TSB Security Check - Bizarre!!

tempus_fugit

I have been an avid MSE forum reader since last year, and have picked up some good tips on money management. I recently (last November) opened TSB Classic Plus accounts for myself and the other half, followed by regular saver accounts that would be drip-fed £250 per month, as per their terms and conditions. These have been slowly building up since then, and I have been adding £500 to each of the Classic Plus accounts in order to satisfy the minimum requirements to get the 5% interest in the Classic Plus accounts. This money has come from my Santander 123 account monthly since November.

As the Classic Plus accounts are now "full", with £2,000 in each, this month I transferred the usual £500 in, but this meant that the accounts would now be over the £2,000 limit for interest by £250, following the regular payment of £250 to the saver accounts by standing order. So, I transferred £250 back to my Santander account to allow for this. The payment from my TSB account went through no problem, but as I completed the one from my wife's account I immediately got a screen up saying that the account was locked and that the payment would need to be authorised.

The authorisation requirment was partly expected, although I had already made a payment of the monthly interest to the same account earlier in the month, which was approved via the registered mobile device, my wife's mobile phone, but as I was transferring a larger amount this time I thought fair enough. Locking the account though seemed a little over the top, but again I though fine, I will get OH to authorise it over the phone.

However, it was not so simple. First she spoke to a regular customer service person, who then passed her to someone in the security/fraud prevention department. He started asking her weird questions, such as what age range is a Mrs X, with a series of possible age ranges or "I do not know this person". She replied with "I do not know this person", as this was the case. They asked a similar question for another name later in the telephone conversation. They also asked if she had ever lived or owned a house in a series of places in the UK and abroad, to which she replied "no", as again this was the case. He then told her that she had answered one of the security question incorrectly and that she had to go to a branch with ID to sort it out.

We did go to the branch and a helpful man sorted things out there for us, but we were very nonplussed at these questions, which did not seem to be security questions (i.e. questions to verify my wife's identity) at all and what's more he seemed to be accusing us of some sort of fraud. It was also very inconvenient to have to go into a branch to sort this out and I have never had anything like this happen with any other bank. I have read these forums and whilst there are often cases of people not being happy because they have been refused credit, I still cannot understand this line of questioning and I am hoping that it will not happen again, as these accounts are currently a major part of our saving strategy. OH will soon be getting her own Santander account, to/from which all future payments will be made, so hopefully it will no longer be an issue.

diamonds

Make a complaint about why you were being investigated and why no forthcoming information was coming forward in branch and you were led to believe from branch employee manner this was a fraud investigation and treated in a manner you felt was accusations when answering no to questions.


http://www.tsb.co.uk/help/complaints/

pixiepie99

Hmmm... I think this may be an overreaction/misunderstanding.

I had a similar situation this weekend where I was trying to move money around mine and my husband's various accounts (Lloyd's and TSB).

After the second payment I got an error message and was booted out of the account. When I tried to log back into my Lloyd's and then my Halifax accounts they both came up with the same message saying my login had been locked and giving me a number to call.

The number was for the fraud team and they simply explained their systems had picked one of the payments as being a large amount and to an account I hadn't set payments to so declined the payment and locked my online account in case it was fraud.

Although I'd already passed a series of security questions to simply talk to them about the account, they then had to ask me another series of security questions that were generated by Experian and related to my credit history. This were similar to the ones you were asked and most of them related to my husband's first name, his date of birth etc.

As far as I could tell it was simply and extra layer of security that was required in case someone had tried to hack my account. Once I had passed the security checks they were able to bring up the details about the declined transaction, I was able to confirm it was genuine and they unblocked the account. I was then able to log back in and complete the transaction.

If you answered all the questions correctly to the best of your knowledge and you didn't pass the checks, you may want to check your credit file as the questions are automatically generated from that.

Super_Whiskey

From a bank's perspective, that could be seen as fraudulent. Two large payments to the same account in quick succession when previously only a couple of pounds had been transferred out. The security questions seem a bit odd but if that's the way TSB choose to do it then so be it. By answering one of them wrong they would ask you to go in to branch to make sure you're you.

Better to inconvenience you and make sure your money's safe than to let it happen and create something worse. If it's the fraud person's manner that annoyed you then put in a complaint about him but as far as I can see, the bank are doing their job.

grumbler

tempus_fugit wrote: »

...He started asking her weird questions, such as what age range is a Mrs X, with a series of possible age ranges or "I do not know this person".

Indeed, very bizarre if this Mrs X was some other person not related to this account. Can you give some indication who this Mrs X was?

