Forged cheque nightmare - HSBC making me pay £10,500

malacka96

Robin9 wrote: »

I don't understand - your signature was on a cheque that got paid into your account.

So what account got debited the £9,500 ?

I really don’t know or understand either! The accounts they showed me that had the money transferred I did not recognise. The cheque was returned and left me overdrawn by £10,500.

Comms69

Who's name was on the cheque?!?!?!

malacka96

Comms69 wrote: »

Who's name was on the cheque?!?!?!

I can’t remember. They only showed me the copy of the cheque once back in the meeting in October, I was in such shock I didn’t take everything in. I just distinctly remember the worker’s finger pointing to the signature and being in disbelief.

All I recall about the cheque is that it was for the amount of £9500 and with my signature forged.

Terry_Towelling

I was puzzled by this story too, so I waited to see what others made of it before adding. Apologies OP if I (and others) seem to be at a loss on this one and I hope it all gets sorted out for you.

Anyway, can I clarify a few points with you? You say HSBC were your former bankers. This means you were not using their current account, yet you had left it open, complete with a £1000 overdraft facility. If the bank are asking you for £10500, that means the account balance was zero at the time of the 'fraudulent' pay-in. Curiously, you are also talking of HSBC investigating the issue and letting you use the account again - but it was your former bank, so you wouldn't need to use it again and when they closed it later on, that would a be a non-issue because you weren't using it.

So, as things stand, you haven't lost out at all but HSBC are asking you to pay up.

Are we to believe that an 'inactive' account had £9500 paid into it, HSBC put the cheque through clearing and then allowed £10500 to be transferred out in two lumps? I can't believe they would have allowed that to happen.

We then have the cheque that was paid in. If it was signed in your name, it was presumably purporting to be from an account in your name. The fact that it cleared (initially) presumably means the paying account had enough funds in it to meet the obligation. Subsequently, the source account holder must have shouted and the cheque was returned to HSBC unpaid.

So, whose account was that source account - or is that a red herring? Presumably it wasn't any account owned or operated by you, @malacka96, or you would have been the one to shout when it was debited to your 'other' account.

The phone call that 'tricked' you into revealing your online security details is another curiosity. You say this call came in a few weeks prior. You also say they told you the account would be wiped off the system if you didn't provide the information. Presumably then, at that time, HSBC was still your current account provider or wiping you off their system wouldn't have been an issue - yet the account balance was supposedly 'zero'. So when did HSBC become your former bankers?

Being duped is one of those things that can, and does, happen - despite all of the warnings we get telling us not to reveal any security data to anyone calling or emailing us. However, it just doesn't hang together here. All of the time lines are wrong.

Anyway, regardless of what I may be thinking right now, I can't see how anyone on this forum can practically do anything to help you. You do need to report it as a crime (regardless of any evidence as to the identity of the culprit) if that's what you believe it to be.

Sorry.

usefulmale

If all this happened in January and it is now September, why haven't HSBC taken legal action to recover their money?


All you have is collections begging you to give them some money.


Block their number and come back if you receive court papers. If you get begging letters from debt collectors, inform them in writing that the debt is disputed and they have to pass that back to HSBC.


It would then be up to HSBC to take legal action but they haven't yet, have they? 10 grand is not a small amout, after all, so why haven't they?

malacka96

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

I was puzzled by this story too, so I waited to see what others made of it before adding. Apologies OP if I (and others) seem to be at a loss on this one and I hope it all gets sorted out for you.

Anyway, can I clarify a few points with you? You say HSBC were your former bankers. This means you were not using their current account, yet you had left it open, complete with a £1000 overdraft facility. If the bank are asking you for £10500, that means the account balance was zero at the time of the 'fraudulent' pay-in. Curiously, you are also talking of HSBC investigating the issue and letting you use the account again - but it was your former bank, so you wouldn't need to use it again and when they closed it later on, that would a be a non-issue because you weren't using it.

