With the rise of credit card usage in India, the threat of credit card misuse has increased. Scamsters have become tech savvy and try every possible technique to make frauds. Banks too on their end have become very vigilant to protect their customer’s data. But still loopholes exists which results in credit card misuse/fraud.

So will you get your money back if card is fraudulently used? Answer is YES.

But it’s not that easy and chances are less. And you’ll have to be very pro-active to get your money back and here’s how:

What to do when misuse/fraud takes place:

Inform the bank and block the card:

The first step is to inform the card issuing bank about the fraud either over phone/e-mail/mail/personal visit/fax and then block the card. But prefer informing over phone, as it is quickest and every bank has a separate department to deal with it. There is a possibility that you are abroad and personal visit to the bank is not possible or the bank does not have a local presence or you do not have E-mail or internet access or mailing option while abroad. So best is to inform your phone. You will have to provide complete details – when and where was the card used, amount involved, when was the last time credit card used and the transaction amount and others.

Block the card using SMS:

You can also block your card via SMS. Normally the process is very simple. For e.g. in case of SBI, you can block the card by sending an SMS as follows:

SMS BLOCK XXXX to 567691. XXXX denotes last 4 digit number of your card. But make sure you send this SMS from the registered mobile number only.

Block the card on website:

Most of the banks such as SBI provide an option to block the card through their website.

Along with this, also make sure to inform the same to the bank via E-mail or Mail or make a personal visit and mention about the telephonic complaint you have already made. Never rely on verbal communications, as written document will only help when banks do not provide satisfactory response or act swiftly on your case.

Once above steps are done, registration of disputed transaction should be done with the bank. Customer will then be given two options – settling the transaction upfront and wait for the refund. However refund will be given only if the case is proven to be fraudulent.

Irrespective of the how you contact, keep a record of every communication you have with the card issuing bank as it’ll help you in the future.

What happens after you lodge credit card misuse/fraud complaint?

Depending on the bank and how complex the fraud is, your case might take several weeks/months for investigation. However as per RBI guidelines, banks have to respond within 30 days of lodging the complaint.

Will you get money back?

Your chances of getting the money back increases, if at the time of incident you were in another city and the fraud took place in some different city. For this, if physical proof is available then it will act as a strong proof.

Also, if PoS where transaction took place is not secured then the bank will have to provide compensation to the card holder within 7 working days. This is because it is the bank’s responsibility to comply with the security requirement of PoS.

What to do when banks do not respond satisfactorily?

In such cases, you should report the banking ombudsman under the jurisdiction/state/city you fall. Reporting can be done either via E-mail/Fax/Letter. If the fraud takes place due to the bank’s mistake, chances of you getting justice increases. Refer RBI website’s link.

If you are still not satisfied by the ombudsman reply, then appeal to the higher authority of the banking ombudsman. Refer RBI website.

Criminal court: Complaining at the criminal court and cyber police station is the final option.

Alternatively, you can openly discuss your concern on the social media page (especially Twitter and Facebook) of the respective bank. This has now become one of the quickest way to make your voice heard and spread. And banks take their customer’s comments very seriously as it affects their reputation.

Does it affect credit score?

Imagine that you are a victim of a credit card fraud and your card was used beyond the specified limit. Now overuse negatively impacts your credit score. But if you have all the documented proofs with the bank stating that the respective transaction was a fraud then it will not affect the CIBIL score.