Fraud on my bank account - CIFAS marker HELP!!

avah1982

I noticed some transactions on my bank account which I didn't recognise; this was 8 months ago. I contacted my bank and they disputed the transactions with the merchants. Some of the merchants completed refunds (I assume because they also had reason to believe that the transactions were not processed by me) but some merchants provided details of the transactions to my bank (not to me) and my bank deemed the transactions to be genuine. They therefore refused to refund the monies.

I duly removed my money from the account and proceeded to use one of my other bank accounts (with another provider); this was because I no longer trusted the 'fraud' bank to protect my account.

However, I left the 'fraud' account open because the only way to close it was by visiting the branch and I live about 35 miles from the nearest branch. There was no money in it so I knew it couldn't be used by a fraudster.

6 months after the fact, I received a letter from the 'fraud' bank account provider stating that my account was being closed - this was fine as far as I was concerned and I assumed it was simply because I was no longer using the account.

However, I have now received a letter from my current bank account provider informing me that they will be closing my bank account in 30 days and that I must visit the branch to withdraw all funds held with the bank, in cash. I would need to take full ID with me to do so. There was no reason given for their decision so I visited my branch to discuss this. I am friendly with the staff in the branch but they appeared embarrassed to not be able to tell me the reason for their decision - they strongly inferred that I should check my details with CIFAS.

I therefore sent CIFAS a SAR; the outcome of which showed that the 'fraud' account provider had recently added a CIFAS marker to the database in my name and address. The marker was a CAT 6, which having looked this up appears to relate to 'First Party Fraud'. I immediately contacted the bank in question asking why they had recorded this information and was informed that they believed I had attempted fraud on my bank account in relation to the disputed transactions from 8 months ago. They said that 'Disputes Fraud' is becoming increasingly more common, whereby people order goods online and then claim never to have received them or that the transaction was not made by them, thus claiming a refund. They therefore had a duty to record their suspicions on CIFAS to protect other financial institutions. I asked how they could make such an assumption without them having reported the matter to the police and why they had only taken this decision 8 months after the fact. Their response was that they do not require 'actual proof' of fraud and only need provide evidence of 'reasonable probability' and it was their opinion that I pose 'sufficient risk to other financial institutions' and therefore would not be removing the marker. They said the marker was only added recently due to the reason for the account closure but they would not confirm why they never took this action 8 months ago.

At the end of the day, it is me who has lost my money, it was me who reported the matter to not only the bank but also Action Fraud (who supplied me with a crime reference number) and it is now me who is left without banking facilities through no fault of my own. The 'Fraud' account provider has suffered no financial loss and didn't report it or me to the police.

I was told by Action Fraud that my case would be recorded but basically not to hold my breath about the police actually investigating it as it was minor in comparison to other crimes!!!

I'm now in a situation where I don't know what to do next. I've been told that whilst this marker remains on CIFAS I will have no chance of obtaining a bank account with any provider (not even a basic one). Apart from this marker, I have no debts or any other reasons which would prevent me from getting a banking facility - I've never even had an overdraft on any of my accounts.

I don't know what to do.

How do I get paid?

How do I pay bills?

How do I live?!?!?!

Can anyone help me with some advice?

Thrugelmir

avah1982 wrote: »

They said that 'Disputes Fraud' is becoming increasingly more common, whereby people order goods online and then claim never to have received them or that the transaction was not made by them, thus claiming a refund.

If the merchant dispatched the goods to the account address. A fact they can evidence. Then the spotlight will fall on you.

Archi_Bald

Sounds a pretty horrific situation to find yourself in if you are innocent. You could try one or all of the following:

1. write to the CEO of the bank which initiated the CIFAS marker - who are the bank, btw?
2. write to your MP
3. write to the BBC 4 "Money Box" folks
4. write to Jessica at the Telegraph
5. go to your local CAB for advice

You need to provide an answer though why you accepted some of the charges.

meer53

If the transactions were fraud, and you accepted them on your account, then your old bank would assume that they were your transactions. Why didn't you take it further when the bank told you they weren't going to refund you ? By accepting this decision you've admitted to the fraud. It will be very difficult now to argue otherwise.

10pence

Always under the impression that banks can only add date to CIFAS if they have enough evidence to prove in a court of law that someone is guilty of fraud. However, lately it would seem the banks have become a law unto themselves as using fraud to cover their mistakes or get rid of business they no longer wants.

(Edit: checked and found it here under section 6: https://www.cifas.org.uk/internal_fraud_faqs)

This means this is wrong:

Their response was that they do not require 'actual proof' of fraud and only need provide evidence of 'reasonable probability' and it was their opinion that I pose 'sufficient risk to other financial institutions' and therefore would not be removing the marker

And is grounds for a complaint to get it removed, which will have to be to the filing bank as CIFAS won't remove them, though I'd be tempted to file it with FOS and get them to send it to the bank in question.
Obviously, you'll have to prove your innocence in all this too, to support the complaint.

InsideInsurance

As others have said, the fact you have claimed something was fraudulent, the banks had evidence from the merchant to the contrary and you've then paid up is evidence of reasonable probability that the transactions were never fraudulent and thus your claiming they were fraudulent is actually the fraud hence you now find yourself with a First Party fraud indicator

As to the timescales? Banks are slow and often have backlogs. The initial chargeback is dealt with one team and only passed to the true counter fraud department if there are disputes over the fraud.

Assuming your werent committing fraud then you need to log a complaint to the bank and be able to justify why you were willing to pay for things you say you never ordered/ received

starM

Which is the "fraud" bank account provider?

giblet10

I'm interested to know which bank this is..I'm going to hazard a guess at Barclays or Natwest as this type of !!!! is their sort of thing.

You won't get anywhere with CIFAS - as I have previously written here they are a law unto themselves and can wreck lives with the information they peddle. One click of a button and they can exclude any individual from the financial services industry.

You need to follow other guidance - write to your MP, perhaps see a solicitor or CAB or write to BBC Money Box as they have previously taken up issues with the wretched CIFAS and actually got things sorted out. CIFAS are very media averse so they do tend to sit up and help when their name is being dragged through the mud.

Gentoo365

The bank would be legally obliged to report the suspected fraud, if it did not do so it could be sanctioned by the regulator.

Someone mentioned above that banks are becoming 'a law unto themselves', this is something that banks have been obligated to do and some banks have challenged this on the basis that they should not be acting as police. However the regulators have decided that banks should play an active part in crime prevention so they will continue to do so.

You can request more details from the bank which placed the marker, and see if you can weight the probability back in your direction. Currently they have evidence from a retailer, yet from you all they have is a customer that made an accusation of fraud, but then withdrew money and ceased contact.

It is unfortunate, as (from what you say) you are innocent. Yet so is the retailer and the bank. The actual criminal is the person who is getting away with their crime. Everybody else is just doing what they are obligated to do.

It is unfortunately your responsibility to provide evidence to the bank that you could not have made the transaction. All you need to do is balance the probabilities back in your favour, so even a few witness statements that can confirm you were in a different location, or a facebook update, or something.

At the moment the bank have not much to go on, if you give them enough to create doubt then they are allowed to remove the marker.

Other option is to complain about the data being held being inaccurate, and therefore it should be removed under the Data Protection Act. However this would require the same level of proof really.