Have only one PIN number? It's YOUR fault if your cash is stolen

Card sharp: Anyone who fails to follow the rules and loses money to fraudsters could be judged to have acted recklessly and risks being denied a pay-out

Banks have warned customers to follow 30 rules to keep their accounts safe from crooks or risk being left out of pocket.
Many of the High Street banks are imposing sneaky terms and conditions to allow them to block compensation to innocent victims of chip-and-pin or internet fraud.
The new rules include demanding customers shred statements and receipts, ensure no one stands near them at cash machines, and check strangers can’t overhear phone conversations to the bank.
On Saturday, the Mail revealed how Spanish banking giant Santander will demand all customers have separate Pins for all their different banks cards.
Anyone who fails to follow this rule and loses money to fraudsters could be judged to have acted recklessly and risks being denied a pay-out.
Banking giant Lloyds has imposed other strict tests, and at HSBC customers must follow more than 30 different guidelines.
The changes, which have been sneakily added to bank small print, have sparked a furious backlash from experts, who claim the guidelines are virtually impossible to follow and could lead to more people being left out of pocket from fraud.
Richard Emery, spokesman for credit card security firm 4keys International, says: ‘These rules are ridiculous and virtually impossible to implement, but I suspect we will see other banks going down this route. They are trying to find any excuse possible not to pay out and are shifting the blame on to customers.
‘At the end of the day, how would a bank prove you had failed to stop a fraudster seeing your Pin as you tapped it in or even knowing you had used the same Pin for different cards?
‘But at the same time I am really worried because these changes are also potentially dangerous. For example, if you are forcing people not to use the same Pin you are increasing the risk of them writing it down, making it even easier for them to be defrauded.’

A spokesman for Santander says customers may still get a pay-out if they failed to stick to only one part of its new rules, but can be shown to have taken care with all other parts.
Banks are desperate to find any way to cut the £341million bill for card fraud bill each year.
They are supposed to pay back money lost through fraud unless they can prove you committed the crime — or were grossly negligent.
According to regulations from the City watchdog Financial Services Authority, banks can’t simply turn down a pay-out for fraud just because the fraudster has used someone’s original card and Pin.
Instead, banks must thoroughly investigate each case of disputed chip-and-pin fraud to clear the customer of guilt.
They must be prepared to hand over evidence of alleged gross negligence or fraud to the customer and prove they were at fault. But Money Mail has received dozens of letters and emails from desperate readers who say their banks have branded them or their families crooks or negligent.
The independent Financial Ombudsman’s Service says complaints from desperate customers who are being blamed by banks after losing cash through chip-and-pin fraud jumped 30 per cent last year.

FOLLOW THESE RULES OR LOSE YOUR MONEY:

• Shred all of your receipts and bank statements.
• If someone calls saying they are from your bank, don’t give away details — call them back.
• Do not use the same Pin for more than one card.
• Never let your computer record passwords.
• Lock your mobile if you use it for banking.
• Check no one can overhear phone calls to your bank.
• Don’t use dates or numbers that are easy to guess for Pins. 
• Never click on a link to a website if you get an email supposedly from your bank. 
• Check if you are being watched when you do your banking at an internet cafe.
• Download virus software — and keep it updated.
• Do not use an analogue cordless phone if you have to give your bank details.

A spokesman says: ‘These banks may introduce new rules, but that does not shift their responsibility to properly investigate. If they think you have been negligent, it is down to them to prove it.’
HSBC has also sneakily tightened terms. Customers who fall victim to a sophisticated internet con in which they are sent an email supposedly from their bank, but which is in reality from a fraudster luring them into giving away their banking details’, are at risk of being refused a refund.

 

5 FAVOURITE CURRENT ACCOUNTS

	Bank	Incentive
1	First Direct	£125 to switch
2	Nationwide	Free travel cover
3	Santander	3% cashback
4	Barclays	Choose add-ons
5	Halifax	Earn £5 a month

Experts say this is unfair and warn it is incredibly easy to fall for similar tricks. Richard Hurley, spokesman for fraud prevention organisation CIFAS, says: ‘Over the past year we have seen these email scams become increasingly sophisticated.
‘These things look genuine on first glance. It’s really difficult for people to tell the difference between these fake websites and the real thing.’
HSBC says it will apply the rules, which it introduced last year, on a ‘case by case basis’.
A spokesman says: ‘If you had failed to stick by one rule, but had followed all the others, that’s not an automatic red card. We would still pay out.’
Lloyds already bans customers who change the number issued by the bank from choosing obvious Pin numbers — such as their date of birth — in rules introduced last year.
You must also make sure no one listens in to your calls with the bank or watches as you enter your Pin number.
A spokesman says: ‘We would encourage customers to do all they can do protect their data.’