Help! someone got hold of bank details and has spend 2-3 thousand on my card so skint

ryouga

A bit of history, I started my uni year last September for 2nd year, a few weeks in had a family crisis where a family member was murdered.

I immeadietly moved to stay with family but kept my uni place as had a lot of stuff there and used my student bank account to pay standing order each week and because I was with family I didnt have bills to pay.

First thing I was worried about was when I came back one day(its a long 3 hour train journey) I couldnt find any bank statements but I asked landlord and he said he regularly bins uncollected post and apoligised as he forgot that I would have some. I did manage to see a massive phone bill for like £100 which my flatmate agreed was them making loads of phone calls and agreed to pay it off but as I didnt see them for another 6 weeks by then anohter £50 had been made in calls. I then got a £100 bill 2 weeks ago but for TalkTalk but in my name! for some reason they have me down as signing up via a street agent in March but the person cannot remember me nor can they give me proof of signature and say since they have a signed form the line is with them for 18 months!(as from April)

At the same time I contacted bank as I got 1 statement that came through the morning I was there saying I was over my £850 overdraft limit by £30 and I will be charged a £25 fee. upon phoning they told me I have been constantly overdrawn for months, all for 1 website for at least £60-£100 each week called Just-Eat which according to my searching is a website that sells take aways online for delivery, the bank apparantly didnt see it to be strange that the only transactions since last October have all been to this company,no cash machine withdrawls, no transactions in supermarkets since I have a student account elsewhere that my loan went into

I reckon its the flatmate who has somehow got hold of my details, I had the card but had old statements in my bedroom and around that time I went to visit family landlord came in once and accidently left my door unlocked for an entire month!

I am seriously in need of the cash since I have no other source of income right now and the bank says they wont increase the overdraft since I have been over my limit so many times! I feel like banging my head against the wall as of course this has happened as I didnt know and was going through such a bad time and am currently on anti depressants!

I dont know how much I actually lost since I was getting benefits paid into it of £120 a fortnight and housing benefit went into my student account which then went straight to landlord but if £120 has been paid into it each fortnight since October and I was about £500 in credit at the time and somehow I am £850 overdrawn then a massive amount has been taken out at least 2-3 grand.

What shall I say to my bank as I have a feeling they dont believe me especially since I didnt change the address(there was no branch for 300 miles since it was a Scottish bank and I was too worried and kept forgetting due to family problems)

This is also the 2nd time in just over a year it has happened which again leads me to believe its the flatmate because technically they arent a flatmate, theres a woman who lets her 21 year old son sleep on the floor of her bedroom and as hes an immigrant he cant get benefits yet doesnt work but can afford to go drinking all the time and buy designer clothes despite his mum only having a minimum wage job.

costaerer

didnt want to read and run. not quite sure what to do in this situation. but to me this seems something to report to the police. im sure the police can get records off the take away company to where the take aways were delivered to.

farso

Hi

Big post, so gonna try say what I can about as much, but I apologise if I miss anything.

First, if TalkTalk cant provide a signature of yours saying you will pay the line rental for 18 months, then there is no contract and you will not have to pay.

Second, the larger of your problems seem to come from your housemate... Im assuming you are no longer in contact with them. It would be a good idea to call the police as this is a rather serious crime for relatively big amounts of money that you are not responsible for paying back. There should be records of who has received some of the goods that have been paid for on your card, I think it would be worthwhile calling the bank and explaining to them that this definitely wasnt you and you would like to involve the police in the matter.

Good luck

Fire_Fox

I think you should write a very clear and concise letter to your bank reporting the theft from your account/ fraudulent use of your card. State that your student address remained your permanent address, but that you were at your family home on extended compassionate leave from university (I assume you have easy proof of this). Hence you did not receive your statements and they have gone missing. You don't know it was someone from your house, it could be the landlord or the cleaner or the postman or your card could have been cloned by a stranger so don't go accusing!

I would suggest you contact the Just Eat website and/ or the police to find out where the food was delivered. Presumably your bank card and not your statements were used, did you have a card go missing? If not then your card has been cloned. Banks often don't appear to believe you in these circumstances but hold firm and insist on a full investigation - you have done nothing wrong as far as I can tell. If the room was still technically your home then it's fine for your statements to be posted there.

On a separate issue are you 100% certain you are entitled to benefits whilst you are a full time student? It is not usual unless you have dependents or are disabled??

ryouga

Well I left uni officially and am having problems getting back in hence why I was entitled to benefits since I wasnt working or a student officially and not getting a loan etc.

The bank IMO thinks I am ripping them off since it was only last June I had £1000 taken from me then then I claim that a few months later it happened again but didnt tell them for almost a year makes them suspicious.

