What should you do if you suspect credit card fraud?

Everyone has heard stories about mysterious “princes” and other scams designed to trick people into handing over their financial details.

While it’s important to stay on top of publicised scams like these, it’s also a good idea to keep close track of your finances – and in particular, your credit card activity – so you’re always across any unexpected changes.

If you notice something unusual with your credit card or you’re contacted about a transaction, here are some steps to follow.

Speak to your bank

Get in touch with your bank immediately – they should be able to put a hold on your account and also reimburse your money provided you haven’t contributed to the loss and have protected your card and PIN if there has been fraudulent activity. And while the technology that scammers use to get your details may be advanced, so are the technologies helping to put a stop to scamming too.

Our systems will monitor for unusual activity. We may be in touch with you if we detect something suspicious across your accounts, so make sure your contact details are up-to-date. We also encourage you to monitor your transactions. 

If we notice something unusual, you may receive:

• A phone call from one of our fraud analysts
• An automated voice-activated call from 1300 754 566, our telephone alert system
• An automated SMS from either +61 485 871 960, +61 485 867 757 or CommBank.

This can happen within seconds of potential fraud activity appearing on your account.

If you do receive an SMS from one of the contacts above, it will ask you to confirm with:

• a ‘yes’ if it was you who attempted the transaction; or
• a ‘no’ if it was not you who attempted the transaction.

If it was you and we declined the transaction, you should be able to successfully re-try making it after responding ‘yes’. If you respond ‘no’, one of our agents will give you a call.

Get a copy of your credit report

You can get a copy of your credit score report from several different websites, some of which offer the service for free. This enables you to check that no-one has used your name or identity to run up any other debts.

Tell your family and friends

One of the best ways to prevent fraud from happening, or at least minimise its impact, is to talk about it with your family and friends so they know what to do should it also happen to them.