What should I do if my card is stolen or cloned?
22/02/2019
In the metro, sitting at a pavement café, while shopping… we should be careful that our bag or wallet is not stolen during a moment of distraction.
But what happens if, despite everything, your bank card is stolen? Or it is cloned and its data are used to make unauthorised charges to your account? What can you do?
First, keep calm. And then, follow the steps below:
- Immediately notify your bank so that it blocks your card. The telephone number you have to call is written on the card itself. You should include this number among your contacts in case you need it.
- Report the events to the police.
- Check your account to see if anyone has made fraudulent use of your card.
- If purchases or payments have been made with it, report this to your bank as soon as possible.
It is vital to notify your bank as soon as possible!
Reporting the unauthorised use of a card (stolen, cloned or lost) as soon as possible is of utmost importance, because:
- From the time it is reported, you will not bear any economic consequences for the unauthorised use of your card.
- Until you report a stolen, missing or misappropriated card, you may have to bear the losses derived from its unauthorised use up to a maximum limit of €50. If your card is cloned, you will not have to bear any cost.
Note: you will have to bear all the losses derived from unauthorised transactions with the card if you have been seriously negligent. For example, if you kept the secret number or PIN of the card inappropriately (by writing it, for example, on a piece of paper kept alongside the card) or if you did not immediately report its loss or disappearance as soon as you learned of it.
After your notification, while your bank investigates the events, it must immediately (or, at the latest, at the end of the working day after the notification date) refund you the amount of the unauthorised transactions, with the same value date as that of the unauthorised charge.