Also did get a letter from bank fraud department telling me to contact them.

Finally 2 years ago there was another instance of fraud on the account which was the banks fault as they sent my card to my old address after I changed it and blamed the fact that the card was sent before the system updated the records so to them they think I have 3 instances of fraud on the account.

laney85

ryouga wrote: »

A bit of history, I started my uni year last September for 2nd year, a few weeks in had a family crisis where a family member was murdered.

I immeadietly moved to stay with family but kept my uni place as had a lot of stuff there and used my student bank account to pay standing order each week and because I was with family I didnt have bills to pay.

First thing I was worried about was when I came back one day(its a long 3 hour train journey) I couldnt find any bank statements but I asked landlord and he said he regularly bins uncollected post and apoligised as he forgot that I would have some. I did manage to see a massive phone bill for like £100 which my flatmate agreed was them making loads of phone calls and agreed to pay it off but as I didnt see them for another 6 weeks by then anohter £50 had been made in calls. I then got a £100 bill 2 weeks ago but for TalkTalk but in my name! for some reason they have me down as signing up via a street agent in March but the person cannot remember me nor can they give me proof of signature and say since they have a signed form the line is with them for 18 months!(as from April)

At the same time I contacted bank as I got 1 statement that came through the morning I was there saying I was over my £850 overdraft limit by £30 and I will be charged a £25 fee. upon phoning they told me I have been constantly overdrawn for months, all for 1 website for at least £60-£100 each week called Just-Eat which according to my searching is a website that sells take aways online for delivery, the bank apparantly didnt see it to be strange that the only transactions since last October have all been to this company,no cash machine withdrawls, no transactions in supermarkets since I have a student account elsewhere that my loan went into

I reckon its the flatmate who has somehow got hold of my details, I had the card but had old statements in my bedroom and around that time I went to visit family landlord came in once and accidently left my door unlocked for an entire month!

I am seriously in need of the cash since I have no other source of income right now and the bank says they wont increase the overdraft since I have been over my limit so many times! I feel like banging my head against the wall as of course this has happened as I didnt know and was going through such a bad time and am currently on anti depressants!

I dont know how much I actually lost since I was getting benefits paid into it of £120 a fortnight and housing benefit went into my student account which then went straight to landlord but if £120 has been paid into it each fortnight since October and I was about £500 in credit at the time and somehow I am £850 overdrawn then a massive amount has been taken out at least 2-3 grand.

What shall I say to my bank as I have a feeling they dont believe me especially since I didnt change the address(there was no branch for 300 miles since it was a Scottish bank and I was too worried and kept forgetting due to family problems)

This is also the 2nd time in just over a year it has happened which again leads me to believe its the flatmate because technically they arent a flatmate, theres a woman who lets her 21 year old son sleep on the floor of her bedroom and as hes an immigrant he cant get benefits yet doesnt work but can afford to go drinking all the time and buy designer clothes despite his mum only having a minimum wage job.

benifits and student loans during this same period, i would be careful its not you that gets accused of fraud

Fire_Fox

ryouga wrote: »

Well I left uni officially and am having problems getting back in hence why I was entitled to benefits since I wasnt working or a student officially and not getting a loan etc.

The bank IMO thinks I am ripping them off since it was only last June I had £1000 taken from me then then I claim that a few months later it happened again but didnt tell them for almost a year makes them suspicious.

Also did get a letter from bank fraud department telling me to contact them.

Finally 2 years ago there was another instance of fraud on the account which was the banks fault as they sent my card to my old address after I changed it and blamed the fact that the card was sent before the system updated the records so to them they think I have 3 instances of fraud on the account.

If you have repeatedly been the victim of fraud then you need to access your Equifax and Experian credit reports and check that your identity has not been used to get additional credit (how to do this is on the main website). I would also recommend you speak to the bank about closing your account down completely and reopening with a new account number (and perhaps new bank). You haven't lost a card this time, so we know your bank account number must have been used - card numbers change when you get a new one anyway so if the fraud was on your card it would have stopped by now.

I think you need to be very careful about the benefits situation - you applied for and was given housing benefit on a property you didn't live in?? This may be classed as an overpayment or even fraud.

antiheart

Oh my gosh! That sounds horrible.

I thought it was illegal to destroy mail anyway and that it has to be redirected/returned to sender? You could catch your landlord out on that.

Definitely need to contact the right authority (sorry, I can't think who that would be ) and get some help on this one as it is definitely dodgy!

Identity theft is more common than we realize and so I would take Fire Fox's advice and get your credit report to find out what's going on with your credit.