Unauthorised Wonga Loan - fraud/ID theft

SnowTiger

fermi wrote: »

Wonga raids 15-year-old's bank account to recover debts after it wrongly granted fraudsters a loan with his details

'My bank dealt with the issue quickly and I was refunded the money.'

But it's more bad publicity for Wonga.

I wonder if Wonga use the expiry date and three digit code on the back of the card when they request payment.

IIRC Amazon doesn't. I guess companies that don't ALWAYS have to take the hit if a customer denies the transaction.

If they do use the details, that would suggest that the 15-year-old's debit card details had already been nabbed from elsewhere.

While it's possible to generate valid sixteen digit card numbers, it's not possible to do so for the expiry date and three digit number on the back of the card.

So, if his debit card details were out there in the wild, it would probably only have been a matter of time before they were used fraudulently.

fermi

Just watched the new BBC Watchdog report on tonight's program.

City of London Police/ActionFraud want anyone who has been a victim of ID theft/fraud via a Wonga loan to contact them and report it.

Report ---> http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

ellay864

I've been hit too despite never having any dealings with them. I came home to a letter on Wednesday, sent to my address but to a name I don't recognise, regarding a loan with a total repayment of just over £300. I tried calling, no answer. I sent an e-mail and got an automated reply but nothing else. Today I checked my statement and 7 payments, each between £35 and £48 all came out on Thursday.
I rang LloydsTSB who have said they are raising it as a fraud issue, will refund me my money - the only downside is that I have to be sent a new debit card so my expiry date and security card details change.
I've never had anything to do with Wonga, haven't ever lost my card, nobody else has access to it so I was quite shocked, but just glad that LLoydsTSB have dealt with it so promptly. Aicut, I hope you sort out OK - the bank have certainly been very efficient for me

baldri

Just made a account to report my experience

Last night card was declined .Rang Lloyds and was told Wonga had cleared my bank account. I said I never used them and asked them to stop the transaction.Lloyds said they could not do that I have to ring Wonga.And get Wonga to confirm it was fraud via a fax

Rang Wonga they had no record of me what so ever. I asked how is that possible you just cleared my bank account you must have a trace back to the account.Was told they cant find anything and a criminal is manipulating there system.

I then asked them to fax Lloyds with the information so I could get the transaction stopped. Was told they don't have a fax machine. I then asked them to contact there merchant banker and ask that the transaction is stopped. Was told no one in the office at the weekend can do that. They said get Lloyds to ring us and we will confirm it to them.

Rang Lloyds again and they said they cant ring Wonga to conform this and I will have to wait until Tuesday to maybe get my money back.Lloyds refused to acknowledge that is was fraud and told me its a customer dispute.I argued with them trying to explain its fraud but no I was told be two staff members any case involving payday lenders is classed as a dispute and not fraud ??? Shocked by this its just not true.

Anyway that's a very long up all night on the phone story cut very short.I lost my job last year and had little savings left now all gone .Wonga wont fax Lloyds and Lloyds wont ring Wonga so my money sits in the void the no mans land of money were banks and merchants profit of interest and the rest have no rights..

I have no money at all and bills to pay. I really think that this criminal is inside of Wonga and they need to sort it out. Lloyds treat me like a criminal when I tried to report it shocking customer service. Complaints going in to all those who deal with this. Been awake all night stress has been terrible. Will sleep now zzz

rizla_king

Lloyds are talking nonsense. Unless they can prove you authorized the the money being taken, they must refund you.

baldri

rizla_king wrote: »

Lloyds are talking nonsense. Unless they can prove you authorized the the money being taken, they must refund you.

Yes that's true , But they said they cant do that until maybe Tuesday at the soonest .As the money is in the process of being transferred.I asked who controls the transfer process cant they stop it are refund it ? Was met with a wall of silence and some spin. And Lloyds confirmed they have no deposits to my account from Wonga at any point in time.

