account marked for fraud

ziprar

So this is what happened: few days ago I won a national lottery (prize was several thousand pounds). I got the check from the post office and deposited it the same day. Then yesterday I noticed that all my cards stopped working. I went to the bank and they said my account was marked for fraud and they are closing it. They said I have to open a new account (in another bank) within sixty days, and they also told me to get a official letter/proof that that money is indeed prize money or otherwise they wont give it to me.
:mad:

Now I am pretty pi**ed off, I would like somebody to tell me where do I start to sort this mess out and who is responsible (because it certainly isnt me).

Thank you very much

Lith

What bank are you with ?


i think that is disgusting they 'jump the boat to quick here'


speak to the manager and get some answers!

kit77

It sounds like the bank have received info that this is fraud. I am not saying you have intentionally defrauded the bank but you could have been a victim of a scam.

We need further info on this lottery win. i am afraid there are many scams going around surrounding lottery wins. Did you enter a lottery? Did you have to pay any money to receive the funds? Are you expected to pay any fees from the money you have received?

You need to speak to the bank and provide them with the proof they need but to be honest it is unlikley they will reverse their decision and IF they have information that you received this money fraudulently then they will not give you it EVEN if you have duped by some scam. In the eyes of the bank ignorance is not a form of defence.

Sorry if I sound harsh but you need to be aware of this. You may need to think about opening a new account as your bank can register you with CIFAS and this will cause you problems opening accounts elsewhere.

noh

Who issued the cheque?

ziprar

Thanks for the replies.

The lottery win is legit, its a National Lottery, I bough a ticket at one of the retailers and then got the check from the post office, unless the retailer itself is a scam which I doubt (bought the ticket in tescos).
In fact i spoke to the national lottery helpdesk just now and they told me to send the copy of the receipt (which I got together with the check) to the bank and it should go through.

But this is not the point. This caused me a major inconveniece, now I have to open a new account at another bank, then apply for new credit cards, transfer direct debits etc. I just hope I didnt get blacklisted or something like that ( I have heard that even if something happens which is not your fault, the record stays and it might affect credit rating and other things).

The bank in question is Lloyds TSB, I know several people with lloyds accounts, Ill advice them to swith to something else.

cheers

thenudeone

There was an item on BBC's Moneybox programme about this a few weeks ago - a baby's account had been closed and the letter from the bank said that there was no means to appeal the decision.

Eventually (after Moneybox got involved) the bank admitted that the letter was wrong, and that there is a mechanism to appeal against a closure.

I believe that banks scan copies of every cheque deposited, so it would be pretty easy to for them to see that it was indeed a cheque from the National Lottery after all.

Looks like you have some fighting to do. Stick with it.

ziprar

The question is even if I can keep the account, do I really want to? Unless I get some very nice looking letter of apology I am switching.

Apparently they sent the letter notifying me of the account closure some days ago but I havent received it yet.

Nine_Lives

Personally i would move anyway, regardless of if the head of Lloyds TSB came to your doorstep themselves & kissed both your feet.

If this was me, i would get this sorted, get this "block" lifted, and then tell them that you want to shut the account & any other account with them down and you'll be moving to ANY other bank, just not TSB as their customer service is appalling.

There's likely plenty better accounts than a TSB one out there. Their Vantage accounts aren't what they used to be.

ziprar

Now that sounds like a plan, get the account reactivated and then close it. I might just try that, thanks.

MoneySaverLog

I would be very concerned about this, the bank could put a CIFAS marker on your credit file. If they do this you'll find it very difficult, if not impossible, to even open a basic bank account with another bank.

Make sure you get this sorted out, if this is the reason for the fraud marker then I agree this is disgusting.

pqrdef

Still something fishy about all this. It's for the issuing bank to repudiate a cheque, not the bank it's paid into. Either Lloyds have received the value of the cheque, or they haven't. They can't keep it, they don't send it back.

The only issue for Lloyds is if they think you're trying to pay a cheque into your account that is payable to somebody else. Where it came from is secondary.