By Judith Phillips, Reporter
VIOLATED, angry, upset - these were my emotions when I opened my bank statement on Tuesday evening and discovered I'd been the victim of debit card fraud.
Disbelievingly I looked at the balance, and then looked again, and realised I was a lot worse off than I thought I was. My next reaction was to check through my current account statement, item by item, and there it was, a card payment of £633 to an insurance company I've never dealt with, and another for a top-up with a mobile phone company I don't use. Altogether I've been robbed of over £650.
I can only assume some crook has somehow cloned my debit card and used it to pay their car insurance, and enable them to carry on texting or gossiping about inane trivia to their mates.
Obviously I immediately contacted my bank, who have stopped the card, and promised to issue me with a new one. The nice woman I spoke to also said they would make a goodwill payment into my account while they investigated further.
A new card is in the post to me, as are forms I will have to fill in so they can carry out the necessary enquiries to establish whether or not this was fraud or a slip-up somewhere.
So not only has this callous person stolen my hard earned cash, they've also involved me in not inconsiderable hassle to try to get it back.
Obviously I'm only one of many thousands who suffer from this type of crime each year - a colleague had £2,000 taken last year in a similar scam.
I think what annoys me most about theft of any kind is that it is usually perpetrated by people either too lazy to earn their own money, or who have addictions to drink or drugs which need a constant supply of cash to fuel them.
As someone who has worked in gainful employment since I was a teenager, taking holiday jobs to buy myself treats, and have tried to live a decent, honest life, this sort of behaviour really gets up my nose.
This week I've written a story about members of the Gloddaeth United Church in Llandudno backing the stance taken by the Bishop of Rochester on what he sees as the erosion of Christian values in this country leading to moral decay and the erosion of traditional values. I think they're absolutely right, and like them I might well send a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the subject.
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