Credit Card cloned - Bank asking for repayment

mercuryrev_2

Hello, my brother is in a pickle after his credit card was cloned and the cloners were sly, only taking £20 at a time. Over a couple of months, they drained his account which had recently had a ppi repayment so he didn't bother to check his statements when they came through, assuming that he had plenty of credit in his account.
Natwest are accusing him of fraud because he didn't report the scam until a couple of months down the line and he is now getting phonecalls, hassling him for repayments and threatening bailiffs.
Natwest's own fraud team advised him not to make any repayments until the case is investigated as that would be seen as an admission of guilt.
A friend who worked for a credit card fraud team said that it is the bank's responsibility to prove my brother's guilt, rather than his responsibility to prove his innocence.
The withdrawals were from a cashpoint 40 minutes drive from where my brother lives and on at least one occasion, he was 250 miles away for the day in question.
Any advice would be much appreciated, he has already obtained a crime number, and has contacted the Financial Ombudsman.

Voyager2002

It sounds as if he has already had good advice and is responding sensibly.

I suggest that he asks the NatWest fraud team if they could give him a date by which their investigation will be concluded, and then tells the NatWest collections department (the people pestering him for payment) that he will deal with it then, and not before. And as is his right he should tell them that he will discuss the debt in writing and does not wish to receive telephone calls: his letter to them should state clearly that he will not take any action until the fraud investigation reaches a conclusion.

meer53

It doesn't sound like a cloned card to me. A fraudster with a counterfeit card wouldn't draw £20 at a time. They would take the maximum they could until it was noticed. It sounds like someone has had access to the card and PIN.

Natwest will be able to tell if the chip in the card has been read by the ATM too. If it has, then it won't be a cloned card which maybe another reason why they aren't willing to refund. Ask your brother exactly what Natwest have said to him.

The FOS won't get involved until Natwest have investigated it fully and issued a response to your brother.