TSB banking problems

Jhoney_2

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

First excuse was that the buyer had sent the money to the wrong account, then story changed to me somehow hacking the account and helping myself to £20, tsb business banking have a policy of not talking to the customer, I have to communicate through a branch manager who then acts as a go between.

Insane, but there it is

This would be the senders information when trying to block the payment. When you contact them, they ask you to explain what has happened. If they suggested to bank they were hacked, it is reasonable for the bank to freeze your account for any evidence of that sort, other instances etc.

I also was not speaking to a special team as such, I just rang the contact number suggested on their website.

This customer of yours is the sinister element, not the bank.

What do you think they should have done if they suspect you are committing fraud - call and prewarn you your supposedly illgotten assets are going to be frozen? I cannot imagine any other responsible thing they could or should have done.

Candyapple

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

I bank at TSB, I didn't want to bank at TSB I might add, I banked at Lloyds, one day out of the blue I had a letter saying "welcome to local banking!", only my Lloyds branch was a short walk away, and nearest TSB was 2 towns away....

Yesterday while on away for a few days in Wales - miles from home, I filled up with petrol, debit card didn't work, cash point just spat out the card, had to borrow some money, humiliated.

45 minute phone call to TSB's Scottish call centre reveals that they have blocked my account, and the almost £20k in it.

Reason is that someone paid me £20 by bank transfer, and then decided that the transfer had gone to the wrong account, although TSB also claimed that I had hacked the other account and helped myself to the £20, how, why?

The £20 was a legitimate transfer I might add.

Net result is that I have lost everything, business finished, no money, the end.

TSB woman said that if I could not provide them with what they want to see they would keep all the money.

No time scale for when the money might come back if they do not decide to keep it.

My question is, can a bank just take and keep your money like that?

What is my next step?

What were you selling?

Was it a business sale or private sale (i.e. Gumtree/Facebook)?

Your thread sounds similar to this one:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5409122

[Deleted User]

As a sensible business owner I'm sure you or your accountant will be able to quickly and easily show where your money has come from.


The person paying the £20 has clearly made a complaint - have you spoken to them?


I hope for the sake of your money you aren't a "cash only" business with no records of where deposits are from.


With as many posts as you have I hope you aren't another forum fantasist however if it was me I would be focusing my efforts in other places rather than being hysterical on a public internet forum.

Archi_Bald

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

I would strongly advise anyone who banks at TSB to move their account.

Good idea, I shall move all my accounts from TSB even though I have never had any problems with them since day one.

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Would you be happy to lose everything in an instant?

you haven't lost anything, other than perhaps your nerve. Calm down, give TSB the info they have requested, and if they don't cooperate, launch a formal complaint. Ask the FOS for hel.

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

Would you be happy to look like an idiot in a petrol station?

you can prevent this from happening by having at least one second means of paying.

Is this a business or a personal account? If the latter, have you fallen foul of the T&Cs by using your personal account for business purposes?

Ballard wrote: »

I find it hard to believe that this has happened just over a £20 transfer and I'm always struggling to believe that your business has failed because less that £20k has been frozen.

Agree.

Brooker_Dave

I was not aware of any problems with the payment or sale, looking at the transaction, its from a third party, dunno of that muddies the water or not, I don't run a cash business, so have no worries there.

Jhoney_2

Brooker_Dave wrote: »

I was not aware of any problems with the payment or sale, looking at the transaction, its from a third party, dunno of that muddies the water or not, I don't run a cash business, so have no worries there.

So, first establish if the payment was from your buyer. Any payment ref, invoice, cutomer ref?

This may not have anything to do with your buyer as far as you know or have established from the above. The sum of money may be a coincidence. I would have thought you would have checked this as a matter of course but I confess to being a buckles and braces type of person.

The third party payment may indeed have been one made in error that they are trying to recall - if somewhat histerically if suggesting the have been hacked so perhaps someone elderly or vulnerable - and are perfectly within their rights to recall.

If you tie up all these anomolies, perhaps you can help to resolve this a lot sooner.

Brooker_Dave

Payment came with appropriate ref, so seemed OK, put in a complaint, as per fos instruction, 8 weeks wait on that and then year or so for fos

MoneyMission2015

What have the bank asked you to provide? Have you given them what they have asked for? You just seem hell bent on being uncooperative but then rant and rave that the bank are inconveniencing you because they have frozen your account while they undertake an investigation. They have to follow a process, which will include having the correct information and possibly documents from you. They can't skip any steps in the process because it could get them into trouble, so just give them the info they need and let them get the job done.


I would much rather my bank freeze my account if they were unsure about something than to leave it go and all of a sudden find that some hacker has stolen all my money. I actually had my credit card details used before for some fraudulent transactions and when I called the bank to make them aware they told me that the card will be blocked and I wouldn't be able to use the account until they had reviewed the account, cleared up all the fraudulent transactions and sent me a new card. They told me it could take up to a month but I was more than happy to do this as I didn't want any more fraudulent transactions.

gingercordial

Brooker Dave, try to stay calm. If the money genuinely did come from a legitimate customer you will get it back but it may take some time and you need to co-operate.

The problem is that the bank saw something in this transaction which flagged it up as suspicious. They are required by law to investigate transactions which might be as a result of money laundering. They are not saying this transaction is money laundering, but in some way it must share some characteristics with how fraudsters or criminals would pass money around and so they must freeze the account whilst they investigate.

The problem is that there is an additional crime for them of "tipping off", in that if you were really a criminal they would be legally to blame if you got wind of the investigation and thus had the chance to hide things to avoid prosecution. Therefore they are very restricted in what they can discuss with you. Complaints will not help as they are acting as the law tells them they must. The penalty for them for tipping off is an unlimited fine or five years in prison so they will not risk this.

Tesco bank did the same to me a year or two ago. I'd opened a current account for the interest, and at the time they needed a monthly amount paid in. I was paying large amounts straight in and out and this is classic money laundering behaviour to disguise the origins of cash. They froze my account (in fact all of my savings accounts and my credit card), prevented me from accessing about £6k across the accounts, blocked online banking access and refused to speak to me about it with "nobody available" in the fraud dept whenever I called. It took about two months in total for them to check the source of the funds and unblock my accounts. As an accountant trained in money laundering regs I could recognise what they were doing and why they couldn't talk to me. However it was deeply frustrating and I could really have done with access to that money at the time.

There is nothing you can do except co-operate and provide all information they request as quickly as possible. Yes it is inconvenient but getting upset with them won't help. Give them what they need in full as soon as they ask for it.

You also need to open another bank account with a different bank right away so you can use that whilst the investigation takes place. It's the most useful and proactive thing you can do right now to keep you sane and keep your business going.

Best of luck.

eskbanker

gingercordial wrote: »

You also need to open another bank account with a different bank right away so you can use that whilst the investigation takes place. It's the most useful and proactive thing you can do right now to keep you sane and keep your business going.

If TSB have added a fraud marker to OP's account, they'll presumably have updated CIFAS too, thereby preventing any other accounts being opened while the investigation is underway?