She replied with "I do not know this person", as this was the case. They asked a similar question for another name later in the telephone conversation. They also asked if she had ever lived or owned a house in a series of places in the UK and abroad

Sounds like yet another example of using information from the credit file for checking the ID, that is getting more and more common: Too many phone transactions? off to the Fraud dept

Doctor_Duke

grumbler wrote: »

Sounds like yet another example of using information from the credit file for checking the ID,

I have had the same security flag when I transferred a large payment. I have to say asking me questions like 'what current account did you open last July' is pretty hopeless when I opened so many lol. The process is a little intimidating. I was asked all sorts of questions and nearly left TSB as a result but decided not to cut my nose of just to spite my face.

colsten

Several banks as multiple choice questions, based on the person's credit file. I have previously been asked by Halifax and by Barclays. It can get a bit annoying when they ask you on what date you applied for a current account when you got dozens of them but I have not failed any of their multiple choice checks as yet.

The reason for the locking of the account might well have been the use of the same IP address in rapid succession on more than one account.

GingerFurball_2

1. Payment under review
2. Phone fraud department, fail security
3. Referred to branch with photo ID to remove blocks from account.

All part of TSB's normal process.

grumbler

GingerFurball wrote: »

1. Payment under review
2. Phone fraud department, fail security
3. Referred to branch with photo ID to remove blocks from account.

All part of TSB's normal process.

The only bit that isn't normal is that genuine customers fail their bizarre 'security' designed by some idiot.

tempus_fugit

pixiepie99 wrote: »

Hmmm... I think this may be an overreaction/misunderstanding.

I had a similar situation this weekend where I was trying to move money around mine and my husband's various accounts (Lloyd's and TSB).

After the second payment I got an error message and was booted out of the account. When I tried to log back into my Lloyd's and then my Halifax accounts they both came up with the same message saying my login had been locked and giving me a number to call.

The number was for the fraud team and they simply explained their systems had picked one of the payments as being a large amount and to an account I hadn't set payments to so declined the payment and locked my online account in case it was fraud.

Although I'd already passed a series of security questions to simply talk to them about the account, they then had to ask me another series of security questions that were generated by Experian and related to my credit history. This were similar to the ones you were asked and most of them related to my husband's first name, his date of birth etc.

As far as I could tell it was simply and extra layer of security that was required in case someone had tried to hack my account. Once I had passed the security checks they were able to bring up the details about the declined transaction, I was able to confirm it was genuine and they unblocked the account. I was then able to log back in and complete the transaction.

If you answered all the questions correctly to the best of your knowledge and you didn't pass the checks, you may want to check your credit file as the questions are automatically generated from that.

An understanding maybe. Overreaction? A bit strong as the only "reaction" is that I thought it was bizarre. You mention your experience, but you say also that the questions you were asked related to your husband. These questions had no relation to my wife at all and the assistant at the branch agreed that they were very unusual indeed. He did think that there had maybe been a mix-up between cases at the other end. I have also checked the credit file and there is nothing there at all to suggest why these questions were asked.

As I said, I expect there to be security "hoops" to jump through on occasions, but this seemed way over the top and caused a lot of stress until we got it sorted out. I have also moved money about between accounts in the past, withe odd security check, again to be expected, and never had anything like this happen before.

tempus_fugit

Super_Whiskey wrote: »

From a bank's perspective, that could be seen as fraudulent. Two large payments to the same account in quick succession when previously only a couple of pounds had been transferred out. The security questions seem a bit odd but if that's the way TSB choose to do it then so be it. By answering one of them wrong they would ask you to go in to branch to make sure you're you.

Better to inconvenience you and make sure your money's safe than to let it happen and create something worse. If it's the fraud person's manner that annoyed you then put in a complaint about him but as far as I can see, the bank are doing their job.

The questions were not answered incorrectly though. My wife said that she did not know the names mentioned and that we had not lived in any of the locations mentioned. All of this was correct, so to turn round and say that she had answered them incorrectly is just ridiculous. But what gets me is that, even if they had deemed the answers "correct", how on earth do they prove that the transaction was not fraudulent? They were from my wife to me, her husband, and to an account that had actually funded her account up to this point. As far as I am concerned the normal approach would be, as you say, to prove who we are saying we are, but the questions asked would not have done that in any circumstances. That is what is the mystery.

I do agree with your second paragraph, and if they had done that I would have been fine with it. But apart from entering the account number and sort code into the phone when she called, they did not ask her any of the normal security questions at all, e.g. name, address, postcode, date of birth or security question, so they had not even taken adequate steps to make sure she was who she said she was, which is quite worrying from an account holder's point of view.