Santander debit card was stolen for huge money! Help Help Help

Archi_Bald

Sorry to put a bit of a dampener on things. It's again an account of a problem that leaves a great number of questions open, like

1. how did the thief manage to change the phone number without the account holder being notified?
   
   You can change it either online, on the phone or in Branch. If you change it online, you clearly need to know the login data. If you do it on the phone, you will have to pass security. If you change it in Branch, you need to have ID. All three methods require the thief to know/possess a lot of data from the account holder.
   
   
2. how did the thief manage to get hold of the replacement card, which was presumably sent to the account holder's address?
   
   
3. how did the thief get hold of the PIN number for the card?

Kiwigirl11

I had this kind of fraud happen to me a couple of years ago when I banked with Lloyds. It was a phone banking fraud combined with mail theft. First, I got a txt msg that the mobile number was changed. Called lloyds and asked that the account be locked down until further notice and phone number change be reversed. They did neither. A week later, my internet banking stopped working. Called lloyds again, and asked that the accounts be locked down, was assured that they were. What they didn't tell me was that the fraudster had ordered new cards, taken overdrafts, moved all my cash into one account, turned off my internet banking, stolen my mail containing the cards and the pin, withdrew it as fx transfers over two days, and to add to it, had some kfc on me. I found all that out when I went to the branch on Monday to find myself 50k+ short.
My suggestion is, contact the fraud department of Santander, lodge a case. Get a case number. Then write them a email with a timeline of all the events relating to this case - your calls, visits etc. tell them that you will approach the ombudsman if you do not get a response by the end of the day and your money back promptly. I made all my calls on my mobile so could quote exact times and durations, and the time spent in the branch was recorded by the notes taken by the very helpful customer service woman and the omnipresent cctv. I sent the email from my work account (another bank) to add more credibility. It is important to put everything in writing.

I got a call from their head of fraud that day and money back in a few days. Initially they told me that due to the large amount it had to go to the serious fraud office and that will take a week or two. After my email, my phone rang in two hours. They said they will do an internal investigation as this situation was handled horribly.

Suffice to say I don't trust lloyds with my money anymore.

Voyager2002

Kiwigirl11 wrote: »

I had this kind of fraud happen to me a couple of years ago when I banked with Lloyds. It was a phone banking fraud combined with mail theft. First, I got a txt msg that the mobile number was changed. Called lloyds and asked that the account be locked down until further notice and phone number change be reversed. They did neither. A week later, my internet banking stopped working. Called lloyds again, and asked that the accounts be locked down, was assured that they were. What they didn't tell me was that the fraudster had ordered new cards, taken overdrafts, moved all my cash into one account, turned off my internet banking, stolen my mail containing the cards and the pin, withdrew it as fx transfers over two days, and to add to it, had some kfc on me. I found all that out when I went to the branch on Monday to find myself 50k+ short.
My suggestion is, contact the fraud department of Santander, lodge a case. Get a case number. Then write them a email with a timeline of all the events relating to this case - your calls, visits etc. tell them that you will approach the ombudsman if you do not get a response by the end of the day and your money back promptly. I made all my calls on my mobile so could quote exact times and durations, and the time spent in the branch was recorded by the notes taken by the very helpful customer service woman and the omnipresent cctv. I sent the email from my work account (another bank) to add more credibility. It is important to put everything in writing.

I got a call from their head of fraud that day and money back in a few days. Initially they told me that due to the large amount it had to go to the serious fraud office and that will take a week or two. After my email, my phone rang in two hours. They said they will do an internal investigation as this situation was handled horribly.

Suffice to say I don't trust lloyds with my money anymore.

This is good advice.

My advice to the OP: find a friend who is a native speaker of English (or even pay a solicitor) to write these things for you.;

Make sure that you contact 1. the fraud team at Santander, and 2. their complaints department. If possible, do so in writing, with letters written clearly in good English;

The complaints team will look at your situation and will probably arrange for your money to be returned to you, along with compensation and paying the solicitor's fee. If not, you can then take the case to the Ombudsman, who I am sure would eventually find in your favour. You cannot refer a problem to the Ombudsman until a bank's internal complaints team have had an opportunity to resolve the matter.

gunsandbanjos

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Sorry to put a bit of a dampener on things. It's again an account of a problem that leaves a great number of questions open, like

1. how did the thief manage to change the phone number without the account holder being notified?
   
