In Thiruvananthapuram, a journalist filled petrol worth Rs 1877, but due to a small mistake, Rs 1.87 lakh was deducted from his credit card. Later he got the money back. He has cautioned people by sharing his experience.
Thiruvananthapuram: How costly even a second of carelessness can be while using a credit card can be gauged from the experience of journalist Renji Kuriakose. An extra Rs 1,85,890 was added to his credit card bill. Renji had filled petrol worth Rs 1877.68 from a petrol pump in Poojappura. But while entering the amount in the swipe machine, the pump employee forgot to put the decimal point after 1877. Because of this, Rs 1,87,768 were typed into the machine. While sharing his ordeal on Facebook, Renji said that he came to know about it when the bill came next month.
Facebook post…
Renji Kuriakose has shared this entire incident on his Facebook. What is the whole matter?
Renji wrote in his post, ‘I often use credit cards, but recently I got a big lesson. I filled my car with petrol worth Rs 1877.68 from the petrol pump of Poojappura Central Jail in Thiruvananthapuram and gave a credit card. The pump attendant, who was an inmate, swiped the card. But he deducted Rs 1,87,768 instead of Rs 1877.68. This happened due to forgetting to put points after 1877 in the swipe machine. A small mistake, but my Rs 1,85,890.32 was wiped out. I did not pay attention to the slip I received at first glance.
After a week, when I saw the credit card statement, I was shocked to see such a huge amount. At first I thought that someone had committed fraud with my card. But after looking carefully at the statement it became clear where the money had gone. I immediately gave information at the petrol pump. There was no problem as it was a government pump. The very next day they sent back Rs 1,85,890.32 to my account. Understand that he narrowly escaped.
When I went to the pump I discovered another story. A few days ago, a woman had filled petrol worth Rs 407.50 in her scooter. It was the same employee who swiped the card. He deducted Rs 40,750 by mistake. It was a debit card, so the money was deducted directly from the account. The woman did not even know about this. The pump owners are now waiting for their arrival so that they can return the money. He said that if she did not come, he would inform the police and find her.
Such a mistake can happen to you tomorrow too. While making card payment, take the slip and check it. Or check the message coming from the bank to ensure that the amount is correct. If you don’t do this, you won’t even know when your pocket has been cut.
What to do to avoid such mistakes?
While giving the card for swiping, ask the employee to swipe/insert it in front of you. The safest way is to check the amount yourself and make the payment using the POS machine. Before swiping or tapping, please check the amount displayed in the machine. Also check the slip received after the transaction once. Immediately open the SMS or mobile banking app notification from the bank and check whether the amount is correct or not. If wrong amount has been deducted by mistake, then immediately call the customer care of your bank and inform. If needed, you can also temporarily block the card. Always keep transaction alerts on, no matter how small the amount.