Liability for a lost or stolen credit card

Found the same article posted on Consumers Association of Penang dated Wednesday, 26 March 2008:

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From My InBox:

All Malaysians should be made aware of this clause …….

The limit of your liability for a lost or stolen credit card is RM250.00 only under Rule 13.2 of the Bank Negara rules on credit card if it has been fraudulently used.

Please note this limit and ensure that your bank does not overcharge you should your card have been used illegally.

Most are unaware of RM250 limited liability – PLEASE READ AND BE INFORMED! CARDHOLDERS need not pay more than RM250 whenever their lost or stolen credit cards are used by others. Yet, often times, they end up paying much more.

This is because Bank Negara has not informed cardholders that they do not have to pay more than RM250 for fraudulent transactions carried out using their lost or stolen cards, when they had not acted fraudulently and had informed the banks about the lost or stolen cards as soon as possible.

This protection is given under Clause 13.2 of Bank Negara's Credit Card Guideline:

"The cardholder's maximum liability for unauthorised transactions as a consequence of a lost or stolen credit card shall be confined to a limit specified by the issuer of credit cards, which shall not exceed RM250 provided the cardholder has not acted fraudulently or has not failed to inform the issuer of credit cards as soon as reasonably practicable after having found that his credit card is lost or stolen."

Banks know about Clause
13.2 but have chosen to ignore it. Instead they pursue cardholders for the fraudulent transactions.

They will tell cardholders that a clause in the credit card contracts states that all transactions carried out before the loss of the cards are reported to the banks, are deemed to be carried out by the cardholders.

Many cardholders then pay up because they are unaware of the RM250 limited liability.

Bank Negara should rule that:

*THE RM250 maximum liability on fraudulent transactions is highlighted to cardholders in the card agreements as well as in the monthly card statements.

*BANKS are not allowed to insert any clause in the card agreement which is contrary to Clause 13.2.

*BANKS should refund all money in excess of the RM250 collected from cardholders whose cases clearly come under Clause 13.2.


S.M. MOHAMED IDRIS,
President,
Consumers Association of Penang

BEWARE - VERY SOPHISTICATED WAY TO CHEAT YOU

I have not verified this story yet. Anyway, I think that it is an interesting scheme to be aware of even if it is not a true story.
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From My InBox:

I want to let you all know that Frank and I have been the victims of

credit card fraud this week and felt I should warn you all about the

clever scam. It works like this:

Last Wednesday I had a phone call late morning from Express Couriers to

ask if I was going to be home as he had a delivery for me. He said he

would there in roughly an hour. He turned up with a beautiful basket of

flowers and wine. I expressed my surprise as I wasn't expecting anything

like this and said I was intrigued to know who was sending me such a

lovely gift. He said he was only delivering the gift and the card was

being sent separately (the card has never arrived). There was a

consignment note with the gift.

He went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol he has to

charge the recipient $3.50 as proof that he has actually delivered to an

adult, and not left it on a door step if the recipient is out, to be

stolen or taken by children. This seemed logical and I offered to get

the cash. He then said that the company required the payment to be by

Eftpos so he's not handling cash and everything is properly accounted

for. Frank was there and got his credit card and 'John' swiped the card

on this small mobile machine that also had a small screen upon which

Frank entered in his pin number. A receipt was printed out and given to

us.

Between last Thursday and Monday $4,000 was withdrawn from our credit

account at ATM machines in the north shore area. It appears a dummy

credit card was made using the details in the machine and of course,

they had Frank's pin number.

The Bank has stopped our cards and I've been to the Police this morning,

where they confirmed that it is a definite scam and many households were

hit during the first 3 days of October.

So PLEASE be wary of accepting a gift you're not expecting especially if

the card is not with it. We've all received gifts like this and would

never dream that it could be such a despicable act. Please also let

other female friends and relatives know. Hopefully, these fraudsters

have ceased this activity by now but you never know. I wanted to warn

all my friends.

Gina



P.S. I don't think I'll ever drink the wine - I'd probably choke on it!