Thief racks up big bill on cancelled credit card

Rebecca Watson had her credit card stolen from her letterbox. But even after cancellation, the thief managed to spend hundreds of dollars on taxi rides around Auckland.

And there was nothing the 23-year-old could do as the transactions were made through manual card machines which, unlike digital machines, are not checked immediately.

Miss Watson was on holiday in Iran early last month when the ANZ card was stolen from her mailbox outside her flat in Eden Terrace.

She had known her card was due to expire but was not aware a new one would be sent in the mail.

The bank phoned her in mid-November saying she had exceeded her $500 limit by about $300. She checked her statement online and discovered about $600 had been charged to her card by taxis and the Shakespeare Brewery and Hotel in central Auckland.

Miss Watson, an AUT student, cancelled her card immediately and the bank refunded the money.

But this week she discovered another $400 had been charged to the card from taxis.

She phoned ANZ and was told that despite the card being cancelled, the thief had been able to get away with the transactions because the Eftpos machines used in taxis were manual ones - which take an imprint of the card and process it later. She would have to keep claiming back the money charged to her card each time it happened.

"First of all, how come he's managed to spend so far over my limit and also, why is he still spending when it's cancelled? They said neither of these things matter if they're using a manual 'zip zap' machine".

An ANZ spokesman said electronic transactions are blocked immediately after a customer reports their card stolen. However, manual charges can still occur.

The client is not charged for any fraud appearing on their statement.