We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Unable to access own money due to fraud
Options
pedgepuk
Posts: 111 Forumite
Hi all,
My gf isn't too good at getting advice using forums etc and does the old fashioned thing of asking advice through other means except for the web.
Anyway, she's had approximately £3,500 stolen out of her bank account over the course of a few weeks and only found out after her card was blocked by NatWest two and a half weeks ago. She's made a mistake in not checking her statements regularly but then again not everybody does this. The branch staff at NatWest explained then that the account was frozen pending a fraud investigation to find the culprit and analyse the transactions. These transactions have been found to be equivalent small quantities of £50 to £100 at overseas foreign exchange outlets according to NatWest. We'd been in Cyprus 6 weeks ago but these transactions appeared way after we'd returned to the UK so I'm wondering if she'd had her card cloned.
The bank dispatched a new card and pin 2 weeks ago but will not release any funds until the new card has been received. They said that it would take 7-10 working days although still no pin or card in the post. The post has been normal and have never had any issues with receiving cards etc in the past.
My gf has had to borrow money of me to get by, to get to work and pay rent etc. There have been numerous visits to the bank as well as calls to complaints etc but all they can say is that until the card is received then no money can be accessed and she'll instead have to borrow of family and friends. So if you have no family or friends what are you to do? She's currently very distressed and is being made felt that she's guilty or has some involvement in it by NatWest.
Her salary will bounce next week as the account is frozen and she has no other account to pay into. Her company have refused to allow her salary to be paid into my account for the time being as it's a different name.
Can anyone offer advice and can banks allow people to live without being able to access their own money?
Ta
Peds
My gf isn't too good at getting advice using forums etc and does the old fashioned thing of asking advice through other means except for the web.
Anyway, she's had approximately £3,500 stolen out of her bank account over the course of a few weeks and only found out after her card was blocked by NatWest two and a half weeks ago. She's made a mistake in not checking her statements regularly but then again not everybody does this. The branch staff at NatWest explained then that the account was frozen pending a fraud investigation to find the culprit and analyse the transactions. These transactions have been found to be equivalent small quantities of £50 to £100 at overseas foreign exchange outlets according to NatWest. We'd been in Cyprus 6 weeks ago but these transactions appeared way after we'd returned to the UK so I'm wondering if she'd had her card cloned.
The bank dispatched a new card and pin 2 weeks ago but will not release any funds until the new card has been received. They said that it would take 7-10 working days although still no pin or card in the post. The post has been normal and have never had any issues with receiving cards etc in the past.
My gf has had to borrow money of me to get by, to get to work and pay rent etc. There have been numerous visits to the bank as well as calls to complaints etc but all they can say is that until the card is received then no money can be accessed and she'll instead have to borrow of family and friends. So if you have no family or friends what are you to do? She's currently very distressed and is being made felt that she's guilty or has some involvement in it by NatWest.
Her salary will bounce next week as the account is frozen and she has no other account to pay into. Her company have refused to allow her salary to be paid into my account for the time being as it's a different name.
Can anyone offer advice and can banks allow people to live without being able to access their own money?
Ta
Peds
0
Comments
-
Didn't the bank inform her that she could go into the branch with appropriate Id so that she can access her money ?
I would have expected a salary payment would still go ahead into the account.
The freeze should only be on outgoing payments, and I cannot see why existing regular Direct Debits should not be paid as normal, since the fraud investigation should only be with respect to the Card.
However, make sure that no regular Direct Debit or Standing Order payments are missed, make other arrangements to pay any that may have bounced.
Contact the bank to get confirmation of what is actually frozen, and check when the new card was sent.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0 -
Didn't the bank inform her that she could go into the branch with appropriate Id so that she can access her money ?
I would have expected a salary payment would still go ahead into the account.
The freeze should only be on outgoing payments, and I cannot see why existing regular Direct Debits should not be paid as normal, since the fraud investigation should only be with respect to the Card.
However, make sure that no regular Direct Debit or Standing Order payments are missed, make other arrangements to pay any that may have bounced.
Contact the bank to get confirmation of what is actually frozen, and check when the new card was sent.
She's been into the branch with her passport and they've told her the card was dispatched circa 31st of Aug/1st of Sept which now stands at 12 working days. Still no card or pin.
I've asked her to get the bank to send a letter to the address in case there's a doing the deliveries postman who's up to no good.
