Bank Fraud Department - Rejected Suspicious Transaction from Shopback

dvd107 on 11/11/2020 - 15:21

Hi Ozbargain,

Today, I received a call from my bank's fraud department.

They have just suspended my card and re-issuing me a new debit visa card due to suspicious activity which occurred at 1252am (e.g. while I am sleeping) yesterday.

What is interesting is the transaction/pre-authorization of the card of ~$1.52 originated from Shopback Australia according to the bank.

In light of the recent data breach at ShopBack, I was a little concerned.

Can anyone think of a reason why Shopback would attempt a transaction/pre-authorization?
I have never provided this debit card to shopback. It is also on a debit card I hardly use. I only ever use this card to make a transaction with one company (not shopback) which is why I think the transaction was flagged.

I welcome input from the community.

TLDR
Shopback Australia attempted pre-authorization on my visa debit card.
I have never given this particular visa debit card to shopback
What reasons would shopback have to pre-authorize my card?

General Discussion

Related Stores

ShopBack AU
ShopBack AU
Third-Party

Comments

  • netjock on 11/11/2020 - 15:43

    Interesting to see what people say. I thought you put in your bank account for withdraw or paypal.

  • Ocker on 11/11/2020 - 15:55
    +5

    Seed transaction to assess the validity of the card number

  • brokenglish on 11/11/2020 - 15:56
    +1

    In light of the recent data breach at ShopBack, I was a little concerned.

    Everyone should be.
    However it could be not the same ShopBack. As a merchant you can literally put any merchant name you want on the bank statement.
    Proper investigation is needed to verify this and there is no reason for the bank to tell you this.
    Just be grateful that the bank security department is doing their job and you're not short of $1.52…

    • dvd107 on 11/11/2020 - 16:01

      I'm not particularly concerned regarding the amount, more so where the transaction came from as it occured on a card I rarely use.

      I didn't realise you can spoof merchant. When I asked the bank where the transaction came from, they just said "Shopback Australia".

      • brokenglish on 11/11/2020 - 16:05
        +1

        I only ever use this card to make a transaction with one company

        If this is true then it's either this company that's breached or the bank that was breached.

        • John Kimble on 11/11/2020 - 16:12
          +1

          Or anyone/thing in between.

  • dvd107 on 11/11/2020 - 16:02

    If anyone is interested, the bank that flagged this was 86400 (signed up due to ozbargain deal).

    • 87percent on 11/11/2020 - 16:23
      +1

      what does this mean?

      • jjjaar on 11/11/2020 - 16:39
        +2

        86400 is a bank.

        • John Kimble on 11/11/2020 - 16:43
          +4

          The OP's bank that the card issued by.

          86400 seconds in one day. Stupid name.

        • 87percent on 11/11/2020 - 22:07

          I thought this was like some code

  • trustnoone on 11/11/2020 - 16:03

    Don't know if its true, but i heard that some scammers do this to check if the card is legitimate and to bypass scanning of larger purchases, they'll do a small one under $5. If it goes through they'll use it more, if it doesn't they burn the card. That could be just a myth though, but I heard thats likely why banks now monitor for unknown purchases under $5.

    In saying that, I'm pretty sure some companies do charge you under $2 to verify your card (I think they refund it afterwards) though I don't think thats whats happening here. Also not sure, but I think you can change the name, so someone may be using a false shopback name? But seems a bit of a unique one to choose (I'd guess most people would use Sony or Microsoft or something).

  • John Kimble on 11/11/2020 - 16:11
    +4

    There are legitimate pre auths that merchants charge to see if a card is valid when you register it with them. It's usually $1 and drops off within a few days.

    Then there are test transactions fraudsters do, to see if the card data they've stolen is active/available. They usually do a whole bunch of them at once, can be anywhere between 10 cards to tens of thousands of cards. Within a few minutes to a few hours.

    My guess is your bank would be either monitoring low value "test transactions" or they noticed a whole bunch of test transactions at shop back across their card base.

    Possible scenarios, these articles are aimed to educate/sell services to merchants themselves:
    https://www.verifi.com/in-the-news/prepared-card-testing-fra…

    https://www.pagbrasil.com/news/card-testing-fraud/

    https://www.merchantequip.com/merchant-account-blog/36/what-…

    • Muzeeb on 11/11/2020 - 16:29
      +1

      This guy banks

  • whooah1979 on 11/11/2020 - 16:36
    +3

    I have never provided this debit card to shopback. It is also on a debit card I hardly use.

    ShopBack doesn’t have access to the information you provide to the payment gateway.

    The most likely weak point is your pc. You may want to consider updating your AV/firewall or reinstall the OS.

  • plmko on 11/11/2020 - 16:42
    +3

    ShopBack is irrelevant, it's just the portal they used to check the card validity.

    Could've been anything: Kickerstarter, Paypal, Amazon etc etc

  • Neoika on 11/11/2020 - 17:46
    +1

    It is possible as I find that Shopback portal does not ask CVC, only card numbers and expiry date, very low security measures.

  • avoidfullprice on 11/11/2020 - 20:45

    Omg, could be their new gift card portal!

    I have absolutely no proof

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