Nail bar scammer has stolen £380 from me – SALLY ORDERS IT

I have a Revolut prepaid card and have used it abroad without problems for many years (until now). I took it on a diving holiday in Tanzania last month and had a balance of around £500. I used it twice: once to buy something at the airport that cost the equivalent of £10 and once to pay entry to the marine park for approximately £110. I was about to pay another bill a few days later when I discovered I had 93p left in my account. I discovered that someone had emptied my account to the tune of £379.99. Revolut considered this not unusual and refused to refund me. Please help.

M.B., London

Sally Hamilton responds: Revolut’s prepaid currency card is popular with globetrotters as it typically allows them to top up with British Pounds and automatically convert them into dozens of currencies at competitive rates. Customers can have a real card and/or save a virtual one in their smartphone wallet. One of Revolut’s mottos is “travel the world without worries.” But he was rightly extremely worried when he discovered his balance had been cleared. He was grateful that at least the loss was limited, as he had higher balances in the past and fortunately had an alternative means of payment with him.

It turned out that while you were diving among crocodile fish and dancing shrimp in Tanzania, some 4,700 miles away, an unscrupulous scammer was making ten transactions with your card in quick succession at a nail bar in Essex. The scammer emptied his account in just five minutes.

Somehow the thief managed to add his card to his own device and made an initial transaction of £199. They then made a second attempt for the same amount, which was rejected. But the brazen fraudster simply tried again, making a series of smaller payments with the £19.99 card, until he was down to just a few pence.

When he discovered the funds were gone, he also discovered that the virtual version of his Revolut card had disappeared from his phone.

He told me he couldn’t understand why his refund request was rejected and why Revolut couldn’t see that these payments were unusual and out of place. I also thought your response was baffling as you had taken all appropriate steps by informing Revolut as soon as you spotted the losses. You also tried to report the scam to the Tanzanian police, although you told me they apparently didn’t know why you bothered.

When he got home he tried to alert Action Fraud, which collects data on these types of scams, but the phone rang with no answer. You even wrote a firm email to Revolut co-founder Vlad Yatsenko expressing the injustice of it all, but received no response.

When I asked Revolut to investigate, they responded quickly. A couple of days later, he came back to say that he believed you had unknowingly provided a unique code to someone many months ago, allowing criminals to later scam you. You said you don’t remember ever revealing those details because you are always scrupulous about your financial affairs. But whatever happened, it seems that the scammers got your card and simply bided their time before emptying it. I still believe that the rapid series of transactions should have raised enough suspicion for Revolut to block them.

However, I am pleased to inform you that Revolut has reimbursed you for your losses as a gesture of goodwill. A spokesperson says: ‘We are very sorry to learn of this case, or any case where our clients are targeted by ruthless and highly sophisticated criminals. We understand that the customer provided confidential details to a third party that allowed them to add a virtual card to an Apple Pay wallet and make the disputed transactions while abroad. Despite this, we recognize the impact scams like these can have and have therefore awarded you a goodwill payment of £380.’

His case is a grim reminder to all readers to remain alert to tricks designed to trap you and force you to hand over personal financial information. We can be particularly vulnerable at this time of year when many of us are conducting more online transactions than usual. Never hand out details, one-time access codes or passwords to anyone who asks for them out of the blue. Always stop and ask yourself if such a request is linked to a legitimate transaction you are making.

I hid a collection of six gold rings in an old bag, but inadvertently gave the bag, along with a few other items, to a local charity shop, forgetting they were inside. My efforts to claim the rings, which included my mother’s engagement ring and my husband’s gifts, failed at the store, so I filed a claim on our Hastings Direct domestic policy. The insurer hired another company, SBS Home, to assess the claim and was offered a cash settlement of £3,742 or, alternatively, replace some of the rings and pay a cash sum for the rest. For ease and speed, I accepted the settlement of £3,742. But Hastings has now told me that I am only entitled to the maximum £1,500 I can pay under my policy. But I understand it should be £1,500 per item. Can you please intervene?

CC, Hertfordshire

sally replies: Six gold rings… That’s almost the lyrics of a Christmas carol. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t feel festive when the charity shop couldn’t find the items he had accidentally donated, one of which was his late mother’s engagement ring. It is not uncommon for these establishments to receive valuable jewellery, so it would not necessarily have been a surprise to the staff to find it hidden in the bag.

When he asked, he was told that these items are often not displayed in the store, but are instead listed on eBay in a bid to raise more cash for the charity. He wasn’t overjoyed when the parts were located and, although he was disappointed, he felt reassured that he at least had “personal property” cover on his home contents policy.

This insurance provides protection for items such as watches, jewelery and mobile phones if they are lost or stolen while the owner is away from home with them. After initially telling her she would receive £3,742 for her lost rings, Hastings then pointed to its terms and conditions which suggested the maximum she could pay for items away from home was £1,500 – less £350 for the excess (the sum an insured undertakes to contribute to an incident when taking out a policy).

You were very upset and sent me the text of the policy. I can understand why you would have thought you were entitled to the full sum. It states that this optional extra for which you pay an additional premium “covers individual items valued at less than £1,500 that you take from home, such as watches or mobile phones.” Hastings said this refers to the total value of the claim, and not each item. I didn’t think this was clear enough in the wording and I thought he had good reason to complain.

I asked Hastings to re-examine his case. I am happy to report that after some consideration, I agreed to pay you the original amount negotiated with the appraisal company. You were delighted with this result.

A spokesperson says: ‘We appreciate this has been a disturbing time for our customer and we regret any confusion you may have felt during the claims process. You bought £1,500 out of home cover as part of your home contents policy; This value is the maximum amount you could claim. When you registered your claim for £3,742 to cover the value of the lost rings, there was a communication problem between Hastings Direct and our specialist jewelery supplier regarding the cover purchased, and the claim was accepted in full. Although this was incorrect, on this occasion we will pay the full amount for the mix-up.’

Straight to the point

I fly regularly from Southampton to Dublin. In September I was told my carry-on bag was too big and I had to pay £35. I have never had a problem before and on the return leg the suitcase was allowed without problems.

AR, Hampshire

The airline says it depends on the discretion of airport staff and that their decision is final.

A few weeks ago I upgraded my BT contract to one with fiber broadband. After chatting with my partner I decided not to do it and the telephone operator told me I could cancel it. But on December 2 my internet stopped working. BT said I must get the fiber since there is none I hope to fix my line. please help me reconnect.

M.H., Hampton

Your services work as BT connected your broadband and assigned your original phone number to your landline.

I paid £99 to have my hair dryer repaired but a few days later the company said they couldn’t fix it and would return it. The hair dryer did not arrive and the company could not find it. They offered me a free refurbished hair dryer or a discount on a new one. Now it says my original hair dryer was recycled. Please help.

NM, by email

Her hair dryer was recycled due to a mistake and the company has sent her a new hair dryer and four hair pins.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email sally@dailymail.co.uk; Include the phone number, address, and a note addressed to the offending organization giving you permission to speak with Sally. Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot be responsible for them. The Daily Mail cannot accept any legal responsibility for the answers given.