Santander have froze my account

Goldmann1004

Last week I received a cheque for over £7000 from HRMC for a tax rebate. I put it in my account at Santander and waited for funds to clear. However on Wednesday of this week I received a phone call from the fraud department from Santander asking me to prove this cheque was genuine and then asked me why I had received it. I had no problem in answering the ridiculous questions and have taken into branch the accompanying letter that arrived with the cheque along with other forms of ID. The branch manager was as confused as me why it had been flagged up however faxed all documents across, I was then told someone would be in touch.
Anyway last night I was about to purchase train tickets for my card to be denied which was confusing as there are cleared funds in my account not including the cheque. I rang the bank to be told all my accounts had been frozen pending the authenticity of this cheque. My question is, is this normal behaviour and what do I do as they have left me with no money.

robatwork

I have to ask these somewhat ridiculous questions to clarify.

Are you 100% sure the HMRC cheque and letter are genuine? Were you expecting the rebate? Was the cheque correct ie. date, your proper name etc?

In_For_A_Penny_2

Its not uncommon in my experience and obviously designed to tackle money laundering. The system is largely automated whereby unusual transactions are flagged up. The same thing happens with larger electronic transfers. Interestingly, I had a similar issue when trying to lodge an HMRC cheque, although for a relatively small amount so there does seem to be a specific issue there.

It is usually just a matter of a phone call so I'm not sure why it is taken so long. . .

grumbler

Goldmann1004 wrote: »

...My question is, is this normal behaviour and what do I do as they have left me with no money.

Unfortunately, this sort of behaviour became a norm nowadays after stupid AML regulatiouns gave carte blanche to paranoiacs running AML departments in banks.

The only you can do is to complain. The idiots can take their time to verify the legitimacy of the cheque, but they have no grounds whatsoever for leaving you without any means of living.

Goldmann1004

Hi, thanks for the replies. Yes cheque is 100% genuine. I have complained but ive been told the fraud department do not speak to customers.

MARTYM8`

Goldmann1004 wrote: »

Hi, thanks for the replies. Yes cheque is 100% genuine. I have complained but ive been told the fraud department do not speak to customers.

I find what has happened to you quite ridiculous.

Its a cheque from the UK government - and will presumably clearly state HMRC on it.

Does Santander believe the UK government is involved in money laundering - well given the tens of billions it has had off them in cheap money via QE/Funding for Lending it may well be correct.;);)

The fact they won't even talk to you is even worse - as surely you can explain why you got this refund?

I know we need money laundering checks - but for payments from the government? Really?

NotRichAtAll

My question is, is this normal behaviour and what do I do as they have left me with no money.

open another account with another bank and keep a few quid in it for situations like this. hopefully it will not happen again to you.

grumbler

MARTYM8` wrote: »

I find what has happened to you quite ridiculous.

Its a cheque from the UK government - and will presumably clearly state HMRC on it.

Does Santander believe the UK government is involved in money laundering

I find ridiculous what you are saying.
Cheque fraud is one of the oldest financial crimes.
A cheque can be forged and had written 'HMRC' on it by the fraudster(s). Everything is possible with modern technology.
A genuine cheque can be copied and multiple copies deposited to various banks simultaneously, thus making checks even more difficult.
Etc.
Etc.

Getting suspicious about a big cheque is a norm.
Freezing an account because of these suspicious is ridiculous.

Archi_Bald

I would go into Branch and not leave until they gave me some money.

I would then als raise a complaint and demand compensation for all the hassle and stress.

enthusiasticsaver

I find that appalling service and I am with Santander as well. If that happened to me I would go into a branch and insist they sort it out there and then and give you some money.

MARTYM8`

grumbler wrote: »

I find ridiculous what you are saying.
Cheque fraud is one of the oldest financial crimes.
A cheque can be forged and had written 'HMRC' on it by the fraudster(s). Everything is possible with modern technology.
A genuine cheque can be copied and multiple copies deposited to various banks simultaneously, thus making checks even more difficult.
Etc.
Etc.

Getting suspicious about a big cheque is a norm.
Freezing an account because of these suspicious is ridiculous.

Yes - but the OP has explained the source to the bank and has written correspondence about it from the HMRC to back it up. HMRC surely must use a limited number of sort codes/accounts for their cheque runs - so its hardly rocket science?

Instead of freezing their account entirely over a £7k cheque maybe the fraud team should be checking this out via HMRC first?

Still I always find this money laundering lark amusing when we have overseas investors spending tens of millions buying up London property - does anyone ever check out the real sources of all those oligarchs funds?

As the saying goes - steal £100 you will get locked up steal billions and nothing will happen.