Urgent help needed (bank accounts)

d123

EachPenny wrote: »

As I said, hypothetical example.

But the timescales are the same. The account could be blocked (blocked/closed, means the same thing to some people) as soon as the bank's computer spots that money has been paid into the account from a source which is flagged as high risk.

What you'd expect the bank to do is to ask the customer about the payment and give them an opportunity to explain they were an innocent victim of someone mistakenly paying money into their account. But if there were other unusual activity on the account, for example attempts to withdraw large amounts of cash after the deposit was made, then it would be a bit difficult to prove innocence.

You might also expect an innocent victim with only one bank account to complain vigorously at the time about having their banking facilities withdrawn, not 'agree' to it. But that obviously depends on the victim as some may not have the knowledge or capability needed to make use of the complaints process.

What bank do you know of that has fraud staff working at night with the authority to close bank accounts within hours of an alleged fraud attempt?

Robin9

I would hope that my bank has automatic systems in place to block the account for unauthorised use.

The OP may mean Block rather than Close - still a wild story

EachPenny

d123 wrote: »

What bank do you know of that has fraud staff working at night with the authority to close bank accounts within hours of an alleged fraud attempt?

As I said:

(blocked/closed, means the same thing to some people)

If you are referring to the OP's case then whilst we are all giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming they are an innocent victim, there are key parts of the story which are currently missing/unexplained.

The most significant of which is how anyone but the most incompetent fraudster would see any way of gaining by paying £1300 into someone's account without the ability to take more than the daily cash withdrawal limit back out (even assuming they had also obtained the PIN for the card).

Even taking the most optimistic approach that the victim has no overdraft, a £500 daily cash withdrawal limit, and is able to use that full limit either side of midnight at most the fraudster would get back £1000. The alternative is to make purchases (not involving home delivery :doh:) to that value before the card owner realises the card is lost and gets it blocked.

There has to be an easier and less risky way to launder £1300 than to steal a stranger's debit card.

The other unexplained point is why any bank would close someone's account because they simply had some money they knew nothing about paid into their account and reported their lost debit card as soon as they realised it was missing.

People get money wrongly paid into their accounts every day - they don't all have their accounts closed.

Ahmsbelkz

Some of you talk like you are experts. There are ways fraudsters do things that you and I may not know. The story is what happened, sounds bizzare but if it wasnt bizzare i wouldnt be on these forums getting a solution. So please if you have no advice to give rather than act as a judge please dont comment.

EachPenny

Ahmsbelkz wrote: »

Some of you talk like you are experts. There are ways fraudsters do things that you and I may not know. The story is what happened, sounds bizzare but if it wasnt bizzare i wouldnt be on these forums getting a solution. So please if you have no advice to give rather than act as a judge please dont comment.

It surprises me that you don't seem even remotely interested in how a fraudster was attempting to use your account. If you want to go down the route suggested by forum members of making complaints and trying to get the marker lifted then you need to understand exactly what happened.

If it was Nationwide that reported you, as well as closing your account, then they must have felt there was a good reason for their actions (even if it was in error). The marker won't be removed just because you say 'pretty please'. If there were transactions on your account which suggest fraudulent/illegal activity - and nearly 12 months later you are saying it was nothing to do with you - then you will need to have some kind of plausible argument to put forward to counter Nationwide's claims.

That isn't being 'judge', it is practical advice which you need to take on board.

Fraudsters do have all kinds of tricks, but there are some aspects of the banking system which are like the laws of physics... as much as you'd like to change them it is impossible. So for example trying to withdraw more money from a cash machine than your daily limit will never work. Making more than about 10 sucessive contactless payments on a debit card won't work. Making a totally out of character purchase for £1300 on a debit card will almost certainly trip further checks. You don't have to be an 'expert' to know any of this, you just need to follow this forum regularly.

This is an open public forum and people are entitled to speculate and respond to questions on how this fraud might have worked. We all have an interest in this kind of thing - the idea that your bank account could be closed down due to no fault of your own is something we all feel uneasy about. So nobody is trying to be 'judge', we're just trying to figure out how this could have happened - whether you are interested in the answer or not.

d123

Robin9 wrote: »

I would hope that my bank has automatic systems in place to block the account for unauthorised use.

The OP may mean Block rather than Close - still a wild story

EachPenny wrote: »

As I said:

I would suggest the huge majority of people would not superimpose ‘block’ for ‘close’, they might use block for suspend, but it would make no sense to use it instead of close.

Also, the OP specifically says the account had been closed when they phoned the bank in the morning.

EachPenny

d123 wrote: »

I would suggest the huge majority of people would not superimpose ‘block’ for ‘close’, they might use block for suspend, but it would make no sense to use it instead of close.

Also, the OP specifically says the account had been closed when they phoned the bank in the morning.

With respect to you, and with no offence to the OP intended, the 'huge majority' of people would also scream blue murder if their bank falsely accused them of fraud and closed their account down.

There are lots of gaps in the information we have about this intriguing event. What exactly happened, when and how remain uncertain. Even the OP - who was personally involved - appears only to have the vaguest of ideas what happened.

I guess you could turn your question around:

What bank do you know of that has fraud staff working at night with the authority to close bank accounts within hours of an alleged fraud attempt?

...do you know which banks don't have fraud staff working at night with the authority to close accounts? Or fraud staff who start work at 9am?

It is all a bit academic though. Something happened which resulted in the OP's account being closed.

Robin9

Block/close/suspend - we are never going to know.

If we take OP's "Close" then there's more to this than we or the OP are being told.

Ahmsbelkz

UPDATE:

Nationwide have finally confirmed placing a marker on my name after I went through to the correct department. (SID) They said they are not confident I am innocent but are going to review removing the marker (not guarenteed). They said the best case scenario is we remove the marker but you will never be able to bank with us again. Worst case scenario everything will remain how it is. (In which case i will contact the financial ombudsman.)

Thanks for the advice and help you guys have allowed to me to pin down the problem and now its a matter of when it gets solved. Fingers crossed

wizzywig27

Nationwide do you see as being accountable for potential fraud on your account, and the fact they will never let you bank with them again suggests that they feel strongly enough you were involved.

Personally, even if they removed the marker I'd be arguing my case, if I was innocent of course. Your problem is you seem vague on details on here, and I understand we are all random strangers, but if you struggle to provide accurate details to the bank they will not budge.

I don't see this ending happily for you I am afraid