A PENSIONER has been left horrified after a bank gave him a credit card, though he never sought it.
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Graham Brown has never been a customer of the National Australia Bank but it sent the plastic card to his Wodonga home last week.
"It was sickening and an invasion of my privacy," Mr Brown, who has reported the matter to the police, said.
"It's just a gut-wrenching bloody thing and I don't want to see other people in the same boat as myself.
"I'm an old pensioner."
An October 23 letter sent to Mr Brown began "Hello Graham" and read "Thanks for applying for a NAB Rewards Signature account".
"We've had a look over everything and we're pleased to let you know that your application has been approved," it continued.
The letter than outlined conditions before a final paragraph that began "Thank you for choosing a NAB Rewards Signature account".
Another letter dated October 24 contained the credit card.
After initially phoning NAB, Mr Brown visited the institution's Wodonga branch in High Street to air his displeasure and seek answers about how he came to have a card he did not want.
"The young lass could not give me any information but I could see on the computer screen the phone number (linked to the account) was not mine," Mr Brown said.
The former Victorian policeman was left dissatisfied and gave a statement about the fraud to Wodonga officer Senior Constable Luke Fogarty on Friday morning.
The NAB responded to questions from The Border Mail by saying it acted promptly to terminate the card and account.
"When NAB was alerted to this matter, the card was immediately blocked and the account closed, with no financial loss to the victim of the fraud," a spokeswoman said.
"NAB's fraud team continues to investigate and assist police with the matter."
The bank declined to say whether such situations occur regularly, however the spokeswoman noted "scammers continue to prey on unsuspecting and sometimes vulnerable victims and our teams work hard to help people stay safe".
The NAB stressed it was being proactive about cybersecurity, pointing to online tips and a national roadshow which has not included Albury-Wodonga.
Mr Brown was left questioning what exactly happened and how he became a victim of identity fraud.
"Do they go through the internet, do they go through the bank, I would like to know and so would the police because an offence has occurred," he said.
Senior Constable Fogarty did not return The Border Mail's calls, but Mr Brown said the officer had told him it was not the first type of credit card fraud that he had been notified about and investigated.
Mr Brown said he also planned to raise the episode with the Financial Ombudsman Service and the member for Indi Helen Haines.
Scammers in Australia netted $2.2 million through fraudulent credit card applications last year.