Please help: mums account had money taken!

msx999

I'm helping my mum recover some lost money from her current account. She only notiiced this two weeks ago, but she looked at her statement and noticed amounts of around £5/7.50 taken out of her account every few days. I looked up the reference on google and found out it was a lottery company (not the national lottery).

The total amount is £489.50.

I called up the lottery company, and was told that an online application was made on the 26th July 2013. The person I spoke to said that the name, address, and debit card details were given correctly. They are not returning the money as they said all details were correct. I asked for an IP address of the initial sign up, one was given, and a google lookup shows a postcode in the same town as us, but we know nobody living on in that particular area.

We then tried the bank, who said they will investigate, but unfortunately received a letter which states

'The retailer XXX XXX XXXXXX has confirmed that the personal details held by them in relation to the disputed transactions are your own and therefore this matter is a dispute between yourself and the retailer.'

There is an option to appeal.

We have even tried the police who put us in touch with the Action Fraud service, they gave us a reference number, and then told us we would be fully reimbursed by the lotto company as it was an unauthorised transaction. The lotto company has spoken to Action Fraud. Action Fraud don't want to persue this case further.

The financial conduct authority were useless they said to go back to the bank and speak with them.

The lotto company after much talking to offered £75 as a goodwill gesture.

Here are the facts:
1) My mum has never signed up to the company, she is very good with computers/internet etc., Uses paypal/ebay and thats about it. She is not good at arguing her case, which is why I'm doing it on her behalf. She is willing to accept the loss, I am not.

2) The amount of time, she, my dad, and my mum have spent online, on the phone, to various different 0870/0845 numbers etc. has added up to what I think is a considerable amount. Who do we go about making a claim. I would estimate this amount to be £300. I'm not trying to make a quick buck here, but my parents have been genuinely upset about this, and there has a been a lot of stress from it.

3) The issue with the IP address. IS this a route worth pursueing?

Thanks for taking the time to read, if it would help to name the company/bank involved (assuming I am allowed to do so), then I can.

T

robatwork

msx999 wrote: »

I asked for an IP address of the initial sign up, one was given, and a google lookup shows a postcode in the same town as us, but we know nobody living on in that particular area.

I don't believe they gave you an ip address, or that you were able to look up the postcode of the user.

How did you look it up?

msx999

They did!

I typed xx.xx.xx.xxx lookup into google and got this.
cant post links...

Archi_Bald

I don't think you / your mum have much of a case for a refund. Your main efforts should be spent on stopping the payments if you have not already done that.

Assuming you have been given the IP address which signed up for the service: the fact that the IP address doesn't point at your mum's address basically means nothing at all. The IP address I use right now is

IP Address: xx.xxx.xx.xxxx
City: London
State/Region: england
Country Code: gb
Postal Code: wc2n 5rj
ISP: Bt Public Internet Service

I am about 150 miles from London, and my post code is most definitely not WC2N 5RJ - - - nothing anywhere even remotely close.

Use whatismyip.com to find out about your IP.

An ISP is, however, able to tell which IP address which of their subscribers used at what time. They may or may not provide this information to anyone who hasn't got a warrant, but you could try.

You say "name, address, and debit card details were given correctly". This must include the full card number, expiry date and the 3-digit security code on the back. So the likelihood that somebody was legitimately (i.e. with her knowledge) in possession of your mum's card at the time is incredibly high, particularly since she had not reported it as lost or stolen at the time, or since (if she did, you didn't mention it).

Also, since the address held by the lottery company means any winnings would go to your mum, there's nothing that suggests anyone else would have benefited from using her details to sign up for a lottery. Much more likely that your mum did sign up herself, either inadvertently, or she is too embarrassed to admit she did. The other option is that someone who has access to her card (with or without her knowledge), has signed up on her behalf.

Whichever way I look at it, I can't see how you have a case for reimbursement, sorry.

meer53

Why is your mum willing to accept the loss ?

Could there be anyone else who could have used the card ? Maybe someone else at your mums address or who has access to the card ?

POPPYOSCAR

You have not got the money back , have a fight on your hands to get it and you are already thinking about compensation?

I would be worried how someone else got hold of her debit card details more than anything else.

grumbler

Is the IP address static or dynamic?
Even if it's dynamic, it's likely not to change frequently and the ISP will possibly be able to give the history.

System

grumbler wrote: »

Is the IP address static or dynamic?
Even if it's dynamic, it's likely not to change frequently and the ISP will possibly be able to give the history.

Only with a court order

innovate

msx999 wrote: »

We have even tried the police who put us in touch with the Action Fraud service, they gave us a reference number, and then told us we would be fully reimbursed by the lotto company as it was an unauthorised transaction. The lotto company has spoken to Action Fraud. Action Fraud don't want to persue this case

T

What reason have Action Fraud given your mum for not wanting to pursue the case?

innovate

!!!!!! wrote: »

Only with a court order

I suppose you could pay £10 and request a SAR?

http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information?hidecookiesbanner=true

I reckon it would take ages to arrive , and who knows whether they would indeed list all the IP addresses allocated to an address in the last x months.

Worth asking the IP though, may be they will tell the account holder which IP address they used on date xyz without paying a tenner.

grumbler

!!!!!! wrote: »

Only with a court order

Why do I need a court order to know my history (if it's available)? Makes no sense to me.