But Diego hadn’t been in two cities. The first transaction was in Salvador at 10am; the second was an attempted online payment for a flight ticket from São Paulo at 1pm UK time — which he never made. Someone had skimmed his card details at the first ATM.
Diego opened the app. There it was — a toggle he’d never noticed: “I am traveling and confirm these transactions.” He’d missed it because the app’s UI had changed two days before his flight. santander block card
Strange, but maybe a temporary glitch. He tried another ATM. Same message. Then his phone buzzed — an SMS from Santander: “Suspicious activity detected. Your card has been temporarily blocked. Please call us.” Diego wasn’t overly worried. He had roaming data, so he called the UK fraud team via Skype. After 20 minutes on hold, an agent confirmed: “We saw two failed ATM attempts in Brazil. That triggered our system. I’ve unblocked your card now.” But Diego hadn’t been in two cities
But the story doesn’t end there. A year later, Diego got an email from Santander: “We’ve updated our fraud policies based on customer feedback. You can now verify your identity for card unblocking via video call.” Diego opened the app