‘Suspicious transaction’ of 7.5 euros almost cost weatherman Frank Duboccage his holiday: “Very embarrassing”

Standing at the cash register and seeing a “transaction declined” pop up on the payment terminal screen, you don’t want to experience that. It happened to the family of weatherman Frank Duboccage while traveling in the United States. And that because of a previous purchase of 7.5 euros.

“We were going to visit a friend and then travel around by car,” says Frank Duboccage The last news about his trip to the American city of Phoenix. “Everything went well until we went shopping in the local supermarket. Our cart was full, and suddenly my Mastercard was declined. Very embarrassing.”

The reason? A day earlier, Duboccage had bought an e-SIM card for eight dollars, about 7.5 euros. The bank found this to be a suspicious transaction and decided to close Duboccage’s credit card. “Luckily we were still able to activate our Maestro, so that we could still pay with Bancontact in another store, but the options were very limited.”

And due to the nine-hour time difference, it was not easy to reach the bank. “I first contacted Mastercard myself, but they referred me to the bank. But due to the nine hour time difference I had to wait half a day. They in turn referred me to Worldine, the company behind Mastercard. After a long time I got someone on the phone. After a whole procedure to prove that I was indeed the owner of the card, they were able to tell me that they had blocked my card due to a ‘suspicion of fraud’. Then I had to call another phone number to unblock my card. It was difficult to remain friendly.”

Ultimately, Duboccage’s credit card could be unblocked and the family could continue to enjoy their holiday in Phoenix without any worries.