A double whammy

Chocbid

On the 14th May 2010 I was the victim of internet fraud where £240 was taken out of my HSBC current account and $4,550 was transferred out of the ISA into the current account ready to transfer to the fraudster's bank. When they tried to move another amount out of the ISA a few hours later, the HSBC online fraud people rang me to see if I had moved the money. When I said I hadn't they stopped the transfers.

However, I had already started the ball rolling to transfer my ISA from HSBC to Nationwide (as a result of your advice at the time). As I had to open a flexi current account with Nationwide first and filled in the ISA transfer application form at the same time, I cannot be sure of the time span. The result is that I received written notification from Nationwide yesterday to say they now have my ISA but it is less the £4,550 which has now been transferred from HSBC current account and put into an instant access ISA.

I have made umpteen visits and phone calls to HSBC and Nationwide since 14th May. I have been told that as the ISA at Nationwide is a fixed rate the £4,550 cannot be transferred into the ISA at Nationwide. I rang HSBC and they have agreed to pay lost interest on the £4,550. The whole reason for moving my ISA was to get a better rate of interest and now over a quarter of the money has not been transferred.

My husband died last year. He dealt with finances and I am trying my best to trawl through all the paperwork. Both banks knew about the fraud, so why did HSBC transfer the ISA without the missing money and why did Nationwide accept the ISA without the full amount?

Hope you can advise. What is the best thing for me to do with the £4,550 if the Nationwide won't accept the money? The missing money was from last year. Nationwide have already got this year's amount as I gave them a cheque when I completed the application.

Thanks for reading this.