Nationwide fraud

lrahael

Firstly let me apologize if this is a little long winded. Last week I tried to buy train tickets with my Nationwide flex account card online using a site I had used before, when it came to process the payments it was denied, I was also denied access to my online banking. Firstly I thought it was a technical glitch but I contacted the bank and they told me it looked as though there had been fraudulent activity on the account (although would not tell me what) I was advised that they would cancel the card and a new one would be sent to me in two days (since this was a Thursday I wasn’t expecting the card until Monday) unfortunately due to the fact I was going away that weekend I could not really be with out a debit card for emergency sake, so they put restrictions on the card so it could not be used for online purchases but chip and pin and cash withdrawal were all fine.
The following week rolls around and I haven’t received my new card, on Wednesday I went into a branch to see what was going on, while I was there I decided to check me balance to find my account had been more or less emptied (they left me around £44 when there should have been over £1300 in there and they also made some either direct debit or contactless payment) now I really need to see someone from the bank, I manged to see someone quite quickly, when I told the branch worker the above story, she told me in no uncertain terms would they ever promise me a card within 2 days that it takes at least 5 – 7 working days, she then showed me a transaction history that showed £1200 had been withdrawn on the Monday in a Luton branch (I had been at work in the westend of London at the time with plenty of proof of this) to her credit she was very sympathetic and contacted the fraud departments who told her a card had been present so it had to have been me except I never received the card that had been used to withdraw the money, I then spoke with the fraud department who after a few questions gave me a case number and said they would investigated and get back to me within 48 hours.
They did not I contacted them on the Saturday, let me also add that on the day of the fraud I made a complaint to the bank basically saying how angry I was that someone could walk in to a branch and withdraw such a large amount of money from a account that had already had fraudulent activity on it without ID, I really hammered home the lack of identification because in the nearly 10 years I’ve held a account with nationwide when ever, and its been a few time, that I’ve had to withdraw money over the counter in branch whether it be £10 or £100+ I have been asked for Identification and security questions.
Back to the phone call Saturday, I was told that the post containing my card had been intercepted and upon investigation the signature the person used to did not match the one the had on record and my money had been returned, when I asked about how this could happen I was told its Nationwide’s procedure that if the card is present they will not ask for ID for withdraws under £2000 a procedure I had never herd of before. When I told her of my experiences withdrawing money with a card and being asked for ID she (the woman from the fraud department) basically blew me off, when I asked if I would be informed about the outcome of the investigation she told me I would not. Now I was not the friendliest on the phone but I was not rude, I feel I had every right to be disgruntled about the whole situation and the woman on the line was really testing my patients, her tone of voice was far from apologetic and I found her quite patronising while telling me she had put a note on the system that money cannot be withdrawn from my account without ID…. Funny how they can do that when its not their procedure, also when I told her no one had contacted me to let me know my money had been returned that I had to call to chase this up, she more or less called me a liar but changed her tune when I think her system confirmed there had been no follow up call.
Fast forward again to yesterday and the complaints department contact me (sounding suspiciously like the woman from the fraud department) she again said they will not ask for ID for withdraws under £2000, I told her it a ridiculously unsafe practice she replied, her exact words “at least you got your money back”! I just feel like they (the fraud department and complaints) had read my complaint and tried to fob me off with “our procedure” when in reality its probably more to do with discretion. I also mentioned in the complaint how I would be closing my account and imploring anyone I know with a Nationwide account to do the same and I feel they read this and didn’t really care either way. I feel like I’ve been treated very poorly in this whole situation considering it’s the banks fault and I have not only lost trust in Nationwide I'm also suspicions of what really happened to my card and I feel I’ve been lied to.
Can I contact the police to look into this further? If someone stole my handbag and I had that amount of money in it that would be a robbery, how is someone stealing my post and emptying my account any different? How can the bank get away without telling me? This person has my personal details, enough of them that they were allowed to withdraw large amounts of money from my account!

Is there any point taking this higher up, I just feel the comment “at least you got your money back” is really unacceptable? Yes I did get my money back but now im suspicious of how safe my moneys been for the last 10 years, but I want to close the account how seriously are they going to take the complaint of someone who isn’t a customer anymore?

Also fellow Nationwide customers, were you aware that as long as someone has your card they can walk into a bank and withdraw up to £2,000 no questions asked?

paragon909

Contact the police and launch a fraud complaint with them, The police will then be able to check Nationwide CCTV for that exact time and day, Then they will see who took it out. But every bank requires a pin number to withdraw money.

lrahael

Thanks for you message i will look into logging a complaint with the police, but honestly with Nationwide there is no such practice with the Pin if you are withdrawing money from the counter, I have had people try tell me the same thing all week! Nationwide do not have chip and pin machines at the counter of their branches all you need is a card and they will hand money over to you! its outrageous but i assure you this is their practice.

eDicky

Would it not be worthwhile considering how and when your mail was intercepted, how your personal details became known, and possibly deduce who the culprit could be? Somebody you know perhaps?

eskbanker

The fact that you got your money back is highly significant because it means that it's Nationwide who've been defrauded, not you. This is why they won't share the outcome of any investigation with you, and the police wouldn't either....

kingrulzuk

you got your money back so the police or nationwide will do nothing about, the best thing to do is switch to another bank

agrinnall

I don't very often withdraw money over the counter at Nationwide but whenever I do I have never been asked either for ID or to answer security questions, so I'm not convinced that your memory of being asked to do this for small amounts is correct. However, the amounts have always been below £500, whereas for amounts of £500+ the Nationwide website states:

Cash withdrawals of £500+ and Bank holidays

• Cash withdrawals of £500+ - Please give the branch one full working day's notice (Saturday is not a working day). We'll try to accommodate withdrawal requests up to £2,000 immediately.

When collecting your money, please take with you one piece of identification to prove your name and address.

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/support-articles/manage-your-account/atm-and-branch-withdrawal-limits

If they haven't enforced that then I think a complaint would be worth making, and if you're not happy with the response then escalate to the FOS.

Yorkshire_Pud

So how could £1200 be withdrawn over the counter with the stolen card on 'the Monday'?

There is a daily limit of £500 in branch or ATM in the UK:cool:

lrahael

Exactly, if as the first phone call with the bank is to be believed then i was supposed to receive the card in two working days this explains how someone got the card on the Monday, but when i didn't receive the card the worker in the branch told me this would never happen it would take at least 5-7 working days for the card to be receive... ?

At ATM's the withdrawal daily limit is £500 but when it over the counter withdrawal i don't know if there is a limit but the limit to not have to be asked for ID is under £2,000

EarthBoy

paragon909 wrote: »

..every bank requires a pin number to withdraw money.

That's not true. I can confirm the OP's statement that Nationwide do not use chip and pin machines at the counter. They take your card and swipe it in a slot in their keyboard to see your account details.

I've never withdrawn money over the counter, I've only paid in, but I have overheard other customers being asked for ID when they want to make a withdrawal, although I don't know how much they were withdrawing, and I don't know if they ask all customers or not.

Yorkshire_Pud

I thought new cards had to be unlocked before they could be used, some kind of security step!?:D