So, as things stand, you haven't lost out at all but HSBC are asking you to pay up.

Are we to believe that an 'inactive' account had £9500 paid into it, HSBC put the cheque through clearing and then allowed £10500 to be transferred out in two lumps? I can't believe they would have allowed that to happen.

We then have the cheque that was paid in. If it was signed in your name, it was presumably purporting to be from an account in your name. The fact that it cleared (initially) presumably means the paying account had enough funds in it to meet the obligation. Subsequently, the source account holder must have shouted and the cheque was returned to HSBC unpaid.

So, whose account was that source account - or is that a red herring? Presumably it wasn't any account owned or operated by you, @malacka96, or you would have been the one to shout when it was debited to your 'other' account.

The phone call that 'tricked' you into revealing your online security details is another curiosity. You say this call came in a few weeks prior. You also say they told you the account would be wiped off the system if you didn't provide the information. Presumably then, at that time, HSBC was still your current account provider or wiping you off their system wouldn't have been an issue - yet the account balance was supposedly 'zero'. So when did HSBC become your former bankers?

Being duped is one of those things that can, and does, happen - despite all of the warnings we get telling us not to reveal any security data to anyone calling or emailing us. However, it just doesn't hang together here. All of the time lines are wrong.

Anyway, regardless of what I may be thinking right now, I can't see how anyone on this forum can practically do anything to help you. You do need to report it as a crime (regardless of any evidence as to the identity of the culprit) if that's what you believe it to be.

Sorry.

Hi,

I say that HSBC are my former bank in the present time (so currently they are my former bank, before Jan 2018 they were my current bamk), as after they closed my account in January I am no longer banking with them. When this identity theft and fraud occurred HSBC were still my main day to day bank, I had a student overdraft £1000 of which had been used at the time. My account did not have sufficient funds in it for an amount of £9566 so how that even cleared is beyond me. I did report the fraud to the police, and they referred me to Action Fraud as they said that is their department that deals with issues like this.

malacka96

usefulmale wrote: »

If all this happened in January and it is now September, why haven't HSBC taken legal action to recover their money?


All you have is collections begging you to give them some money.


Block their number and come back if you receive court papers. If you get begging letters from debt collectors, inform them in writing that the debt is disputed and they have to pass that back to HSBC.


It would then be up to HSBC to take legal action but they haven't yet, have they? 10 grand is not a small amout, after all, so why haven't they?

For now the harrassing has stopped temporarily because I have opened a case against them with the Financial Ombudsman Service. HSBC told me that when a case is on-going they do not send letters for debt collection in that time-period. I do not know why they haven't taken legal action yet but I hope they don't! If anyone knows what I can do if that is to be the result then please inform me. I really cannot handle all of this.

Robin9

Your story is wearing thin ........

In your initial post you said ...."they presented me with a cheque of £9500 that had been paid in my name into my account, with my signature forged"

Who signs a cheque payable to themselves ?

colsten

I am sorry but I find the events you describe a little confusing, OP. Can you clarify by answering the questions below, please?

malacka96 wrote: »

When I went they presented me with a cheque of £9566 that had been paid in my name into my account, with my signature forged!!

Why would a cheque that gets paid into your account carry your signature? Was the cheque drawn on a different account in your name?

Where did/do you keep your chequebook?

malacka96 wrote: »

......The cheque was returned and left me overdrawn by £10,500.

How can you end up overdrawn when the cheque got returned?

malacka96

Robin9 wrote: »

Your story is wearing thin ........

In your initial post you said ...."they presented me with a cheque of £9500 that had been paid in my name into my account, with my signature forged"

Who signs a cheque payable to themselves ?

Please take it easy on me, my mind is all over the place. I don't know how many times I can say it but the whole thing has left me extremely stressed. I am also trying to recall a cheque that I saw once 11 months ago. The cheque must have been paid to someone else "by myself"...I just remember a lady saying into my account. Sorry for not being coherent.