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

Kiwigirl11

Thrugelmir - that is exactly why I cancelled phone banking. Some banks are particularly bad. maybe it is limited to certain questions. I can never remember what my overdraft limit is or how many direct debits I have. So they ask me some other question.

I was quite naive till my fraud case. A few years ago, I argued with a bank for wasting my time when they said I had to go to a branch to get my address changed. Today, I thank them for sticking to their guns on it.

s.l_lee

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

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.

Hi, yes. You are right. our maibox is external and that's why what happened I think:(:(:(:(:(:(

gunsandbanjos

s.l_lee wrote: »

Hi, yes. You are right. our maibox is external and that's why what happened I think:(:(:(:(:(:(

One of the first questions our fraud operational team ask is whether you have an external mailbox. Mail theft is rife unfortunately.

You need to find out how they changed your phone number.

s.l_lee

Kiwigirl11 wrote: »

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.

Hi, Kiwigirl, thanks so much for all the useful information. U really helped me a lot. I will do the same as you do to protect myself from the horrible thieves. That is a very good idea to tell bank that nothing can be changed until we present ourselves in person with a passport. U r very clever. I learned a lot from u. Hopfully, my things can be sorted out soon and we can all get rid of this kind of sorrow forever in future;) Big thanks again and best wishes.

chuckley

WOW these fraudsters are getting so slick. I never knew the outside mailbox issue.

do they all have the same key or something? Also are they leaving them broken or just like normal?

I never know of the southwark thing either. What's so special about there?

s.l_lee

Thrugelmir wrote: »

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

Yes. Thrugelmir. As long as thief got your bank statement and card and your date of birth from google. Really feel horrible:eek:

s.l_lee

chuckley wrote: »

WOW these fraudsters are getting so slick. I never knew the outside mailbox issue.

do they all have the same key or something? Also are they leaving them broken or just like normal?

I never know of the southwark thing either. What's so special about there?

Hi, Chuckley. Everything is normal. I don't know how they can access the mailbox but I believe they got the letters successfully. Once I have the issue, I talked with my neighbor next block and she told me another neighbor got the similar experience and that lady lost 7000 pounds. Not as much as me but maybe same group of thieves. :(

s.l_lee

Kiwigirl11 wrote: »

Thrugelmir - that is exactly why I cancelled phone banking. Some banks are particularly bad. maybe it is limited to certain questions. I can never remember what my overdraft limit is or how many direct debits I have. So they ask me some other question.

I was quite naive till my fraud case. A few years ago, I argued with a bank for wasting my time when they said I had to go to a branch to get my address changed. Today, I thank them for sticking to their guns on it.

Hi, Kiwigirl, yes, before I argued with HSBC as well for a complicated process of changing online banking details or something, I can't remember clearly, long time ago. But now i know it is a good way to protect me. If nothing happened, I think I will be always naive as well

s.l_lee

gunsandbanjos wrote: »

One of the first questions our fraud operational team ask is whether you have an external mailbox. Mail theft is rife unfortunately.

You need to find out how they changed your phone number.

Hi, gunsandbanjos, we have the external mailbox. But in this case, Bank will be still responsible for the lost I had or not? We have the external mailbox but it's not my fault lol

grumbler

s.l_lee wrote: »

... lol:o:o:o:o:o

Is it just me?
Do you know what LOL stands for?
Are there any smiles left that you haven't used yet in this thread on pretty serious topic? My eyes hurt...