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Mail intercepted - bank account fraud! Who can help!

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Myself and boyfriend have been having problems with parcel and mail deliveries for a while that were apparently delivered to neighbours but never thought anything of it. A few weeks ago, while abroad, both of us got calls from our respective banks saying that someone had tried to open bank accounts in our names. My boyfriend's bank managed to block the opening but my bank allowed the account to be opened and for the suspect to take £1,000 out of my account.

I found out later that this suspect had been using telephone banking to open the account and also transfer money and have bank cards sent to my address. From this I determined that the suspect most likely had access to my shared mail box. We had had problems receiving letters from our mortgage adviser and this letter had a lot of personal details including DOB, National Insurance number, mother's maiden name, employer, basically everything! We think this is probably the way the suspect was able to open bank accounts.

My bank has returned all the money back to me and I've reported everything to Action Fraud. However, I've spoken to both the bank and Action Fraud and no one will make a report to the police on my behalf. This is despite the bank having phone recordings of the suspect opening the bank account and also CCTV footage of the suspect taking money out of the ATM.

Does anyone know how I can avoid this happening again? I only live with 2 other households so it's very easy to pin down which one is the culprit. Do I just approach the police directly or is there anything else I can do? We've recently discovered that they've also been taking our bills which has resulted in us being overdue for our bills until we get a notification by email! We don't know how to stop this and it's very hard to track and we just want it to stop! :mad:

Comments

  • bigadaj
    bigadaj Posts: 11,531 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You can report it to the police, but if you've been refunded then it's the bank that is the victim of the crime so it may well be that they won't prosecute.

    Maybe you could try and report this as harassment, have you appreciated the culprits and do they know that you are aware of it?

    People often advise of registering with cifas for fraud protection if you've been a victim of fraud or similar but this will make your financial management much harder as well.
  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 27,176 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    qy206 wrote: »
    Does anyone know how I can avoid this happening again? I only live with 2 other households so it's very easy to pin down which one is the culprit.
    Are you confident that you can pin it down to one of the households? Are they renting their property? If so, maybe you could raise it with the landlord - after all, someone who is trying to defraud their neighbours is probably not a great tenant either. At the end of the day, the best way to avoid this happening again is for one of you to move elsewhere.
  • Robbieh
    Robbieh Posts: 91 Forumite
    You can arrange to collect your mail from your Royal Mail delivery office. Quite a few people do this and it's held until you are able to collect.
  • djpailo
    djpailo Posts: 551 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    I would report it to the police. Someone opening your mail and stealing your identity to do God know's what must surely be illegal. I'm glad you got your money back. For now, Robbieh's advice should be followed too.
  • xylophone
    xylophone Posts: 45,605 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Report it to the police yourself.

    You suspect that the person on the CCTV images is one of the people sharing your mailbox?
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    qy206 wrote: »
    but my bank allowed the account to be opened and for the suspect to take £1,000 out of my account.

    The fraudster went a £1000 overdrawn?
  • gunsandbanjos
    gunsandbanjos Posts: 12,246 Forumite
    PPI Party Pooper
    The police won't be interested in a single incident, the bank are the victim as they will have to take the loss.

    You have only been inconvenienced. External mailboxes are a fraudsters friend, change it if you can.
    The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
    Bertrand Russell
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    qy206 wrote: »
    Myself and boyfriend have been having problems with parcel and mail deliveries for a while that were apparently delivered to neighbours but never thought anything of it. A few weeks ago, while abroad, both of us got calls from our respective banks saying that someone had tried to open bank accounts in our names. My boyfriend's bank managed to block the opening but my bank allowed the account to be opened and for the suspect to take £1,000 out of my account.

    I found out later that this suspect had been using telephone banking to open the account and also transfer money and have bank cards sent to my address. From this I determined that the suspect most likely had access to my shared mail box. We had had problems receiving letters from our mortgage adviser and this letter had a lot of personal details including DOB, National Insurance number, mother's maiden name, employer, basically everything! We think this is probably the way the suspect was able to open bank accounts.

    My bank has returned all the money back to me and I've reported everything to Action Fraud. However, I've spoken to both the bank and Action Fraud and no one will make a report to the police on my behalf. This is despite the bank having phone recordings of the suspect opening the bank account and also CCTV footage of the suspect taking money out of the ATM.

    Does anyone know how I can avoid this happening again? I only live with 2 other households so it's very easy to pin down which one is the culprit. Do I just approach the police directly or is there anything else I can do? We've recently discovered that they've also been taking our bills which has resulted in us being overdue for our bills until we get a notification by email! We don't know how to stop this and it's very hard to track and we just want it to stop! :mad:

    Classic scam opportunity. Scammer can intercept the mail they need and leave/return the rest. So less chance of you noticing missing mail quickly.
    You can easily set up a free mail collect,to collect mail at your local RM office

    http://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/MailCollect_Application_Feb12.pdf

    Or a redirection at a cost. Though this can cause issues with items such as credit cards as they can be 'do not redirect' items.
  • Westie983
    Westie983 Posts: 5,215 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts I've been Money Tipped! Name Dropper
    qy206 wrote: »
    my bank allowed the account to be opened and for the suspect to take £1,000 out of my account.
    qy206 wrote: »
    CCTV footage of the suspect taking money out of the ATM.

    They took £1000 out of the ATM? or a combination of withdrawals?
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Banking & Borrowing, and Reduce Debt & Boost Income boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySaving Expert.
    Save 12k in 2023 #58 Total (£4500.00) £2500.00/£5000 = 50.00%
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