I still can't believe she's unable to access her account with a passport which as I suspect is a bank policy until you can prove you have the new card.0 -
She's been into the branch with her passport and they've told her the card was dispatched circa 31st of Aug/1st of Sept which now stands at 12 working days. Still no card or pin.
I've asked her to get the bank to send a letter to the address in case there's a doing the deliveries postman who's up to no good.
I still can't believe she's unable to access her account with a passport which as I suspect is a bank policy until you can prove you have the new card.
Certainly not bank policy if a card has been cloned, something other going on here than a straight forward card fraud case. If it is a case of card fraud then the fraudulent transactions should be refunded within 24 hours (pending a full investigation, which could result in the funds being redebited if it turns out the customer was negligent). If you go into branch with a valid passport then you would be able to access money (small amounts <£100 at a time though).
Very odd that she has to wait for her new card to arrive. Feel free to pm me account details (Or an email address & i'll contact you tomorrow from my work email, if you aren't happy sending her account number to me - tbh I would be wary of giving it out on a forum. I know I'm genuine and work for Natwest but you dont!) and I'll have a look at what's going on tomorrow for you.0 -
Feel free to pm me account details (Or an email address & i'll contact you tomorrow from my work email, if you aren't happy sending her account number to me - tbh I would be wary of giving it out on a forum. I know I'm genuine and work for Natwest but you dont!) and I'll have a look at what's going on tomorrow for you.
You WHAT???
I assume you realise that doing this could get you in serious trouble from Natwest. You'd be releasing customer info to someone who you haven't verified as the customer.0 -
While you probably do work for the bank, do you really think a stranger on an internet forum asking for account details will reassure a victim of fraud?Certainly not bank policy if a card has been cloned, something other going on here than a straight forward card fraud case. If it is a case of card fraud then the fraudulent transactions should be refunded within 24 hours (pending a full investigation, which could result in the funds being redebited if it turns out the customer was negligent). If you go into branch with a valid passport then you would be able to access money (small amounts <£100 at a time though).
Very odd that she has to wait for her new card to arrive. Feel free to pm me account details (Or an email address & i'll contact you tomorrow from my work email, if you aren't happy sending her account number to me - tbh I would be wary of giving it out on a forum. I know I'm genuine and work for Natwest but you dont!) and I'll have a look at what's going on tomorrow for you.
While your offer may be well intentioned, I don't think your judgement is good here. Soliciting customer contact in this way probably isn't a good idea.0 -
You WHAT???
I assume you realise that doing this could get you in serious trouble from Natwest. You'd be releasing customer info to someone who you haven't verified as the customer.
At which point did I say I would release any information without fully identifying the customer? It was simply a way of getting a customer's details to me and I would then have treated it like any other issue/complaint. I am aware of the DPA and comply with it each and every day.
Second time that I have tried to help on this forum and felt like not bothering afterwards. I shan't be bothering again. I can't find where to delete my account, can someone point me in the right direction?0 -
You WHAT???
I assume you realise that doing this could get you in serious trouble from Natwest. You'd be releasing customer info to someone who you haven't verified as the customer.opinions4u wrote: »While you probably do work for the bank, do you really think a stranger on an internet forum asking for account details will reassure a victim of fraud?
While your offer may be well intentioned, I don't think your judgement is good here. Soliciting customer contact in this way probably isn't a good idea.
As I say above, simply offering to help. Won't bother again.0 -
She's been into the branch with her passport and they've told her the card was dispatched circa 31st of Aug/1st of Sept which now stands at 12 working days. Still no card or pin.
I've asked her to get the bank to send a letter to the address in case there's a doing the deliveries postman who's up to no good.
I still can't believe she's unable to access her account with a passport which as I suspect is a bank policy until you can prove you have the new card.
You could ask for the new card to be sent the branch.
Otherwise you could register for the alert service and you get a text when your card has been despatched.
http://www.natwest.com/personal/online-banking/g1/alerts.ashx
If you have any concerns regarding access to funds you could follow the bank complaint procedure:
https://www.natwest.com/secure/global/contact_us/complaints_procedure.htmIm an ex employee RBS GroupHowever Any Opinion Given On MSE Is Strictly My Own0 -
I'm not sure why the branch didn't help more to be honest.
You should be able to speak to the fraud department regarding this, as they will be able to authorize the withdrawal and override the "No Operations" marker on your account. Fully explain your current situation, although you shouldn't have to, and any "knock-on" effects that you will probably incur, and those that have occurred.Anything that I do say, is strictly my opinion
0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards