line betting, mobile phone top-ups, charity donation (which confused me - a thief being nice to unfortunates?) and some other stuff being bought) were not by me. This was quickly sorted, but then I asked where the purchases had happened and the address where the stuff was to be delivered and they wouldn't tell me. I asked why not, and it's for data protection reasons, apparently. Why are the banks protecting criminals data? Admittedly I would have gone to the address and extracted either the money or the equivalent value of entertainment, by means of rapid, forceful movements of my foot/fist into the shithead who was robbing me - but no - apparently the banks have a duty of care to look after robbing bastards - but then I guess they are looking after their own kind.
(thebadangel, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 19:57, 11 replies)

Slightly off topic
but I had my debit card cloned once and the scrotes 'donated' all my month's wages to an aspergers charity.

I suspect they set up these charities themeselves (for the tax breaks maybe) and then use unsuspecting victim's money for donations.

My donations were in small (£5) transactions. Maybe they normally only take a little bit from each person and hope that they won't notice or won't complain about it because 'its doing some good'?
(tico_24, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 21:50, closed)

No, that's tinfoil
Charities and card merchants are both rigorously checked out by all kinds of bodies, so there's no way it'll be the scrotes themselves.

Normally if there's a small charity payment from a stolen/cloned card, it's to check whether it works (so if the fiver to the lifeboats goes through, *then* the thief buys himself a thousand pound telly...). Christ knows why they'd do loads, probably because they or their software messed up...
(stalinism, Sat 18 Jul 2009, 15:34, closed)

Someone cashed a cheque made out to me
despite not being Ms Maladicta Lastname. The bank wouldn't tell me (or rather my murderous father) who it was...
( Maladicta, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 22:05, closed)

The DPA`s technical advice says where a potential crime is involved they cannot withold the data
As far as I can see it doesn`t specify police or government only , so you are entitled to the name and address for your own action.
If they don`t give it out report them to the data commissioner. and threaten them with this with all the gravitas you can manage.

Especially if a crossed check has been misapplied

a leaflet bombing and 12 double glazing appointments a day would be a start on ownback
(tootired Is searching for a funny sig, nothing good so far, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 23:59, closed)

Thanks for that.
Thank you - I'll read up on that and then contact the bank. And if I happen to buy a Batman suit that would be purely coincidental.
(thebadangel, Sun 19 Jul 2009, 12:32, closed)

My mother
had her details stolen. A bunch of hair products and perfumes were ordered online and sent to an address.... apparently the crime was never solved because they couldn't find a suspect.
(Scritty Bakerman., Sat 18 Jul 2009, 5:47, closed)

The DPA
..is there to protect YOU. Get them to show you which chapter of the DPA protects information on an account relating to someone who does not hold the account.

After being fobbed off by firms under the catch-all 'Data Protection' scam, I took it upon myself to learn the whole of the fucking DPA off the top of my head.

I don't think I have ever been quoted it correctly, or heard it used in the way it's supposed to be.
(dchurch bah, Sat 18 Jul 2009, 10:09, closed)

But nobody robbed you
...as you never had to pay anything. The crime was committed against the bank; you don't have any right to go after the scrote because he's not guilty of thieving from you.
(stalinism, Sat 18 Jul 2009, 15:36, closed)

ok, but...
The person who stole my details had no right to do so either - so I'd be living down to the standards of behaviour that they choose to live by.
I'm cool with that - I have never claimed to be any kind of saint or example to others.
(thebadangel, Sun 19 Jul 2009, 12:35, closed)

You answered your own question
I'd be surprised if the reason they won't give out the address isn't simply that if they do and you do go and apply "rapid, forceful movements of [your] foot/fist into the shithead who was robbing" you, they're scared of being held responsible for aiding your vigilantism.
(xanthine, Sat 18 Jul 2009, 21:31, closed)

The law doesn't work.
OK, I'll acknowledge that I didn't lose anything but I'd still like to ensure that these people either think twice about being criminals or be left incapable of thought at all. I'll happily take responsibility for my actions and can happily justify such to myself.

This may be because of my backround - I'm trash from Wood End, in Coventry, which is a charming den of iniquity.
I just happen to know of a few occasions where burglars, when caught, were not reported to the police (no point, if you lived in Wood End the police wouldn't even bother coming to the house - they'd just give you a crime ref. number - my mum was once told by a copper, after being burgled for the third time "Well, you live in Wood End, what'd you expect?" as if she was choosing to live there).
Instead the burglar was taken to a field, had some damage done and were left to think about what they'd done. This worked rather well as a deterrent, far more than the police ever were.

This is not to claim that all of the people in Wood End were criminal scum - most were not, despite what the rest of Coventry thought, but there were a fair number of interesting characters who were not exactly paragons of virtue.
(thebadangel, Sun 19 Jul 2009, 12:30, closed)