Wonga and ID theft

RoxRoxBling

dealer_wins wrote: »

There seems to be a hell of a lot of these ID fraud cases with Wonga, do they not check that the bank account they pay the loan into is in the same name as the person who has applied for the loan?

I'm guessing not, cause you can have the loan paid into one bank account then for repayment have the money taken out of another bank account.
From my experience, baring in mind I've not applied for a loan ever, they did a credit check on me But didn't even have my name right!! Fools!!

Problem is, this wrongly shows up on my credit report, therefore stopping me applying for the credit that I want to

SnowTiger

dealer_wins wrote: »

There seems to be a hell of a lot of these ID fraud cases with Wonga, do they not check that the bank account they pay the loan into is in the same name as the person who has applied for the loan?

I don't think there's a mechanism for checking that. As an example, I could give you my bank account sort code and account number; you could pay money in to my account without knowing my name.

Even Barclay's Ping service has to rely on customers confirming the value of a small test transaction to verify their account. And they're one of the UK's largest banks!

All this highlights what is probably a flaw in the banking system. Only the customer's bank can confirm that sort code and account number, debit card number and name match.

I don't think Wonga are really the bad boys here. One of their biggest selling points is that they can transfer money in to a punter's account within minutes. For them to verify that the details I've previously mention all link together could take several days.

The banks need to put together a robust verification process.

Of course the current system, which is largely based on trust, is a pain in the backside for the innocent who have money felched from their account.

However, with Wonga now promising to pay interest at a rate of 4214% ARP to those affected I'm quite happy for them to dip their sticky paws in to my bank account and take a few thousand pounds. If that happened I might be tempted to follow the lead of others here and not read my bank statement for a few months. After all, they are very complicated. :rotfl:

IIRC Watchdog mentioned that Wonga made £14million profit last year. That's a lot less than I had expected.

RoxRoxBling

Good point.. But the thing is wonga would put money in to 1 one account but take it from another.

topsales

Hi bbfc - what rubbish you spout. I too have had money taken from ny account by Wonga - never had any dealings with them at all. Santander fraud dept are on the case (very slowly). There is something seriously wrong with Wonga - though I look forward to repayment plus interest as promised on Watchdog last night...

dealer_wins

Im sure Wonga could send a 1p credit to the applicants bank account with a reference number, and the customer has to input this reference on the Wonga site to confirm it is his account.

SnowTiger

RoxRoxBling wrote: »

Good point.. But the thing is wonga would put money in to 1 one account but take it from another.

I don't think there's a way to determine they are different accounts.

The system doesn't allow organisation to verify sort code and account number, card number and name all point to the same account.

Hence why some services make a 'test' transaction to a card for a random amount and ask punters to confirm how much it was for.

Flaw in the banking system, perhaps?

SnowTiger

dealer_wins wrote: »

Im sure Wonga could send a 1p credit to the applicants bank account with a reference number, and the customer has to input this reference on the Wonga site to confirm it is his account.

Yep, they could. Other services do that. However, it typically seems to take a couple of days to show up even on online banking systems.

Wonga punters want their cash now, not in a few days time.

And, let's face it, most of them are probably not bright enough to be able understand such a system.

From Wonga's point of view, inconveniencing a few people who aren't paying customers probably isn't too much of a problem. Well, not until Watchdog and the regulator realises what's happening. :rotfl:

jo.anne

Is it possible to give me a bit of information regarding What steps to take. My boyfriend checked his Natwest bank recently to find it wiped out by Wonga payments. He as never had dealings with them. He rang his bank who informed him it does seem like fraud, there is still payments pending from Wonga so he as been told those also will be taken out. He is under the impression all his monies will be refunded. How as Wonga been able to take payments without his debit card number? Also besides his bank doing the necessary work is there anything he should be doing?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Otter13

This just happened to me today. My bank caught it as suspicious and stopped 2 really big payments wiping out my account but not before £110 had already gone in 4 separate payments. I'm with co-op and they were brilliant, they told me they have stopped any more like that from going out and I should get refunded in 4 or 5 days. Unfortunately they had already flagged my card so I couldn't get money out for food shopping and I can't afford to order heating oil until I'm repaid. Wonga need a slap! :mad:

Daft-fader

An update on my dealings with Wonga

I put a complaint in with the Financial ombudsman service regarding the money withdrawn from my account and after going through the process, eight week deadline for Wonga to reply etc, etc
I have just banked a cheque for £100 for my trouble.:j So roughly my calculation is £449 out of my account for 36 hours (would of been longer if not for Lloyds) £100 compensation is about 5402%

So dont give up speak to the Financial ombudsman they will assign someone to your case once you have made the complaint and send you some forms to fill out and send back