Lloyds account blocked along with my mums Halifax Account

swaydog

Hi,
My lloyds account just recently got blocked presumably due receiving a large sum from a trusted source , who in turn received it from a third party that I don't know. I've called Lloyds and have been told I have to wait til they finish their investigation, which he said could be days or an indefinite period.
However that is not my main concern at the moment.
I am also a joint customer on my Mums Halifax account.(Halifax being part of Lloyds) She added me in case of emergencies. I hardly ever use it and she gets her pension paid into it and its her only account she uses for everyday living.
I just discovered that the Halifax account is also blocked as I'm named on it. I can still log online to check balance and transactions but I cannot do transfers and both our cards are blocked.
Currently she is in Ireland visiting family and she doesn't know about this. I'm hoping her account will be unblocked before she tries to use her card as there was no unusual activity on her account at all.
It's only blocked because my name is on it too.
I went to Halifax branch and explained the situation and to see if I could be taken off the account, but I cannot while being blocked.
I was given a number to call and they said the account will remain blocked during investigation.

So does anyone know whether my mums account will be unblocked when they realise there's no unusual activity on the Halifax account or will my Lloyds issue have to be resolved first.
I can see online she withdrew a few hundred euros about a week ago which should last her a few weeks, but I dreading a phone call.

Any input appreciated

bluffer

If they think there is unusual activity ie a large cash deposit and there is an suspicion of crime they have to investigate it. For them to have even a suspicion and them not investigate leaves them open to criminal proceedings.


The downside is that they are not allowed to tell you exactly why and what has prompted it.but if it is all above board they will unlock all the accounts they froze. Just be honest with any questions they ask, after all I assume you have nothing to hide. How long it takes depends on the amounts, what information you give them etc etc



But just from your description it does sound a bit odd.. " receiving a large sum from a trusted source , who in turn received it from a third party that I don't know. "

swaydog

bluffer wrote: »

If they think there is unusual activity ie a large cash deposit and there is an suspicion of crime they have to investigate it. For them to have even a suspicion and them not investigate leaves them open to criminal proceedings.


The downside is that they are not allowed to tell you exactly why and what has prompted it.but if it is all above board they will unlock all the accounts they froze. Just be honest with any questions they ask, after all I assume you have nothing to hide. How long it takes depends on the amounts, what information you give them etc etc



But just from your description it does sound a bit odd.. " receiving a large sum from a trusted source , who in turn received it from a third party that I don't know. "

I aware of them needing to investigating my lloyds issue, but I'm asking about my Mums Halifax account which wasn't involved and is blocked just because my name is on it.
They can see that account is not involved so I'm wondering if that can be unblocked before they complete their investigation of the Lloyds account

swaydog

FriendlyFoe wrote: »

Additionally I would they would not block the account if it was suspected money laundering as that would be tipping off. The account gets blocked when the third party transfer in is reported as fraud. Why was the third party passing those funds onto you?

The third party passed it on to my friend,for reasons I don't know. My friend didn't have his bank card so transferred it to me as he wanted to make a large purchase. But again I'm not asking about that. I willing to defend myself in any investigation, it's just that my mums account has been dragged into it, despite not being involved whatsoever.
I'm asking if anyone might know if her account will remain blocked until the Lloyds investigation is complete

tempus_fugit

I'm no expert on this sort of thing but it makes sense to me that any account with your name on it is frozen, if it is suspected that you have taken part in fraudulent or criminal activity. It's not just "participating accounts" that are blocked, but the participants themselves, so I think you will just have to wait for the investigation to be completed. As the earlier poster said, the transaction does sound iffy, and it's not one that I would have allowed on any of my accounts. The reason for mentioning this is that I think you may have to be prepared for both accounts to be closed, in which case you will have a lot of explaining to do with your mum.

swaydog

It might sound iffy to those who read these threads regularly. To me it was just doing someone a favour. If the sender of the original funds didn't have permission to send them then how were they able to send them. To a lay person like me it's seems like a banking security failure of which an innocent person like me is suffering the consequences and additionally an innocent 78 year old widow in a foreign country cannot access her funds.

tempus_fugit

swaydog wrote: »

It might sound iffy to those who read these threads regularly. To me it was just doing someone a favour. If the sender of the original funds didn't have permission to send them then how were they able to send them. To a lay person like me it's seems like a banking security failure of which an innocent person like me is suffering the consequences and additionally an innocent 78 year old widow in a foreign country cannot access her funds.

[BIB] Fraudulent and illegal transactions aren't blocked automatically, they occur all the time so just because it took place doesn't mean there can't be anything wrong with it.

As for doing someone a favour, I'm sorry but you just don't do this. There have been many cases on this very forum of people "doing someone a favour" and then having their accounts closed as a result. You don't use your account as a mule for other people's transactions. If it had been me I would have politely explained that if they need to make a purchase then they will have to find their card or get a new one from the bank.

It seems very convenient to me that they needed to make a large purchase but could not find their card. It's a classic excuse to pass iffy money to another party in case of investigation. And wether or not you trusted this person you said yourself that you did not know the origins of the money and that alone puts you at massive risk. Do you know what the large purchase was for?

xylophone

I think that you are going to have to warn your mother - supposing she tries to access her account and can't - won't she be in a panic?

swaydog

xylophone wrote: »

I think that you are going to have to warn your mother - supposing she tries to access her account and can't - won't she be in a panic?

Yes, that's why I'm trying to address that point and not so much the alleged fraud issue, which ill deal with. She'll be in a panic if I tell her too. I was hoping Halifax will see her account wasn't involved and unblock it before I tell her. The bank fraud guy I spoke with said it could be 2 days to indefinite so I was hoping someone on here might have any experience

worried_jim

This is not going to end well. Doing someone a favour and letting a third party run funds through your account is about as dodgy as it gets.

swaydog

tempus_fugit wrote: »

[BIB] Fraudulent and illegal transactions aren't blocked automatically, they occur all the time so just because it took place doesn't mean there can't be anything wrong with it.

As for doing someone a favour, I'm sorry but you just don't do this. There have been many cases on this very forum of people "doing someone a favour" and then having their accounts closed as a result. You don't use your account as a mule for other people's transactions. If it had been me I would have politely explained that if they need to make a purchase then they will have to find their card or get a new one from the bank.

It seems very convenient to me that they needed to make a large purchase but could not find their card. It's a classic excuse to pass iffy money to another party in case of investigation. And wether or not you trusted this person you said yourself that you did not know the origins of the money and that alone puts you at massive risk. Do you know what the large purchase was for?

I wasn't suggesting that fraud transfers should always be blocked, I was suggesting the fraudster should not be able to access the funds in the first place, in order to transfer them. That's either the account holders fault or the banks.
I wasn't that they couldn't find their card it's that it was 80 miles away.i was driving him to make the purchase and he was expecting to use his card, then realised he didn't have it on him. So we transferred the money to my account. He's a victim of this too as his account has been blocked too. He's trying to resolve the issue too but ATM my concern is with my mum.
I can deal with my blocked account for a month or so but my mum cannot