When it happens, it sure ain’t pleasant. Phoned up bank this morning to get update on account to be asked ‘have you been abroad lately?’ No, unfortunately not. ‘Well, there’s been a number of transactions from an ATM machine in Germany and in Italy’. These were all relatively small amounts, but now the card has to be cancelled and so on. Also, it could have been much worse.

Ten out of ten though to the Coop Bank for spotting this. Apparently these were highlighted because they are ‘out of scope’ of my usual spending patterns.

If they’re from an ATM machine, how has my PIN been disclosed?

The last time this sort of thing happened, the reprecussions went on for ages. My wallet was stolen from work of all places and included credit cards, AA membership and so on. Lets just recall what happened with the AA membership card.

Coming home from work one day to our two up two down terraced house in Stamford Hill, I noticed a police van in the road. This being Hackney, I thought nothing of it. Until I went to put the key in the door and I was surrounded by some extremely large cops who had come to question me about a getaway car used in an armed robbery in Romford. The AA card had been found in the back seat.

It would be good to think that with the potential introduction of ID cards and the increasing use of digital data that we would all be safe from this sort of stuff. But I doubt it. And with the increasing arming of the police it becomes much more likely that if this happens to you, there’s the risk of getting gunned down on the doorstep, rather than just lifted off your feet by the collar.