Barclays Fraud

sarah_barker

Hi,

I'm not sure if this is the right place but I'm hoping someone can help.

This morning I checked my Barclays online banking to find that over £100 was missing from my account.

I quickly contacted Barclays who advised that £120 had been paid out over separate £10 transactions to a company called Alchemy Bet Ltd. I advised that I have never heard of such a company and that I did not authorise the transactions.

Barclays put me on hold for a couple of minutes, I presumed to collate the transaction details or cancel my card or something but when came back they advised there is nothing that can be done as I have previously used gambling sites.

It was at this point I was made aware that Alchemy Bet Led was the umbrella company of a mobile betting site. Again I advised that this wasn't my doing but they argued that as I had historical gambling transactions (I'm talking £5, £10 deposits for football bets) it is likely I have authorised these but the payments are being deducted under a different company name.

Despite me advising that I have set limits and there is no way £120 could be taken in one sitting I have been told to dispute it with the company in question or raise a charge back once it appears on my statement which can take weeks to resolve.

Having been the victim of fraud previously, working for the ombudsman (albeit not the financial, however have worked in FS complaints), and having a partner who works in fraud I am pretty certain they should be a little bit more concerned about what has happened.

Is it common practice now that if you have any even remotely related transactions then you will be fobbed off with a charge back claim as opposed to a fraud investigation?

pmduk

I suspect it may just be a rogue member of staff. I'd call back and start the formal complaint process today.

longtermplanner

Also report the matter at Action Fraud http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud. The police are very unlikely to investigate it, but you will get a crime reference number which you can then report to Barclays.

sarah_barker

I rang back and spoke to customer services and the Barclays charge back team who also said because I recently made a £5 payment to paddypower and another to William Hill for £10, they are unable to raise it for fraud investigation (i.e. provide a temporary refund until the investigation is concluded) due to Visa's recent changes regarding gambling sites (?!!).

I was nearly in tears, not for the fact the money is missing but that Barclays simply did not care whatsoever. They advised they had cancelled my card and I could pick up replacement today from my branch but what's the point if they're aren't going to take their customer's concerns seriously?

karlie88

sarah_barker wrote: »

I rang back and spoke to customer services and the Barclays charge back team who also said because I recently made a £5 payment to paddypower and another to William Hill for £10, they are unable to raise it for fraud investigation (i.e. provide a temporary refund until the investigation is concluded) due to Visa's recent changes regarding gambling sites (?!!).

I was nearly in tears, not for the fact the money is missing but that Barclays simply did not care whatsoever. They advised they had cancelled my card and I could pick up replacement today from my branch but what's the point if they're aren't going to take their customer's concerns seriously?

Which number are your ringing OP?

Have you tried ringing Barclays Fraud CS?

http://www.barclays.co.uk/Helpsupport/Contactusaboutfraud/P1242560037908

Thrugelmir

sarah_barker wrote: »

I was nearly in tears, not for the fact the money is missing but that Barclays simply did not care whatsoever.

I suspect calls such as yours are extremely common. Hence Barclays initial reaction. There's no evidence of fraud. Alchemy Bet Ltd are an established Company so unlikely to be conducting fraudulent transactions for £10.

sarah_barker

I have had a look into the company and think they own the Pocket Fruity site. I recall having a Pocket Fruity account a good few months ago now but haven't used it recently.

I managed to log into my old e-mail address linked the the account and there they all were, confirmation after confirmation that the transactions had been processed.

I can only assume that someone has been able to gain access to either my e-mail account or the Pocket Fruity account (more likely).

I have raised a dispute with Pocket Fruity now as I have no idea how this has managed to happen.

Thrugelmir, are you suggesting that I made the transactions? :S

colsten

Seems the transactions were made by somebody who

1. knew you have an account at Pocket Fruity
2. knew your id and password for Pocket Fruity
3. knew the[STRIKE] PIN [/STRIKE] security code for your debit card (with which the deposits were made at Pocket Fruity, assuming the debit card number is stored in your Pocket Fruity account)

That's a large number of co-incidences by any measure. It might be somebody close to you, or you might have a keylogger on your PC. In light of the facts, it's gonna be tough on you to prove to Pocket Fruity or Barclays that the transactions weren't made with your knowledge, or enabled through your negligence.

You haven't mentioned that you asked Barclays to stop your card, in order to prevent further unauthorised use of your card. Did you omit to mention this?

Thrugelmir

sarah_barker wrote: »

Thrugelmir, are you suggesting that I made the transactions? :S

No. I'm merely observing that banks receive many calls that attempt to deceive. So only right that due process is followed.

eddddy

Hi sarah_barker

Barclays will be looking at it like this:

Either...

1) A fraudster set up a continuous payment authority (CPA) to on your debit card to Pocket Fruity. This would be fraud, and Barclays should refund while they investigate.

Or...

2) You set up a CPA on your debit card to Pocket Fruity. Pocket Fruity have taken payments on the CPA which you disagree with. This is not fraud, it is a contractual dispute between you and Pocket Fruity. In the case of a contractual dispute, you can request a chargeback. (But theoretically, Pocket Fruity could then sue you, if they felt you genuinely owed them the money.)


Barclays seem to be treating it as option 2.

pmduk

Would a fraudster actually need to know the card's PIN?