Fraud on my current account

Cashcade

I recently sent for my current account card as it had been damaged. Now, they say 5-7 working days or whatever the standard quote is.

Anyway, it's been over 3 weeks and i do not have it. I'm thinking this is taking the mickey. However, i still never made the time to ring up as i had been really busy with my best mate's wedding and other stuff happening.

I get my bank statement this week and to my shock and horror, there were a plethora of transactions that i didn't recognise.

Also, I only had £400 in my Cur Acc, and apparently a large sum of money was paid in by lord knows whom and thereafter cash transactions have been made, shopping sprees etc.

At this point, i'm rather livid, ring my bank and demand to know what the hell is going on. I tell them i don't have a bloody clue what's been happening on my account, and i have nver received the card or made any of these transactions. Then the advisor has the cheek to accuse me of being negligent. :mad:

She said you must have received the card and pin through the post and got complacent. My BP rising:mad:

I then let her mind become aware of all the other possibilities that could exist: Someone swiped the mail, knows my details etc etc

I ask to speak to her manager and get her to apologise to me. Manager goes we will look into this.

Anybody ever have this happen to them?

Will this affect my credit rating etc?

Thanks

Debt_Free_Chick

Firstly, calm down

This may not be the bank's fault at all. It could be that someone has intercepted your post so that they obtained the card and then the pin number. If that is the case, then it's clearly not the bank's fault. It is, however, theft and you must inform the Police. I think you should call the Police anyway and tell them that you never received the card or the PIN, but that the card & PIN have been used to take money from your account.

You then need to contact the fraud department at your bank and lodge a potential fraud/theft. Banks have special departments that deal with this - once they get on the case, then a proper investigation can take place. There's no point in getting mad with the girl at the branch or the manager - they don't handle this stuff. It will, in all probability, be a central department possibly at head office.

By all means get mad at whoever has your card, but ranting about the bank is not going to help you. If you !!!!!! your bank off, they are not likely to "go that extra mile" to help you out.

Do you live alone? Or does someone else share with you? Do you live in a flat with a shared communal area where the post goes?

You need to start thinking about how someone could have picked up the card and the PIN - bearing in mind they are sent separately.

One final thought ... you were sent a new PIN, weren't you? If not and the existing PIN still applies, then this must be someone you know and you must have left details of your PIN lying around - that may be what the girl at the branch was trying to say.

Anyway ... post back some more details re the PIN and your housing arrangements.

grumbler

Cashcade wrote:

...Also, I only had £400 in my Cur Acc, and apparently a large sum of money was paid in by lord knows whom and thereafter cash transactions have been made, shopping sprees etc.

Isn't it very odd for a fraudster to pay money into your account in order to spend it later by using your debit card? This looks like the card (and the pin?) were sent to a wrong person with the same name having an account with the same bank, but living at some different address (and not checking their day-to-day balance carefully)

Coupon-mad

Paying money in, if it's a very large sum, makes me think it could be a form of Money Laundering.

Agree with a previous post, phone up the fraud dept of your Bank and let them handle it, this is not something your Bank till girl knows how to deal with, obviously!

Cashcade

I wasn't shouting at the girl till she said I was negligent. I live with family mate but they would never do this.

My Pin must have been the same, but I don't know how they got hold of it. However, I can safely say it definitely did not come through my post.

Now, either someone in the bank is involved( a far off theory perhaps) but you always hear about these employees on the news being involved in wide ranging fraud. The money seems to have come from somewhere but i don't know where.

The bank are sending me some forms which i need to complete and send back to them and the police.

Emmzi

Cashcade wrote:

I wasn't shouting at the girl till she said I was negligent. I live with family mate but they would never do this.

90% of 'stolen card and pin' cases I used to deal with were friend or family. In every case, victim said 'but they would never...'

Be aware a police investigation WILL include housemate and their habits/ whereabouts on transaction dates.

Coupon-mad

Did the fraud definitely involve use of your Pin number? In that case, I would be worried that someone close to home has intercepted the card and already knows your PIN.

This is becasue the Bank would not actually re-send your PIN advice unless you asked them to (it would have only been the new card in the post, in my experience as ex-Bank & B Society staff).

So think through who could have got that new card and who already knows your PIN........?

Cashcade

Well, there's my mother but it can't have been her because..well that's ridiculous.

My sisters are below 16 and i definitely can't see them doing such a sophisticated looking fraud.

There's my neighbours, lol.

MPH80

Cashcade wrote:

Well, there's my mother but it can't have been her because..well that's ridiculous.

My sisters are below 16 and i definitely can't see them doing such a sophisticated looking fraud.

There's my neighbours, lol.

Could it have even been an accident?

Could someone in your house opened the letter because they thought it was for them and just assumed the bank sent them the new card?

Is it possible you operate the same pin? (e.g. a birthday)

I have to say - it all sounds very weird to me - I don't understand why the fraudster (assuming they are) would put money into the account in the first place to withdraw it. If I was a fraudster - I'd have just taken the money!

M.

virgin_moneysaver

must agree with earlier poster in that most card fraud inc pin is by a person close to the account holder - we've had 3 recently that spring to mind - one was the son funding his nights out with his mates, the account holder just would not believe it at first & was insisting that that the ombudsman was brought in as he had accused the branch staff but when it came to the point when the police were to be contacted via the fraud he backed down - about £2k on that one.

The 2nd was the parents went back home to Jamaica for 3 months & the son emptied the accounts over a period of time via the card & PIN which parents had given him in case of emergency - turns out he had a severe gambling problem & hasn't been seen since - around £5k

the smaller one was a couple of hundred & the sister had ripped the last 3 chqs out of her sisters new cq book so it wasn't noticed until the accountholder had her bank statement - not a card fraud I know but just an example of what we deal with

Cashcade

must agree with earlier poster in that most card fraud inc pin is by a person close to the account holder - we've had 3 recently that spring to mind - one was the son funding his nights out with his mates,

Boy, if that was my son.......:mad: