bank closed sons account and accused him of fraud

optomystic

they actually said that before he made them aware of what happened to him!

Nasqueron

xylophone wrote: »

Get assaulted, kidnapped and robbed?

I hope not.......

I suspect they mean that some unscrupulous students take money out then claim it was stolen and ask for a refund from the bank. With a police report behind it though the bank should really reconsider and FOS should make them do so

BooJewels

optomystic wrote: »

they have said to him, "students do this all the time"

If the bank are so sure that this is such a common occurrence with student accounts - then maybe they should implement stronger security measures for such accounts - they must be losing a fortune. Maybe they need to run an education campaign during the freshers fairs to warn naive students of such perils.

What a ridiculous comment from them. It can't have been much of an in-depth investigation if they didn't even speak to the Police. I assume you passed on the crime number?

Can losing money through crime in this manner be covered by insurance? Maybe on your household policy, if you are being forced to reimburse the bank for the overdraft portion?

Thrugelmir

optomystic wrote: »

the bank, took 2 working days to "fully investigate" complete their investigation and close his account, they have not listened to him at all and have not even spoken to the police yet....
they have said to him, "students do this all the time"

Sounds like he was being used as a money mule.

optomystic

hi
yes he gave them the crime number, but it was after the letter came to say they had completed their investigation, they just keep stating the same thing when we ring them, so we have given up, as the 1st or second reply suggested x

i havent even thought about paying the money back yet

to be honest, we are concentrating on getting him to ask the police the questions he needs answering, clearing his name and getting the bank to realise they have treated him like a criminal,
its his first time at uni and away from home, he is having councelling, dealing with police and trying to carry on, miles away from us with no access to even top his phone up! (yes im working on that too)

masonic

optomystic wrote: »

son is talking to his councillor and police today so we will see how the investigation is going, then we will write to the FOS

anything you think i should add to the FOS letter?

Have you formally complained about the bank's handling of the issue and has the bank issued your son with a final response letter?

The FOS can be contacted before a final response is issued if you need help making your complaint, but they won't take on a case until a final response is issued or 8 weeks has passed since the complaint was made.

masonic

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Sounds like he was being used as a money mule.

It seems likely this is the view the bank has taken. And the bank will have access to the transactions history of the account.

optomystic

no we havent formally complained about the handling of the issue, but they have sent out a final response letter, and told us in it, to complain to the FOS as they are aware we don't agree with their decision!

optomystic

masonic wrote: »

It seems likely this is the view the bank has taken. And the bank will have access to the transactions history of the account.

ooh i just figured out how to do this!

sorry, whats a money mule?

masonic

optomystic wrote: »

ooh i just figured out how to do this!

sorry, whats a money mule?

A money mule is someone who agrees to accept money into their account and to transfer it on to another account (usually there is an agreement that they keep part of the funds as a fee and transfer the rest). This is a popular way of money laundering and young people are often targeted.

So it would be useful to review the transaction history of the account for anything suspicious, so that you can rule this out or know what you are dealing with.