paul2542 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Just got a text message from Commonwealth Bank (why wouldn't they call if it was serious), to say my account has been compromised and to call this number. I didn't know what to think so I just called the Commonwealth Call Centre and was told my account had been compromised and my card had been cancelled. What??? Why??? They where not very helpful at explaining this to me. My account has disappeared from my net bank, so I have no access to my money what so ever and I don't even know how much is in there. Luckily we have a joint account which all our rent/bills/shopping comes out of, but if I was here alone I would have no access to money what so ever. I do have a separate savings account but that doesn't have a card, so I cant draw any money out. Has this happened to anyone else? Its got me worried, why this would happen and what exactly it means not to mention my account has just gone. Like I said I cant even view it on Netbank. Its got me worried about my other accounts now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Ohhhh dear. That isn't great, and yes, why not phone? Odd. Hopefully you get it sorted quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I would call them back and ask them to explain properly what they mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled Pink Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I think it's highly odd/coincidental that this has been done on a Sunday, when you wouldn't be able to walk in to a branch... can you cancel that card? report it stolen or something? so that a concern is noted on your account by you? I would be looking to go in person to a branch first thing tomorrow. Take ID, proof of address with you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eera Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I was just going to say the same; I don't trust anything where you have to phone a random up and give your personal details. Do it face to face. Somewhere on the CBA website there should be a queries number, give that a phone call to see if they can shed any further light, but don't follow any hyperlinks you may be sent or trust a phone number you get texted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I think op was saying he didn't call the number, just the call centre. The fact the account has gone from netbank shows something is genuinely up. I probably would phone again and hope you get a more helpful person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 It happened last year with another bank. Someone was caught skimming cards or a skimming device was found and lots of people had their accounts frozen for security purposes until new cards could be issued. They were on the ball and new cards came out within a few days. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2542 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 I think it's highly odd/coincidental that this has been done on a Sunday, when you wouldn't be able to walk in to a branch... can you cancel that card? report it stolen or something? so that a concern is noted on your account by you? I would be looking to go in person to a branch first thing tomorrow. Take ID, proof of address with you too. I think that's what has got me annoyed about because I can't just go into a branch and speak to someone. They cancelled my entire account and the card has been cancelled and they said they will send me a new one with 5-10 days (great because I don't need my account, not to mention how will I get my wages this week now?). It was frustrating because it was a typical call centre where you can tell they are reading from script. I kept asking him to explain what had happened but he didn't give me any information at all. I will be heading straight in tomorrow but I don't like that I cant deal with it now. When he said my account is cancelled he didn't tell anything about how that affects my money that is currently in there. I just have no idea what has happened and what will happen. Is my money still there??? A text message was very odd that's why I didn't call the number on there and instead found a number of the Commonwealth Bank website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 There is an article in the paper about the investment arm of the CBA. However I would check out by ringing a no that you have on your accounts rather than one given in an email if that is the case, often these nos are also connected to scam emails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I always ring the 'stolen' card number on the back of my cards if I get odd things like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2542 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 I think op was saying he didn't call the number, just the call centre. The fact the account has gone from netbank shows something is genuinely up. I probably would phone again and hope you get a more helpful person. I was skeptical about the text message as I found it very odd. So I checked netbank and saw my account had gone and ignored that number and called their customer service number. I think I might call again, I was just going to wait until tomorrow and go into a branch. But this will annoy me all day if I can't get anymore information or at least a simple explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 If your account has been compromised that could mean a number of things, but it sounds like someone has had access to your money. The safest way for them to stop any further problems is to cancel the card and put a stop on the account, hence why you can't see it on Netbank. The alternative of not doing anything could result in your account being cleared out completely. It does seem odd that you got a text not a call, but for security purposes it is much better if you call them rather than they call you. We had a problem in the UK and our bank phoned us to let us know, but had to verify our identity before they could talk to us. My OH pointed out that he had no way of knowing that they were you they said they were and not some scammer at which point they said good point, call us back on the normal number. It's possible that the text came because of some program to detect unusual activity rather than being generated by a particular person. Being the weekend it's unlikely the fraud team are around and it's possible (probable?) that the call centre team don't have any more detail than what they gave you. As much as it is worrying it sounds like the best thing has happened and you will need to wait until tomorrow when the fraud team are around and/or the banks are open to find out exactly what has happened and what the bank are going to do to sort it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2542 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 There is an article in the paper about the investment arm of the CBA. However I would check out by ringing a no that you have on your accounts rather than one given in an email if that is the case, often these nos are also connected to scam emails. That was my first thought so I used the customer service number that I found on their website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skani Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Just got a text message from Commonwealth Bank (why wouldn't they call if it was serious), to say my account has been compromised and to call this number. I didn't know what to think so I just called the Commonwealth Call Centre and was told my account had been compromised and my card had been cancelled. What??? Why??? They where not very helpful at explaining this to me. If a large number of cards have been compromised it is much quicker to text everyone initially than to phone one at a time. They could be dealing with thousands of customers like you. The call centre staff probably don't know why it has happened, so can't explain it to you...they are just acting under