Online Fraud - PLEASE HELP

frustrated_with_my_bank

Hello Everybody,

After using online banking for the past 2/3 years I have consiedered it a great benefit even if it is just to check my balance.

I logged into my account on Thursday the 22nd December to discover that somebody had kindly taken nearly £8k out of my account via some kind of fraud. My bank confirmed that who ever did this had logged into my acount and paid themselves the money in installments of £2k at a time, This left me with no money in my account at all - in fact I was £1500 over my agreed overdraft limit.

I have used Symantec's website to check for both the latest virus's and also the security of the machine, both of which came up as I expected and no viruses were detected. I have not responded to any phishing e-mails and have secure internet connection so cannot think how this person had my details.

I also run a full scan yesterday with Norton 2006 to be told my machine is secure.

I bank with B******s and although they say they have an online banking guarantee which says you will get your money back if you have nt given your details out or left yourslef logged into a machine in an internet cafe. They have been very vague and unhelpful considering I have been l left with nothing - especially over Christmas.

What I cannot understand is how the bank allowed all these transactions to go through, especially when you can only draw £350 a day out of the cash machine, They happily sat there while some c**t withdrew £2k out of my account 4 times.

I have probably managed to sleep for about 10 hours over the past four days and will await what they say when I phone them on Wednesday.

Does anybody have any ideas on how this may have happened? Perhaps a member of staff in a call centre selling the details ???

If anybody reads this please let me know your thoughts or if you know somebody who has had similar problem.

Cheers

N :mad:

MooseRich

First off, have you cancelled your ability to use IB? Tell (not ask) Barclays to put a freeze on IB and issue you with a new account number, card, the lot. Start again.

That should be priority.

frustrated_with_my_bank

Hi Mate,

All done! I have requested at this point for them not to issue another set of details for online banking, as you can imagine it has left me with a pretty sour taste in my mouth towards online banking.

digp

what is the position re getting your money back?

perhaps a polite email to the CEO of Barclays might help? I have sent you a PM re this.

frustrated_with_my_bank

digp , thanks for that info - it may come in handy depending on the conversation I have witht the bank this week.

I have been advised that it can take 2 weeks to get my money back. That is based on them sending out claim forms and me sending them back in the post. I arranged for them to fax to me on Friday, I then faxed these back within an hour and have lso sent them special delivery so that they are there in the post by 9am 2mo morning.

The bank actually phoned me to say there was a fraud on my account, Am I the only one???

grumbler

frustrated_with_my_bank wrote:

I .... will await what they say when I phone them on Wednesday.

I haven't had any problems with Barclays (I don't see any reasons for hiding the name of the bank) for 6 years. However, my friend recently had the same problem as yours - both his and his wife's accounts were empted and overdrawn. I am starting to think that Barclays have some hole in online security. They will ask you to fill in some form and will start investigation that can take quite a long time. Generally they don't refund money immediately. If you don't have any other accounts and money insist in getting partial refund or getting temporal interest-free overdraft.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I've used online banking for a few years but have now gone back to telephone banking because although my bank assured me that I would be reimbursed if I told them I had not given my online banking details to anyone else, it's impossible to prove a negative!
I've found telephone banking just as convenient as online and I feel it's less likely to be subject to fraud.

canny_yorkshireman_2

humm I would be pretty anoyed if the above did happen to me but the scammers are so clever and from what you say about the security aspect of your pc then has it happened from another souce ie works m/c etc?
All banks are liable for the fraud so you will defo get your cash back the banks will trace the transferred funds and should be able to recover thier loss not yours so sleep well it will be credited soon of that I am sure

caveat_emptor

frustrated_with_my_bank wrote:

Hello Everybody,

I have used Symantec's website to check for both the latest virus's and also the security of the machine, both of which came up as I expected and no viruses were detected. I have not responded to any phishing e-mails and have secure internet connection so cannot think how this person had my details.
I also run a full scan yesterday with Norton 2006 to be told my machine is secure. N :mad:

It's possible that you have a keylogger spyware (Google keylogger for info).
Unfortunately antivirus software such as Norton and MacAfee won't necessarily pick these up, never understood why at the price they charge.
Use Spybot and Adaware (both free) to increase protection in future.

innovate

What a terrible thing to happen at any time of year, not to talk about right before Xmas! The only "good" thing is that Barclays (and the police) can trace the culprit quite easily since the money must have gone into their bank account, so it shouldn't be long before the person is caught and they will be in deepest doo-dah then.

Did you report the theft to the police, independently? I would, with this amount of money. It might also speed up the resolution if Barclays know you have the police involved.

frustrated_with_my_bank wrote:

What I cannot understand is how the bank allowed all these transactions to go through, especially when you can only draw £350 a day out of the cash machine, They happily sat there while some c**t withdrew £2k out of my account 4 times.

To the bank, it appeared to be YOU making these transactions, and if your account is anything like mine (not with Barclays), there are no restrictions on online transactions. A bit like with cheques - you can write as many cheques you like, for any amount, and a fraudster who gets hold of your cheques can withdraw money from your account. Happened to an elderly acquitance of mine the other day - a nurse in her care home had taken 2 x £2K from her with stolen cheques. I also know of a case where a thief systematically went through peoples' jackets in big corporate offices in the Heathrow area and stole everything he could get hold off, incl cheque books. He made almost a million before police eventually caught him (in fact, it was his cashing cheques that led to his arrest).

From what you say, Barclays actually called you when they realised something strange was going on, so I think you can't accuse them on this point. I also don't think Internet banking is inherently less secure than traditional banking - determined fraudsters will find the occasional victim.

The bank will hopefully be able to give you your money back in less than two weeks, or allow you a conditional (fee-free if proven innocent) overdraft so you have some money to live off. However, as annoying as it is, they need to be able to re-assure themselves that it wasn't you who withdrew the money.

grumbler

innovate wrote:

... if your account is anything like mine (not with Barclays), there are no restrictions on online transactions. ..

AFAIK all banks have restrictions. Barclays online limit is exactly £2000 per day.