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Barclays have just frozen my account
Comments
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UPDATE
In the absence of any communication from Barclays (up to Saturday mornings post) I have decided to utilize a dormant account at Halifax that I opened a couple of years ago to administer my mother's estate.
I have a debit card and pin, and also online banking facilities with this account, so in the short term it will allow me to continue the cash flow from Paypal so I will have a usable debit card.
I will telephone Barclays on Monday to see if anything has been decided.
Also looming is my credit card payment for this month of £455 (I clear it every month to zero) which I hope I can do in-branch this week.
I have a business trip to Manchester midweek and this Halifax card will enable me to settle hotels/meals without too much fuss.0 -
charlybarly wrote: »UPDATE
In the absence of any communication from Barclays (up to Saturday mornings post) I have decided to utilize a dormant account at Halifax that I opened a couple of years ago to administer my mother's estate.
I have a debit card and pin, and also online banking facilities with this account, so in the short term it will allow me to continue the cash flow from Paypal so I will have a usable debit card.
I will telephone Barclays on Monday to see if anything has been decided.
Also looming is my credit card payment for this month of £455 (I clear it every month to zero) which I hope I can do in-branch this week.
I have a business trip to Manchester midweek and this Halifax card will enable me to settle hotels/meals without too much fuss.
Always good to have a second account for use, and in many cases a third, fourth, fifth........0 -
UPDATE
Just rang Barclays this morning, hoping for an update.
The person confirmed that my account was suspended and put under review ten days ago, and that it was ongoing.
When asked why a letter that was promised in 3-5 days had not materialised he could not comment.
I was told that access to cash at my branch may be limited unless I could prove that any money that had arrived at the account had come from a "legitimate source" (paraphrasing).
This implies money may be coming in from an illegitimate source, which is scary.
I realised I wasn't going to get anywhere so I ended the call.
I am now off to the branch to hopefully get some cash., in the meantime my back up Halifax account now has healthy funds from my business so I am hopeful that the ATM will allow me access to that account.0 -
UPDATE
Just back from Barclays. I have to say I was impressed with the tellers helpfulness and sympathy.
She revealed to me the name of the person who had deposited the £2000 into my account, I will not repeat it here but it is a six letter surname that I have no knowledge of or connection to.
She rang the fraud dep't when I was there and she got nowhere, I just have to wait.
I was allowed to withdraw cash and pay my August cc bill, so I am up to date with all that.
I also tested my Halifax debit in an ATM and thankfully that all worked so in the short term at least I am good to go with an alt. account.0 -
That is the most frustrating thing, not being asked directly by Barclays about any of this, surely if they want to "investigate" they should approach me first, I might have some answers for them.0
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charlybarly wrote: »surely if they want to "investigate" they should approach me first, I might have some answers for them.
They are not allowed to under AML rules/legislation. That falls foul of 'tipping off' which is a criminal offence. http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/proceeds_of_crime_money_laundering/
Proceeds Of Crime Act 2002
'Section 333 creates the offence of making a disclosure likely to prejudice a money laundering investigation being undertaken by law enforcement authorities. '
This is an either way offence with a maximum penalty on indictment of 5 years imprisonment or a fine or both.'0 -
They are not allowed to under AML rules/legislation. That falls foul of 'tipping off' which is a criminal offence. http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/proceeds_of_crime_money_laundering/
Proceeds Of Crime Act 2002
'Section 333 creates the offence of making a disclosure likely to prejudice a money laundering investigation being undertaken by law enforcement authorities. '
This is an either way offence with a maximum penalty on indictment of 5 years imprisonment or a fine or both.'
Fair enough. It's still frustrating though.0 -
same is happening to me, I took in £3k they asked me if i was a drug dealer, this was natiowide, I wrote a letter in they said sorry, then I just took in £4k an they said this will be flagged an I need a business account which im looking into now.
I think anything is flagged over £3k on a personal account in one go.0 -
flashgordon666 wrote: »same is happening to me, I took in £3k they asked me if i was a drug dealer, this was natiowide, I wrote a letter in they said sorry, then I just took in £4k an they said this will be flagged an I need a business account which im looking into now.
I think anything is flagged over £3k on a personal account in one go.
Would they really ask if you were a drug dealer - because if they did IMO they are guilty of tipping you off which is a serious criminal offence.
(But would you admit to it to take it further)
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They are not allowed to under AML rules/legislation. That falls foul of 'tipping off' which is a criminal offence. http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/proceeds_of_crime_money_laundering/
Proceeds Of Crime Act 2002
'Section 333 creates the offence of making a disclosure likely to prejudice a money laundering investigation being undertaken by law enforcement authorities. '
This is an either way offence with a maximum penalty on indictment of 5 years imprisonment or a fine or both.'
If you read the act, there are many many fair and valid exemptions to reporting and indeed even prosecution over the act.
Banks are over zealous in using that act as a catch all to stop anyone and everyone. It is widely misunderstood and misinterpreted and misused.
The bank has to be careful, but in genuine incidents like these, it should be investigated rapidly and a resolution should be found.Thanks
JG0
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