Santander: Fraud investigations

7sefton

Hi everyone,

I recently got in touch with Santander cards over a transaction I don't recognise (small in value - we're talking under £30 here).

It's taken them a while to get back to me, but today I received a letter asking me to sign and complete the slip at the bottom. Although I understand their need to do something like this, the words used at pretty official-sounding, e.g. 'I would be prepared to assist in any subsequent prosecution...I understand that if this declaration is found to be false Santander reserves the right to take action against me.'

I'm thinking of just giving up due to the small amount involved, as I don't like the idea of signing such a legal document over a transaction I don't recognise (what if it turns out the name of the transaction was just very different to a product I did actually purchase! What if I've somehow forgotten about it!)

Anyway, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this as I'm a bit confused and worried atm.

never-in-doubt

Just sign it - unless of course you have something to hide? The disclaimer is designed to weed out false claims but if you genuinely forgot you should ask the retailer - that is the normal chargeback process, you deal with the merchant until you are left with no alternative but to issue c/b....

If you later find you did get the goods or whatever then so be it, you own up! Like you say for the small amount mistakes 'can' happen...

moonrakerz

I have serious doubts about being asked to sign such a document.

If you have a transaction on your credit card that you honestly believe that you did not authorise, all you have to do is:

1. Write to the card company saying that you did not authorise the transaction.
2. Ask them to put it in "dispute" until they remove it from your statements.
3. DON'T PAY ANYTHING !(not the amount in dispute - pay everything else)

Would I be a tad cynical to suggest that the purpose of such a letter is to "persuade" people like 7sefton into just "giving up" ?

rb10

All the letter says is:

* If the person who committed the fraud is caught, then I'm happy to give evidence.
* If Sandtander or I realise that this was not fraud, and actually a genuine transaction, then Sandtander will take appropriate action against me [which I'd guess would be simply recovering the money, as it's a claim for such a small amount].

If you don't sign the form, then they probably won't investigate your claim. Just sign it, and return it to them.

The purpose of the letter is to ensure that people don't attempt to play the system by registering a fraud claim against a genuine purchase. Santander don't want to reimburse you now, only to find after investigation that it was a real transaction.

moonrakerz

rb10 wrote: »

If you don't sign the form, then they probably won't investigate your claim. Just sign it, and return it to them.

The card holder has done what he legally has to do. He doesn't have a claim in place !
Any potential loss is the banks - do you really think they are going to "investigate" it anyway, for less than £30 !

Ritchie74

Have they blocked your card and re-issued? Fraudsters tend to start off with small purchases before they go for the big hit.

chattychappy

moonrakerz wrote: »

The card holder has done what he legally has to do. He doesn't have a claim in place !

Well... the OP has "claimed" that the transactions aren't his.

Yep, maybe the OP has done all he legally has to do.... but that doesn't mean if you do more than the minimum you put yourself in legal jeopardy. The wording we've seen looks OK to me.

The reality is that half the great British public are as thick as two short planks, incapable of saying what they mean, writing something in a clear way, or getting the detail right. So you can't blame the banks for producing a form for them to sign.

If the OP doesn't sign it will just lead to another pointless hitch as they go around deciding what to do next. Someone somewhere wants to tick that box "form received".

What I do in these situations is sign the form - but annotate any bits I don't like..... Think we need to see all the wording to give more advice.

Oh and by the way, any document can be "legal"...whether or not it sounds "official"... And stuff looking "official" isn't necessarily "legal"...

moonrakerz

chattychappy wrote: »

Well... the OP has "claimed" that the transactions aren't his.

The OP hasn't "claimed" anything, he/she has stated that they did not authorise the transaction in question - full stop. By saying that they "claim" this to be the case is assuming they are on the fiddle and that they have to prove otherwise - NOT the case ! They are totally innocent until proven guilty - by the card issuer.
He/she is doing exactly what the Banking Code requires them to do, any further action is up to the card issuer. Asking the card holder to sign such a totally pointless piece of paper is just a delaying tactic by the card issuer.

This is an identical ploy to that used by the CC companies when large numbers of people put in claims following an Airline going bust. It is designed to make people give up and go away. Just read some of the thread about Maxjet and others.