Fraudsters use First Direct customers’ card details to buy food at Nando’s
Hundreds of account holders report fraudulent transactions, some for more than £100
Hundreds of customers of First Direct have been victims of fraudsters who have used their card details to place orders at Nando’s.
Cardholders received notifications of the payments last week, with some reporting that more than £100 had been spent on their account apparently at the fast food chain’s website.
One customer said she received a text from the bank querying a £41.98 payment to the chain, while on online forums others said they had spotted multiple transactions on their account.
In an email seen by the Guardian, the bank told a cardholder who had been defrauded: “Unfortunately, many customers including customers from other banking institutions, were victims of fraudulent transactions to Nando’s.”
It added that it was “experiencing a high volume of fraudulent transactions to this retailer at the moment”.
On the Moneysavingexpert website one First Direct customer said that after being alerted to a suspicious transaction from Nando’s for £26, they called the bank.
“They had already paid out £114 in 6 transactions over 4 days, all to Nando’s, so the fraudster got away with £114 before FD thought to inform me,” the person said.
A First Direct spokesperson said: “We are aware of some low-value unauthorised retail transactions appearing on a small number of our customers’ cards.
“We want to reassure impacted customers that they will not be left out of pocket and apologise for any inconvenience caused. We take our customers’ security very seriously and will be reaching out to affected customers in the coming days.”
The spokesperson advised customers to check their statements regularly and get in touch if they notice any suspicious activity.
A Nando’s spokesperson: “We are aware of an increase in payment fraud related to a small number of bank cards being made at Nando’s. We are working closely with the card issuing bank to support affected customers.
“We have robust security controls in place around customer accounts and payments. As with most online retailers, we apply further controls on a risk-assessed basis. Due to the nature of the incident, out of an abundance of caution, we are subjecting all payments to these further controls while the cause of this issue is being addressed.”
Cardholders received notifications of the payments last week, with some reporting that more than £100 had been spent on their account apparently at the fast food chain’s website.
One customer said she received a text from the bank querying a £41.98 payment to the chain, while on online forums others said they had spotted multiple transactions on their account.
In an email seen by the Guardian, the bank told a cardholder who had been defrauded: “Unfortunately, many customers including customers from other banking institutions, were victims of fraudulent transactions to Nando’s.”
It added that it was “experiencing a high volume of fraudulent transactions to this retailer at the moment”.
On the Moneysavingexpert website one First Direct customer said that after being alerted to a suspicious transaction from Nando’s for £26, they called the bank.
“They had already paid out £114 in 6 transactions over 4 days, all to Nando’s, so the fraudster got away with £114 before FD thought to inform me,” the person said.
A First Direct spokesperson said: “We are aware of some low-value unauthorised retail transactions appearing on a small number of our customers’ cards.
“We want to reassure impacted customers that they will not be left out of pocket and apologise for any inconvenience caused. We take our customers’ security very seriously and will be reaching out to affected customers in the coming days.”
The spokesperson advised customers to check their statements regularly and get in touch if they notice any suspicious activity.
A Nando’s spokesperson: “We are aware of an increase in payment fraud related to a small number of bank cards being made at Nando’s. We are working closely with the card issuing bank to support affected customers.
“We have robust security controls in place around customer accounts and payments. As with most online retailers, we apply further controls on a risk-assessed basis. Due to the nature of the incident, out of an abundance of caution, we are subjecting all payments to these further controls while the cause of this issue is being addressed.”