2003 Gibson Case
From Phantom
Key Facts
| Amount stolen | £250 |
| Number of Withdrawals | 1 |
| ATM Locations | Oxford Street, London, UK |
| Issuing Bank | Royal Bank of Scotland |
| Acquiring Bank(s) | HSBC |
| Card Type | Debit card for current account |
| Withdrawal time period | 1 day |
| Days from theft to discovery | 1 day |
| Card theft involved | No |
| Level of customer action | Telephone Complaints |
| PIN Status | 1 year old, changed shortly after issue, never written down |
| Outcome | Resolved. Customer reimbursed |
Case Details
- Victim used ATM during evening in London.
- Companion observed several people loitering at ATM, and upon discussion victim remarked that card had gone into ATM slot unusually slowly.
- Suspicious, victim checked balance next day, and discovered withdrawal.
- Bank advised him to get crime reference number from police station, police refused as he gave no evidence that a physical crime had been committed.
- Victim then had to specifically request bank to cancel his card.
- Victim was contacted 3 weeks later and interviewed by bank staff, and filled out bank fraud report form.
- Bank refunded disputed amount in full after a further 2 weeks.
- Note: This phantom withdrawal is likely linked with a spate of "lebanese loop" and "shoulder surfing" attacks that took place at the time
