Loan Fraud - Please Help

enfield_freddy

Wonga , by default pay money into the bank (details) that have been given (checks on ownership done) NOT another bank account.


ie: you cannot have money paid into one account and set the continuous payment from another.


this is to stop the above situation happening

K0SS

smartest_smarty wrote: »

Hello all,

Please help if you can. My girlfriend received a letter through the door saying she owed Wonga over a £1000, threatening her with bailiffs, and that the debt was getting bigger - but she didn't take out this loan. She then discovered that a 'so called friend' had taken out the loan in her name. The 'so called friend' wouldn't pay the loan back - and my GF was scared not knowing what to do, so she paid it off to avoid it affecting her credit score etc.

The 'so called friend' already owed her £1000 which she lent to her personally. this friend asked for her bank details to repay the money she owed. But my GF didn't receive anything. I think she may have used the bank details to withdraw the money.

What can be done about this? She no longer speaks to that 'so called friend'. But it isn't fair that she's had to pay this money for a loan she didn't take out herself. This is fraud. But it's hard to figure out what to do when it's done by someone who we know.

If I had known at the time I would of told her not to pay it - but it's already done now. Is there a way to get the money back from Wonga?

There is also another recent credit search from Wonga in her name, so we think the same person is trying to take out a loan again in her name.

What can we do?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

It's not fraud, if you give someone permission. Also, Wonga can't send bailiffs, they have to get a court order first, unlikely they'd want a court order for such a nominal amount of money owed. It's basically threats. Also, Wonga send the money directly into the persons account, i.e. the person who is applying for the loan, they don't send the money into a 3rd parties account.

K0SS

smartest_smarty wrote: »

That's the thing, the money was never ever paid into my GF's account. The loan was taken in her name, and her bank details were used for the direct debit. But she didn't receive this loan and had no idea about it until she started receiving letters.

I might be wrong, but Wonga don't take payments via direct debit, they take them with the Automatic Payment Authority. Which is usually link the the bank account where they send the money. I think somone in all of this, somewhere is being dishonest.

She should report her card lost/stolen. That will prevent anyone from using her card for online transactions, and more importantly for anyone to take money from her account.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

smartest_smarty wrote: »

I doubt she would want to report it to the police to avoid causing problems.

Too late for that; there's already a problem.

K0SS

smartest_smarty wrote: »

She's being 100% honest, she has no need to lie.

It wasn't just bank details that were used. Her name and address were used too.

So what? You don't understand what fraud is. It's not fraud if you give someone permission to use your bank account to have money deposited into it, and 8 months down the line claim its fraud, not to mention that after she had noticed it was "fraud" she paid the outstanding debt, who does that?

DCFC79

OP something doesn't sit right here, why not get the truth and post back on here when you have the full facts.

" I think she may have used the bank details to withdraw the money." the friend would have needed the card and pin to withdraw oney from the account to do this or she would need appropriate ID to withdraw the money.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

Your girlfriend is foolish. She needs to report this theft and take the necessary steps to prevent the same fraud being perpetrated again.

This is assuming she's telling the truth - and I don't think she is. Not even the most naive person would pay the debt of someone who has fraudulently borrowed against their name.

Apples2

smartest_smarty wrote: »

She was moving on, but there has been another recent credit search from the same company. So wouldn't like it to happen again.

But she won't report it to anyone, hence the suggestion she needs to forget about it.
If she isn't prepared to report it, nothing can stop it happening everyday.

I'm with the others though, it seems highly doubtful you are getting the full story.

Thrugelmir

smartest_smarty wrote: »

She's being 100% honest, she has no need to lie.

When it comes to monetary matters people do the strangest things. Often in self denial. Refusal to follow the correct channels for reporting the fraud accusation are a clear sign that matters aren't as they appear. After many decades in finance. I can say that the signs are surprisingly obvious. As money matters are very black and white with few shades of grey.

James_B.

smartest_smarty wrote: »

That makes sense in terms of repayments, but when your home address is used as well and you receive threatening letters from bailiffs, it's not so easy to just move address. Also your credit score and history gets damaged - because of someone else's actions.

Then we come back to the advice that you were given above, contact the police.

If she won't do that, then she's stuck. You wanted a solution, it's been given, you rejected it, so it's not clear what you now want.