Day: December 14, 2015

    Contactless cards offer a quick and easy way to pay in shops and restaurants, but could also offer easy pickings to fraudsters if not properly protected. A reader discovered this to his cost when his card seemed to go on a shopping spree without him - and, no, it wasn’t his wife. Desmond, from Wolverhampton, wrote to me after a cash machine displayed an “insufficient funds” message when he tried to withdraw some money. He knew this couldn’t be right as he had been paid just a few days before. So he contacted his bank which confirmed that there had been 13 transactions over the past three days totalling £2,125. Each transaction was an online purchase with his debit card, but Desmond had not made any of them himself. Desmond was not the only victim, by coincidence he discove...

    David Cameron must be granted a Danish-style opt out from free movement rules in order to get his ban on migrant benefits, Boris Johnson says, ahead of a summit this week which will determine Britain's future in the European Union. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the London Mayor said an exemption from EU rules that allows Denmark to ban non-residents from buying homes could be emulated by the UK to impose waiting times on benefits. The compromise plan - which could see welfare restrictions apply to returning British expatriates as well as EU migrants - is being examined by Brussels diplomats as a potential way of saving Mr Cameron's flagship EU reform, it is understood. Downing Street said the idea had not been "formally tabled", but admitted it could be raised during Thu...