Reclaiming fraudulent direct debits

JeremyYoung

Degenerate wrote: »

One wonders whether this was deliberate fraud at all, or just a careless customer getting their account number/sort code wrong. In either case, as you say, it should have been picked up by a check on the authorised signatory.

I am pretty sure this was deliberate fraud - there was one attempt to set up a dd with vodafone (who detected it as fraud and refunded the money - although no-one bothered to explain why money went in and out of my account to vodafone, or warn me) and three dds were successfully set up with O2 (plus one with the phone insurance company TMTI) so this is a pretty suspicious pattern of activity. Also, the person I talked to at TMTI was strongly of the opinion that this was fraudulent. Finally, a mobile phone contract is an ideal target for this type of fraud. A DD of £60 a month with O2 could give you a very nice handset as well as a month of phonecalls, certainly makes more sense than trying to pay your council tax bill from someone else's bank account.

VictimOfImpersonation

I think PVT is right - you should not have been misdirected to the Direct Debit originators (whom you've termed "the providers") before they actioned the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme claim. In a general case it makes sense to be advised to contact the originator if there is any doubt about a continuing contractual liability that could lead to debt recovery action against the person who claimed money back, but it seems someone at the bank needs retraining on why they say it. In theory bank staff go through some of the motions relating to reacting to fraud but in practise the systems are vulnerable, inadequately monitored during "routine" information access e.g. when you sit down at a computer with an adviser or before you arrive and after you have gone when they have an excuse to be looking at it. Same applies with call centre staff.

With the massive Sony Playstation personal data security breach in the news today I came to the forum to see if anyone else had picked up on just what a problem bank fraud has become.

Banks just do not take it seriously enough because they charge it back to borrowing customers in stupidly high interest rates and fees and probably by not giving savers the rates that they deserve, plus I understand they also chargeback fraudulent transactions to the merchants who have supplied goods and services so putting them into a loss situation.

The government have failed to admit it but in every street up and down the land we have identity fraudsters stealing post systematically, often to order, collecting cards and PINs that they have triggered fraudulently by calling lost and stolen lines, and when it's raining they are indoors online trying their luck at taking over our bank accounts online, or down at the local phoneshop setting up new accounts using ID they have stolen, or in PCWorld paying for thousands of pounds worth of electronics on intercepted cards and PINs

They are even successfully taking over our CRA data - How often do you hear that Experian or Equifax or CallCredit have had a problem with having issued full credit reports to fraudsters posing as us? Very rarely? Yes, because it is being hushed up, but it is happening all the time and it of course is capable of pretty much bringing the house down for the unfortunate victims (That's US and it is NOT the banks).

The police are by agreement with the banks (through a less than public deal with government) not investigating any of this crime. Their seniors and the government are merely congratulating themselves on recorded crime levels dropping. Is there any wonder? !!!!!! Turpin is no longer out there on his horse using flintlock pistols to hold up horse-drawn carriages. !!!!!! Turpin's offspring are stealing identities and making an absolute fortune earning more in a typical week than many MSE'ers earn in a year.

It must be stopped, not brushed under the carpet ...

Why the hell has it not been yet?