   You can change it either online, on the phone or in Branch. If you change it online, you clearly need to know the login data. If you do it on the phone, you will have to pass security. If you change it in Branch, you need to have ID. All three methods require the thief to know/possess a lot of data from the account holder.
   
   
2. how did the thief manage to get hold of the replacement card, which was presumably sent to the account holder's address?
   
   
3. how did the thief get hold of the PIN number for the card?

For points 2 and 3 there is a lot of mail not received fraud going on everywhere.

OP do you have an external mailbox?

Postmen have reported being followed on their routes in some areas.

Point 1 perhaps malware or the OP has disclosed enough info to pass security, or someone has enough information to pass security by another means.

s.l_lee

Yorkshire_Pud wrote: »

Maybe ask your solicitor for advice if its a good idea to sue Santander a very rich bank.

If you don't have a solicitor then its not a good idea to make threats you can't back up.

You could make a Complaint?

Hi, Complain has been made and just waiting for the response now. Yes, Santander is very rich bank but their customer service is not rich at all. They let my trust down now.

But I noticed a very interesting law. Maybe it can Help?

Payment service provider’s liability for unauthorised payment transactions
61.!!Subject to regulations 59 and 60, where an executed payment transaction was not authorised in accordance with regulation 55, the payment service provider must immediately—
(a)refund the amount of the unauthorised payment transaction to the payer; and
(b)where applicable, restore the debited payment account to the state it would have been in had the unauthorised payment transaction not taken place.

s.l_lee

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Sorry to put a bit of a dampener on things. It's again an account of a problem that leaves a great number of questions open, like

1. how did the thief manage to change the phone number without the account holder being notified?
   
   You can change it either online, on the phone or in Branch. If you change it online, you clearly need to know the login data. If you do it on the phone, you will have to pass security. If you change it in Branch, you need to have ID. All three methods require the thief to know/possess a lot of data from the account holder.
   
   
2. how did the thief manage to get hold of the replacement card, which was presumably sent to the account holder's address?
   
   
3. how did the thief get hold of the PIN number for the card?

Hi, thanks for your reply. I do appreciate it. The point you mentioned is what I doubt as well. If they change on the phone, how can they pass the security questions? I think they probably change in Branch. Just pretend to be me, inserting the card and enter the pin and change at the reception, maybe? Or one of the fraudsters is a staff of Santander? Or they hacked the santander computer system

Regarding Point 2 and Point 3, I think it might be due to our external mailbox. We live in a new apartment and all the mailboxes were installed outside of our apartments. Yesterday I talked with my neighbour and they said another flat has the similar situation a few month ago

s.l_lee

Kiwigirl11 wrote: »

I had this kind of fraud happen to me a couple of years ago when I banked with Lloyds. It was a phone banking fraud combined with mail theft. First, I got a txt msg that the mobile number was changed. Called lloyds and asked that the account be locked down until further notice and phone number change be reversed. They did neither. A week later, my internet banking stopped working. Called lloyds again, and asked that the accounts be locked down, was assured that they were. What they didn't tell me was that the fraudster had ordered new cards, taken overdrafts, moved all my cash into one account, turned off my internet banking, stolen my mail containing the cards and the pin, withdrew it as fx transfers over two days, and to add to it, had some kfc on me. I found all that out when I went to the branch on Monday to find myself 50k+ short.
My suggestion is, contact the fraud department of Santander, lodge a case. Get a case number. Then write them a email with a timeline of all the events relating to this case - your calls, visits etc. tell them that you will approach the ombudsman if you do not get a response by the end of the day and your money back promptly. I made all my calls on my mobile so could quote exact times and durations, and the time spent in the branch was recorded by the notes taken by the very helpful customer service woman and the omnipresent cctv. I sent the email from my work account (another bank) to add more credibility. It is important to put everything in writing.

