Note, from the O.P. 
Her bank had contacted her the moment they suspected something wrong, after hours. Some may think it
is an intrusion of privacy, but they said they immediately noticed transactions out of the 'norm'. Her normal
'purchases' were for embroidery related things, from either local or 'specific' O.S. companies. I don't
MINDtheir level of '
tracking', otherwise we would put money in spaghetti tins and bury them n the back-yard!
Old card immediately blocked/cancelled, new card sent, to date 1/2 the money has been transferred back
into her account, and the rest
shortly forthcoming. The banks team has tracked all the transfers, and is
working to trace all those involved without limits/boundaries, for THEIR good & for other customers.
Yes... We understand now that an actual 'Credit-Card' as opposed to a 'Debit-MasterCard' etc, means that
such 'perpetrators' are dealing with the '
Banks' money, instead of
ours... however we DON'T all have such
options. As non-working pensioners, we do NOT have certain levels of 'Credit' available/open to us, and to
be honest, we don't want that any more, either! We both 'owe' nothing in life now, and would never want
to go back to 'Owing many thousands' on various cards, ever again! Companies want/need to see your
history though, and both of us 'owing nothing' for many years does
NOT give us 'Credit' history!! 
For instance, simply wanting a Rental-Car for Local/OverSeas... SOME don't like our (lack-of!) history?
We can make FULL payments, and deposits etc, but they almost WANT someone who is a 'Risk', because
they have historical names/addresses to follow up on if/when there is a problem...
