[Natwest] Money taken via ATM & Online Banking (Update: Solved)

pdc200

Hi guys, I am writing on behalf of my step-father. This morning he logged on to his Natwest banking account to see that £300 had been stolen from his account yesterday (Sunday) via ATM and on the same day a Online Banking Transaction for £500 was also stolen. He phoned Natwest today immediately and got his card cancelled and they froze the account after they noticed the suspicious activity.

They asked him to come in but he was at work so he'll be going there in the morning. They also said they won't actually begin investigating the missing money until he's turned up at his local branch. We are worried that with all the time that has passed, the thief may have sent the money to numerous locations or withdrawn it from wherever it was sent.

How likely is he to get his money back? I've done a bit of reading regarding money not being returned due to "Gross Negligence" but what exactly does that mean? He believes he may have been caught with a phishing scam after getting a dodgy email claiming to be Natwest. They asked for some of his information which he typed in but came and asked me if it was safe to do. I told him no so he shut the site down immediately. This was roughly 2-3 weeks ago.

He is worried that Natwest won't refund him due to his PIN being used (How else could they use the ATM?) even if he can prove he wasn't in the location it was taken at the time. We have no idea if being scammed by a fake email would be classed as "Gross Negligence" but it still doesn't explain the thief being able to withdraw money from a cash point. I assumed that could only happen if a card was cloned, in which case, how did they get online to steal more money?

Hope this has been in depth enough and hopefully a lot will be sorted when he's at the bank tomorrow but we are incredibly stressed right now. That entire batch of money was about to be used to pay for our housing rent.

GingerFurball_2

NatWest allow you to withdraw emergency cash from an ATM with a code.

I'd hazard a guess that your dad's internet banking details were compromised by this phishing website. This will then have given said fraudster enough info on your dad's account to pose as your dad and get a code.

Alternatively, I believe the NatWest mobile app also allows you to withdraw cash without your card. Fraudster downloads app, uses your dad's details, voila.

pdc200

Yeah I guess that sounds about right then. What are the chances he'll get his money back?

PeacefulWaters

He will almost certainly be refunded.

wacko911

They want him to come in and give them enough information so they are not liable and he is. I would be very careful what I say. They will only have one motive for the 'meeting' and that is to make him to blame.

TBH based on what you have already told the bank it looks like they are going to try and blame him anyhow.

Good luck, I would go with him and make sure he is very careful as to what he says.

Chipesh

The bank have to show that you were grossly negligent it's not for you to prove you weren't.

Gross negligence is usually something like giving your PIN away by writing it on your card.

pdc200

Do you think it is worth going with him? There isn't much else to say in terms of events. Money was stolen from his account and he believes they got his details from the fake Natwest email.

He is going there in a couple of hours and intends to bring print outs of the email he received. He did send the information to the fraud team after I told him not to enter his details on the site a few weeks ago so Natwest should have it on record that he did get a dodgy email.

meer53

How would they have got the details from an email if he shut the website down when you told him to ? More likely to be someone he knows. Is the ATM local to your step father ?

pdc200

Unfortunately he did type in some information as I mentioned beforehand. He didn't hit "next" but I believe the information was being recorded the moment he typed his name on to the scam page, I just wish he asked me sooner. Things like this go over his head a lot.

It can't be someone he knows, he hasn't written any of his information for a "friend" to find, unless one of his friends just so happens to run a phishing website. He doesn't actually know, I need to clarify if he was looking through the Natwest phone app or if he logged in via his PC. Do Natwest tell you where money was withdrawn from? He can't check now as the account has been disabled until the matter is resolved

theEnd

I think they'll give him his money back.

I drunkenly gave a minicab driver my card and my pin number (via a fake card reader) and smile refunded me straight away.

pdc200

I hope that is the case, I don't want to be one of the horror stories that have to do a run around for months because the Natwest say his PIN was used. We don't actually know if the PIN was used though since there are a few ways to get money out from Natwest without actually having it. Guess he'll find out when he goes to meet them later