Putting complaint in about them , terrible service out of 7 staff I spoke with only 2 had a clue what they were talking about.
Believe it are not they refunded me for a separate transaction on my account that was legit. I had to get them to credit the money back to the company.

I think the fact Wonga have no record of me at all, to be the most concerning . How can a account that a thief created on there site disappear ? Sounds like some one is in there mainframe and getting details from inside to me.

When I asked Lloyds why they would not consider it fraud they said. Its because all payday lenders share there customers credit card details with each other. So if you had a account with say payday advance then Wonga would have your details according to Lloyds staff member. I think there is a rotten apple back in South Africa

SnowTiger

baldri wrote: »

Anyway that's a very long up all night on the phone story cut very short.I lost my job last year and had little savings left now all gone .Wonga wont fax Lloyds and Lloyds wont ring Wonga so my money sits in the void the no mans land of money were banks and merchants profit of interest and the rest have no rights..

You do have rights. Lloyds should refund you, then investigate.

You don't have to faff around contacting Wonga and get them to fax anything to Lloyds.

Tell Lloyds there are unauthorised transactions on your account, you've been the victim of fraud and you want an immediate refund.

Wonga isn't really the bad guy here. They're just the innocent victim of fraud, like you. The difference is that they will probably lose out. You won't; well shouldn't.

As I mentioned early, if your debit card has been made to repay a Wonga loan you didn't take out, those details would be out there in the wild somewhere already and probably have been used anyway.

SnowTiger

baldri wrote: »

I think the fact Wonga have no record of me at all, to be the most concerning . How can a account that a thief created on there site disappear ?

Because the payment Wonga made was not credited to your debit card. It would have been credited to a bank account; presumably not yours.

baldri wrote: »

When I asked Lloyds why they would not consider it fraud they said. Its because all payday lenders share there customers credit card details with each other. So if you had a account with say payday advance then Wonga would have your details according to Lloyds staff member. I think there is a rotten apple back in South Africa

Lloyds is obviously having a bad day. They've told you nonsense

baldri

SnowTiger wrote: »

You do have rights. Lloyds should refund you, then investigate.

You don't have to faff around contacting Wonga and get them to fax anything to Lloyds.

Tell Lloyds there are unauthorised transactions on your account, you've been the victim of fraud and you want an immediate refund.

Wonga isn't really the bad guy here. They're just the innocent victim of fraud, like you. The difference is that they will probably lose out. You won't; well shouldn't.

As I mentioned early, if your debit card has been made to repay a Wonga loan you didn't take out, those details would be out there in the wild somewhere already and probably have been used anyway.

Thanks for the feed back, that was my understanding of it as well. I think Lloyds are taking approach that people are lying and just trying to avoid repayment of debts.Thats how it felt to me.

And believe me I told them so many times the things you suggest. And every time I was told this. We cant refund you the money because its not shown on your statement yet , the money is on hold pending transaction.

Once the money has left the holding account??? what ever that is, Then we can refund you in 24 hours of that occurring. I asked how long will it take to leave the holding account was told anything up to a week.

As for Wonga I know its not there intention for this to happen. But any system that lets a person take a loan out and have the funds credited to one account but debited from another account is a serious concern.

And if it was my company I know that soon as I could confirm a case of fraud I would refund the customer and compensate them for there stress. There security checks and system is not good and its the general public who suffer from this. The stress of seeing all the money you have in this world disappear is quite a experience when you have a electric meter about to run out of credit

baldri

SnowTiger wrote: »

Because the payment Wonga made was not credited to your debit card. It would have been credited to a bank account; presumably not yours.



Lloyds is obviously having a bad day. They've told you nonsense

But how can they credit a bank account with one name and address and debt my card in the same loan application ?.I did not think this was possible one person take the money the other gives it back .

Sounds like a great loan company .Was thinking of going on Wonga now and applying for a loan .You think they give me a discount interest rate?:)

Off to sleep now , thanks for the feedback