Am I entitled to my money?

Emily2303

Hi guys, sorry firstly I'm new to this forum stuff so excuse me if I drills on, I'm just looking for some views and advice.

So it started over the weekend when I went onto my online banking to check on things when I noticed lots of pending transactions to "sky vegas" that I hadn't made I'd been out all week and I certainly would never spend nearly 400 pounds on the site, the last time I logged on was last year and the most I'd ever deposit was a fiver.

So I phoned the company and they basically said I was lying and no third party had tried to access my account? and that there was nothing they could do. I asked them to close the account down and got off the phone before my temper lead me to say anything nasty.

I phoned my bank this morning as they were closed over the weekend to see if they could stop the payment going out and they said no but have issued me a new card and pin. They said I need to get a document from sky vegas claiming that I never authorised the payment and must of been hacked and that then they could then refund the money.

I emailed sky vegas as I did not want them laughing at me over the phone again and at least this way I had prove of contact, this was this morning explaining what the bank said and I've still not had a reply. I have also emailed some ombudsmen but it says it can take up to a week to hear back.

What are my rights? Will I ever see my money again?

I'm afraid sky vegas will just ignore me, I'm expecting my first baby and me and my partner are trying to get our first morgage so losing this money is quite a big deal and it has also left me overdrawn and probably with bank charges to now.

Any help and advice will be appreciated, thank you!!

dj1471

While in theory your bank should refund any fraudulent transactions you have to persuade them that they're fraudulent, especially since it's a gambling site of which you are a member. This means you first have to persuade Sky Vegas that you didn't make the transactions.

Let me be the first to ask the obvious question... Have you spoken to your partner about this issue? Could they have accessed your account?

In any case I would send a letter to Sky Vegas requesting the log-in history for your account including the date, time and IP address for each log-in. In the meantime go to https://www.whatismyip.com and make a note of your current IP address for later comparison. The results may or may not be conclusive, but if the logins have come from overseas for example it gives you a pretty watertight case.

daytona0

dj1471 wrote: »

Let me be the first to ask the obvious question... Have you spoken to your partner about this issue? Could they have accessed your account?

Yes, that is the first place I'd be sniffing around. The second place is immediate family. I'm not going to suggest that you accuse them straight away, but those questions need to be asked! If your partner is a secret gambler then you've got a MUCH BIGGER problem on your hands than the one presented to you right now, especially with the kid on the way. For a gambler, you being out all week is a licence for a 400 pound binge. Please also note that this has taken place whilst you were away.... proper fraud could have happened 5 minutes after you had last checked your online banking, or when you and your partner were enjoying a candlelit dinner. There is something slightly fishy with the timing but it may be a coincidence...


Secondly, you need to log into your account and check all of your recent transactions. Sky bet are generally not too bad, and they'll have info such as IP addresses, logon times and deposit amounts. You need to check your accounts for suspicious activity, and ask for additional information from them (IP address, logon time etc). If there are no recent deposits on YOUR account then contact sky and let them know that you believe that fraud has taken place, and ask them to locate all accounts using the same card as you. ALSO get onto your bank again and advise that you have been a victim of fraud, and ask for them to contact Sky. As for what you do with GENUINE fraud, I'm not sure (because 9/10 times these aren't legitimate fraud claims, or they are family-related).

If this is all traceable back to your household then you've got some heavy salad on the table which needs dealing with. You also probably won't get a single penny, because they have no proof that said user did not have your consent (or that you weren't physically there - which is somewhat easier for you to disprove in fairness).

One other option is that you are a lying compulsive gambler who has just spewed a significant amount of money, and now you are trying to claw it back. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here, but one cannot exclude that possibility.


Another suggestion is for you to check your bank statement closely. Look out for:

1. Times you have paid using your card in a store/petrol station. This is a likely source of card cloning (cash machines aren't usually targeted). A lack of such transactions would suggest a lower possibility of genuine fraud.

2. Tester payments prior to large sums. People who do not know your bank balance may try and deposit 5 or 10 pounds to make sure the card works, before going for the big score

3. Times when the transactions were done. Can you account for your partner/family members during those times?


And finally, if the deposits were made on YOUR ACCOUNT then winnings might need to go back onto the same card (yours, thus removing any possibility of fraud) and also check for evidence of new cards being regstered. I think, however, that someone may be able to withdraw the initial deposit (400) back onto your card and register a new one.

Emily2303

Thank you guys, I completely understand where you're coming from, of course I have spoken to my partner and as we spent the weekend away at my parents I can honestly say it wasn't him, and to be honest neither of us even had a clue as to what the password was to the account. It was however linked to my old email adress which I have recently recieved a text saying someone had tried to get into.. so this does scare me a little.

I will use that I adress website and do my best to go from there, thank you so much for your replies.