Unauthorised / Fraudulent Transactions - RBS - Advice Needed

SimpyTimpy

Afternoon Everyone,

The briefly summarise the situation:

Just after Christmas I went through my bank statements to find that a number of transactions (33 in total) had been paid by VISA Debit from my Current Account with RBS to several different merchants (all gaming/gambling related) to a total value of ~£2,300. These debits first began in October and have gradually increased in time.

I called the RBS Fraud Team, reported the transactions as fraudulent and had my card cancelled. It appears at first that the Fraud Case went through a computer system decision system and the case was referred (no immediate refund) and would be reviewed over the next 5 working days. A couple of days later, I called for an update to be told that it had been rejected because the merchants reported that much of the personal data on file for their accounts matched with my banking details.

Following this, I stated my intention to appeal and registered the transactions with ActionFraud and the local Police to get a Crime Reference Number. I then rang to appeal the case, gave these details over and a lady on the phone informed me that a transaction was attempted after my card had been cancelled, too - but was not authorised.

I was told that I would be contacted within 5 working days with an update, but the appeal could take up to 56 days in total to complete. I'm expecting a call from the Complaints Handler tomorrow or Monday. When I spoke with RBS today, they informed me that the appeal had begun, but no work had been done on it as of yet.

My personal situation is that, due to the funds being stolen, I have been unable to pay rent, I am struggling with funds day to day and I have been charged £100 (so far) in bank fees. I've read up quite a bit over the past week to understand my rights in these circumstances, and I believe that:

"The bank must refund the payment immediately unless it has evidence that there is a reason to refuse a refund, as explained below. This is so it can look into what happened, but it must do this as quickly as possible."

Why a refund can be refused
Your bank can only refuse a refund for an unauthorised payment if:

• it can prove you authorised the transaction – though your bank cannot simply say that use of your password, card and PIN conclusively proves you authorised a payment
• it can prove you are at fault because you acted fraudulently or, because you deliberately, or with ‘gross negligence’, failed to protect the details of your card, PIN or password in a way that allowed the transaction, or
• you told your bank about an unauthorised payment 13 months or more after the date it left your account, so make sure you contact the bank as soon as possible

Of the above, only the second point could possibly apply as none of the transactions were chip and PIN and all earlier than 13 months.

I assume RBS haven't refunded because personal details on the gaming accounts matched my own and they believe that would mean gross negligence on my part - something I fiercely disagree with. I spoke with the gaming companies and I was unable to get into the accounts as some of the "security questions" they asked didn't match what they had on file.

My questions are:

- What can I do to quicken the process from here?
- Is there a way I can escalate the issue to get a refund immediately?
- The bank must investigate "as quickly as possible" and my view is that 5 working days to acknowledge the appeal following 5 working days since the original claim is not as quickly as possible, and there is no guarantee the investigation wont last as long as 56 days.

I understand the banks need to investigate, but there were about £600 worth of transactions pending when I initially reported the fraud. It goes without saying that I didn't authorise them, and no-one to my knowledge would have had access to my card details nor the motive/need to spend £2,000.

Any help would be a huge boost, this is really stressing me out at the moment.

grumbler

SimpyTimpy wrote: »

I assume RBS haven't refunded because personal details on the gaming accounts matched my own and they believe that would mean gross negligence on my part - something I fiercely disagree with.

You are right. This doesn't mean anything.

I spoke with the gaming companies and I was unable to get into the accounts as some of the "security questions" they asked didn't match what they had on file.

It makes no sense to make fraudulent deposits to gambling sites if one can't make withdrawals by other means than the card used for deposits. Point this out to your bank and the fact that withdrawals were most likely made by other means that can't be traced to you. I think the bank can easily get this information from the gambling sites.

"Most likely" - because it's not uncommon to "chip dump" stolen funds to an accomplice: http://pokerterms.com/chip-dumping.html

My questions are:

- What can I do to quicken the process from here?

Escalate your complaint to the FOS:

If you don't feel the business has handled your complaint fairly, we can look into the problem for you.
We can help you complete the complaint form that gives us your details – just phone us on 0300 123 9 123 or 0800 023 4567. Or you can download the form below.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

meer53

Do you have accounts with any of the companies concerned ?

SimpyTimpy

grumbler wrote: »

You are right. This doesn't mean anything.
It makes no sense to make fraudulent deposits to gambling sites if one can't make withdrawals by other means than the card used for deposits. Point this out to you bank and the fact that withdrawals were most likely made by other means that can't be traced to you. I think the bank can easily get this information from the gambling sites.

"Most likely" - because it's not uncommon to "chip dump" stolen funds to an accomplice:

Escalate your complaint to the FOS:

Thanks Grumbler,

It's such a frustrating process because I can understand that RBS must grit their teeth when it comes to Fraud refunds, but from the start of the process to finish it's quite an interrogation. From the initial claim being rejected I was asked to provide "new evidence" for the appeal. It's quite difficult to provide evidence for something that I didn't authorise. I feel as though their policy is to reject all claims as default rather than approve.

Questions such as "How did they get your details", "The gaming sites have the same details we have", "Do you have evidence to prove that you didn't authorise these transactions" - they all make it feel as though the onus is on myself to prove I didn't authorise the transactions, however all the legislation and codes I can see online seem to suggest the responsibility is with the bank to prove that I did authorise them.

Considering it is a criminal offence to fraudulently dispute transactions, it feels as though they are taking this stance because they are unlikely to investigate the fraud if they refunded. What they don't seem to understand is that, not only do I want my funds back but I also want justice to whomever committed the fraud.

SimpyTimpy

meer53 wrote: »

Do you have accounts with any of the companies concerned ?

Hi Meer,

Not of my own making, no - the ones that had been opened in my name have now been closed apparently, too.

Hellzapoppin

It's not for you to prove that you didn't make the transactions, the responsibility lies with RBS to prove that you did make them.