instruction. It may even be that the bank itself is still investigating the origin of the compromise. If it is a single compromise they will phone. At least, that's what happened to me when NAB rang one morning to ask if I had just tried to make a purchase in Dubai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2542 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 If your account has been compromised that could mean a number of things, but it sounds like someone has had access to your money. The safest way for them to stop any further problems is to cancel the card and put a stop on the account, hence why you can't see it on Netbank. The alternative of not doing anything could result in your account being cleared out completely. It does seem odd that you got a text not a call, but for security purposes it is much better if you call them rather than they call you. We had a problem in the UK and our bank phoned us to let us know, but had to verify our identity before they could talk to us. My OH pointed out that he had no way of knowing that they were you they said they were and not some scammer at which point they said good point, call us back on the normal number. It's possible that the text came because of some program to detect unusual activity rather than being generated by a particular person. Being the weekend it's unlikely the fraud team are around and it's possible (probable?) that the call centre team don't have any more detail than what they gave you. As much as it is worrying it sounds like the best thing has happened and you will need to wait until tomorrow when the fraud team are around and/or the banks are open to find out exactly what has happened and what the bank are going to do to sort it out. I suppose that makes sense, especially about the text message. I didn't really think it about it that way. It has got me worried about our other accounts though. Is there anything I can do or is it simply just one of those things. I really don't like the fact that the account is missing on my netbank, so I can't access money nor do I know how much is in there. I also don't know what I can do about my wages next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I'm guessing they have just done that temporarily until they look it all over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I suppose that makes sense, especially about the text message. I didn't really think it about it that way. It has got me worried about our other accounts though. Is there anything I can do or is it simply just one of those things. I really don't like the fact that the account is missing on my netbank, so I can't access money nor do I know how much is in there. I also don't know what I can do about my wages next week. Unfortunately it's one of those things and it's something that is normally dealt with by a specialist team. Try calling again tomorrow and see if the guys on the call centre can put you through to the right area (probably fraud). Someone in that team will be able to tell you what has happened (to a point - depending on what it is there may be commercial confidentiality issues around how much they can tell you) and what happens next. If your other accounts are still showing then they are not affected and you don't need to worry about them. I know it's hard but try not to worry about it too much today as there really isn't much you can do. You have to trust that the bank has done the right thing and that you can get it all sorted out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Just looked in the spam on email account and I too have a compromised account from a different bank however I don't have a bank account with the bank either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cez Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I had a similar issue recently with my citibank card. They didn't call and I can't remember if I even got a text, I just tried to log into my online banking and couldn't access my account. My card was blocked as well. I rang up to find out what was going on, it turned out that they were alarmed by "unusual spending" on my account. Asking what on earth this could be, seeing as I have accessed this account in rural towns in India, Antigua, Nepal etc.... Turns out it was a $2.99 purchase for a PDF Lonely Planet chapter. Perplexing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LKC Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I use Westpac, and have had the same sort of thing a couple of times with them. I have a business account with them, and use it for lots of overseas transactions (four to five a week sometimes), and occasionally I get a text message from them to ask me to call the customer service dept or call in to my branch because there has been suspicious activity on my account. Mostly it is just the overseas transactions that flag my account, but on one occasion someone had stolen my card details and had gone on a spending spree in Las Vegas! My account has never disappeared from the internet banking though, because the first thing I do when I get the message is empty the account in to my reserve account to make sure that the money can't be stolen. I would definitely be a bit more worried if the account had vanished, but it may just be their way of stopping the account over the weekend until it can be sorted on Monday. Hope it is all okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I had a similar issue recently with my citibank card. They didn't call and I can't remember if I even got a text, I just tried to log into my online banking and couldn't access my account. My card was blocked as well. I rang up to find out what was going on, it turned out that they were alarmed by "unusual spending" on my account. Asking what on earth this could be, seeing as I have accessed this account in rural towns in India, Antigua, Nepal etc.... Turns out it was a $2.99 purchase for a PDF Lonely Planet chapter. Perplexing. Card fraud people normally pay small amounts to certain companies just to see that the card works before then moving on to clearing out the accounts. I have had the same with other small amounts. The banks know which ones they are using at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugby Lad Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Happened to me on Tuesday. My Credit Union rung me up but that's probably easier as they're smaller than a big bank with millions of customers. They told me that thousands of people were affected on Tuesday. Luckily the wife's card wasn't or I'd have been left out here in the ooloo with no money or way of buying anything. So you're not alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2542 Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 I would definitely be a bit more worried if the account had vanished, but it may just be their way of stopping the account over the weekend until it can be sorted on Monday. Hope it is all okay. Well I hope so, the fact I don't even know the status of my money really does concern me. All I know now is my account is cancelled along with my card and I will be given a new card etc. So I don't know if any money is missing or not. I really hope not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parley Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Its always good to have 2 accounts with different banks. Have your main account, but I like to have a secondary account and card that I can access in an emergency. Particularly if you're travelling and your main card gets swallowed by an ATM etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 When my daughter's credit card was compromised they just reissued the card and the balance was the same. They remove any fraudulent stuff. Unfortunately this sort of thing is happening a lot these days and I suppose we all pay for the cost of it as users of Banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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