£30,000 stolen as a result of the TalkTalk hack. Where do I stand?

GingerFurball_2

joe134 wrote: »

Sorry about your agro with both, but, I would not settle for that paltry amount, stick out for more.Halifax gave me £50 for not transferring my Isa on a specific date, so yours is worth a lot more

There's a difference between the two. If Halifax told you that an ISA would be transferred on a specific date and failed to follow through, then they are at fault and compensation is justified.

Whilst what has happened is obviously very upsetting for the OP, technically Halifax haven't done anything wrong here. I've no doubt it's been stressful and upsetting, but the OP has their money back so is not out of pocket, and expenses and distress would be considered as part of a complaint. In terms of how the money came to be lost, Halifax aren't strictly speaking to blame for that. The OP's personal details were compromised as the result of a third party, and that has been exploited by a fraudster/group of fraudsters.

nidO

GingerFurball wrote: »

Date of birth and first line of address is not enough information to change someone's address.

Well, it is if the bank are lax / mess up, and it's the OP who said that Halifax told him that's what happened.

Archi_Bald

GingerFurball wrote: »

Whilst what has happened is obviously very upsetting for the OP, technically Halifax haven't done anything wrong here.

I don't think we have enough info to say that. If someone managed to change the address by just giving name and address, that would certainly be an issue.

However, by changing address, nobody would be able to send "30 x £1000 increments via bill payments to a fictional company". Clearly, access to online banking would have been needed for that, and somehow Halifax might have been involved in that as well. This will certainly not have been possible by simply knowing name, address and DOB of the account holder, or any "security number".

There are an awful lot of questions I have over the account we have been given of the alleged theft. Firstly it wasn't really a theft as all the money is safely back in the OP's account, then there was the exaggerated claim about lost interest, and there is a claim that £30K "just so happened to be the maximum amount allowed via bill payment" (nothing on the Halifax payment limits info about £30K).

I don't understand how Halifax managed to contact the OP after his address had been changed on the account. Why would they even attempt to contact him at an address he had informed them he is no longer at? I also can't see how Halifax would have contacted him by phone as you can't set up a new Halifax payee without receiving a call from Halifax on your home or mobile number. Thus the number(s) would have been changed but the OP did not mention a change of phone numbers.

GingerFurball wrote: »

The OP's personal details were compromised as the result of a third party, and that has been exploited by a fraudster/group of fraudsters.

The matter may or may not have been related to the TalkTalk/CPW hack. Why did the OP not follow the advice from the email TT sent on August 8th (not 12th) which included "Contact your bankand credit card company, so that they can monitor for unusual activity"? Why did the OP not immediately inform Action Fraud of the theft?

It all seems a huge co-incidence of very unfortunate circumstances all happening in the space of a couple of weeks - - the completion of a house sale whilst the OP was on vacation, a 6-figure sum landing and being left to sit in a 0% interest account, OP's info being included in the TT hack, police not involved in a £30K theft, someone mysteriously getting full access to the OP's Halifax online banking, and managing to set up a new payee without apparently changing phone numbers on the account.

Perhaps the OP was just still too emotional and left out some vital details in his account of the matter?

NB. Does anyone know of a current account that pays 0.2% interest?

chris_m

Archi_Bald wrote: »

However, by changing address, nobody would be able to send "30 x £1000 increments via bill payments to a fictional company". Clearly, access to online banking would have been needed for that, and somehow Halifax might have been involved in that as well.

The OP mentions three changes of security numbers followed by the change of address - maybe the fraudsters had enough info to get Halifax to change/reset the online access.

I don't understand how Halifax managed to contact the OP after his address had been changed on the account. Why would they even attempt to contact him at an address he had informed them he is no longer at?

They might have written to the old address as a safeguard in case it wasn't the account holder who had made the request.

Barclaycard emailed me last year to confirm that they'd actioned my change of address request, good job they did. I phoned them to advise them that I had made no such request and they couldn't give me a good enough excuse as to how it had happened that someone could phone up and pass all security checks without even having the card in their possession - so I told them not to bother freezing things or reissuing cards, just close the damned account.

Archi_Bald

chris_m wrote: »

The OP mentions three changes of security numbers followed by the change of address - maybe the fraudsters had enough info to get Halifax to change/reset the online access.

you do not need a thing called "security number" for Halifax online access. You also need a lot more than the 'telephone security number', name and address to change your online access.

chris_m wrote: »

They might have written to the old address as a safeguard in case it wasn't the account holder who had made the request.

it would make little sense to confirm a change of address to an old address, wouldn't it? In fact, it would probably be a breach of the DPA.

chris_m wrote: »

Barclaycard emailed me last year to confirm that they'd actioned my change of address request, good job they did.

emailing about a change of postal address makes, of course, a lot of sense.

chris_m

Archi_Bald wrote: »

you do not need a thing called "security number" for Halifax online access.

Good point, I was mixing up my various accounts and the multiple ways needed to log in.

Archi_Bald wrote: »

it would make little sense to confirm a change of address to an old address, wouldn't it? In fact, it would probably be a breach of the DPA.

Just saying that you've made the change wouldn't be, but saying what the new address is probably would.

Herbalus

There's another thing that might not add up. Halifax say on their website that the payments limit (and daily limit) is £25,000, not £1,000 as the OP states.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/fasterpayments.asp

So why did the fraudster make 30 transactions of £1000?

PeacefulWaters

So you think a company that's £30,000 down owes you?

BMN

Herbalus wrote: »

There's another thing that might not add up. Halifax say on their website that the payments limit (and daily limit) is £25,000, not £1,000 as the OP states.

http://www.halifax.co.uk/onlinebankinghelp/fasterpayments.asp

So why did the fraudster make 30 transactions of £1000?

That's the limit for Online Banking.

You can make Faster Payments in branch, using Telephone Banking or through an ATM. They will each have different limits and ID requirements though.

chambta

BMN wrote: »

That's the limit for Online Banking.

You can make Faster Payments in branch, using Telephone Banking or through an ATM. They will each have different limits and ID requirements though.

In this case I'd say so.