I got a call from their head of fraud that day and money back in a few days. Initially they told me that due to the large amount it had to go to the serious fraud office and that will take a week or two. After my email, my phone rang in two hours. They said they will do an internal investigation as this situation was handled horribly.

Suffice to say I don't trust lloyds with my money anymore.

I am really sorry to hear that you have been a victim as well, my love. But thanks so much for your tips. They are so so so useful. And thanks for your understanding. U know, I can't sleep these two days and really feel helpless. But I will do what you have mentioned and hopefully everything can go smoothly.

But as we have been a victim before, I think our personal information has been know by the fraudsters. Is there any method we can protect ourselves not to be a victim again? Regards. Lee

s.l_lee

Voyager2002 wrote: »

This is good advice.

My advice to the OP: find a friend who is a native speaker of English (or even pay a solicitor) to write these things for you.;

Make sure that you contact 1. the fraud team at Santander, and 2. their complaints department. If possible, do so in writing, with letters written clearly in good English;

The complaints team will look at your situation and will probably arrange for your money to be returned to you, along with compensation and paying the solicitor's fee. If not, you can then take the case to the Ombudsman, who I am sure would eventually find in your favour. You cannot refer a problem to the Ombudsman until a bank's internal complaints team have had an opportunity to resolve the matter.

Yes. Thanks so much and I will do it As soon as possible. Kind Regards. Lee:A:A:A

Kiwigirl11

s.l_lee wrote: »

I am really sorry to hear that you have been a victim as well, my love. But thanks so much for your tips. They are so so so useful. And thanks for your understanding. U know, I can't sleep these two days and really feel helpless. But I will do what you have mentioned and hopefully everything can go smoothly.

But as we have been a victim before, I think our personal information has been know by the fraudsters. Is there any method we can protect ourselves not to be a victim again? Regards. Lee

Felt the same. Couldn't sleep knowing we lost a lot of our savings. We went to the police station to lodge a case too. They referred us to action fraud website which seemed like it was getting statistics on fraud cases instead of actually solving them. No one from actionfraud called us for more information so far, and it's been two years.

We realized that our case was due to mail theft. We lived in Southwark, London which I believe is notorious for mail theft. Theft was either at the southwark sorting center or our mailbox, which was inside a building, but not monitored. A neighbour told us that he's had a few cases over the past few years, and is scared every time he opens his mail expecting a bill for a loan or credit card he didn't know he had. We approached our landlord to install security cameras near the mailboxes to prevent further cases. This didn't happen, so we moved out a few months later, and out of southwark. Have been happier ever since.

Also, the fraudster used phone banking. And we're pretty sure he did not visit the branch. That would be exposing his identity. He stole a statement and with a little bit of googling can get a lot of information. Some banks don't ask too many hard questions when you call them. name, address, date of birth, last few transactions, direct debits, overdraft limit, etc. if you don't know one answer, tell them to ask another question that you might know the answer to. I've done that before myself.

So, since the fraudsters have your details, they can get new accounts, loans, credit cards in your name. Especially if the banks allow online account creations
1. Register for CIFAS.
2. Stop all financial mail to your address till you confirm that your mail is safe. We also chose to stop mail entirely as well and collected it directly from the southwark delivery office every weekend for 6 months. The peace of mind was worth the pain.
3. Once you get your money back, (and if you want to continue with Santander), get everything changed. - brand new accounts, brand new debit card numbers, new cards etc. ensure that your customer number is changed too. I found that Lloyds didn't action my "new everything" request to my satisfaction, so I bailed entirely.
4. Inform all other banks you deal with of this situation and ensure they do not get conned the same way. I cancelled phone banking entirely and put a note on every account that no changes can be made unless I present myself in person with a passport.

Hope you get your money back. Another option is threaten to go to the press if this isn't sorted quickly.

Thrugelmir

Kiwigirl11 wrote: »

tell them to ask another question that you might know the answer to.

If this was the case having a security check would be absolutely pointless.