Help! Father badly scammed

soulsaver

xylophone wrote: »

Probably because

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But family?

Owain_Moneysaver

soulsaver wrote: »

But family?

Yes. People of a certain generation had the mentality of Careless Talk Costs Lives. Consider the secrets of Bletchley Park which were kept, erm, secret even from closest family by the thousands of people who worked there for decades afterwards. If you were told something in confidence, you kept that confidence, and if you weren't told something you minded your own business and didn't ask.

AstroTurtle

You could spend forever querying what the bank/IFA should have done but you can only focus on what they were required to do.

I suggest you ascertain exactly what audit trails they have and any evidence on how they processed the transactions and if any additional checks were done etc as not to be blunt but your father may not remember absolutely everything from pure memory.

tacpot12

I just wanted to commend the OP for posting his father's story. Although painful to relate, this story has alerted us to this new scam. I have not been aware of a scam where the FCA have been used as a cover story.

eskbanker

tacpot12 wrote: »

I just wanted to commend the OP for posting his father's story. Although painful to relate, this story has alerted us to this new scam. I have not been aware of a scam where the FCA have been used as a cover story.

Sounds like the FCA have been familiar with the principle for a couple of years, albeit the variant described in this thread isn't specifically identified here: https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/avoid-scams-unauthorised-firms/fake-fca-emails-letters-phone-calls

robatwork

Martin or Paul Lewis of Moneybox may very well be interested and want to take up this story.

mustiuc

I can't understand how this could happen. With so many people involved and nobody raised an alarm.
A couple of months ago I went to the bank to take 12k (or15) and I sat there more than 45mins being asked endless times by staff why i need the money, if i know about nowadays scams, if is something wrong just to give them a sign and they'll raise the alarm and everything. They were so pushy and asking so many questions that I started to get annoyed and frustrated.
Now I understand why.

Two weeks ago I got a text message saying "thanks for telling us about change your name or address". I phone them immediately and they block all my accounts,cards,etc. I sat nearly 1 week without having access to my money due to their checks and I have been appointed to their branch and speak/proof my identity and name to their branch manager. Again, i found that "excessive" and annoying to go to them and show documents.
Now I understand why.

Missus_Hyde

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about your father, Benbythesea; it must be dreadful for him.

mustiuc wrote: »

I can't understand how this could happen. With so many people involved and nobody raised an alarm.
A couple of months ago I went to the bank to take 12k (or15) and I sat there more than 45mins being asked endless times by staff why i need the money, if i know about nowadays scams, if is something wrong just to give them a sign and they'll raise the alarm and everything. They were so pushy and asking so many questions that I started to get annoyed and frustrated.
Now I understand why.

Two weeks ago I got a text message saying "thanks for telling us about change your name or address". I phone them immediately and they block all my accounts,cards,etc. I sat nearly 1 week without having access to my money due to their checks and I have been appointed to their branch and speak/proof my identity and name to their branch manager. Again, i found that "excessive" and annoying to go to them and show documents.
Now I understand why.

I also can't understand how this could happen with the bank allowing him to withdraw such large sums of money, without setting all their alarm bells ringing.

Recently I was moving a sum of money (not as much as 650k!) to another account held by me and had to ring the Fraud Squad and undergo a Spanish Inquisition type enquiry from my bank before they would allow the money to be transferred (despite my assuring them I was doing this of my own free will, I was subjected to all their "are you sure no one is trying to force you to transfer the money, you poor old soul"fraud talk......I'd like to see them try!! In fact, now if I want to move any money over £5000, I've taken to ringing the bank beforehand to save time.

Of course, after a tale such as the original post I can see why the banks are so over the top with their security, so I'm very surprised that OP's father was allowed to withdraw such large sums, especially over a few days.

MABLE

I wanted to transfer £12000 to a new beneficiary and as soon I hit the button I was contacted by the fraud dept. They questioned on what the money was for and I was not being forced into doing this. After about 10 minutes they eventually agreed for the transfer to go through.

At the time I was very annoyed about the way the bank handled my situation but on reflection they were just looking out for me and no doubt themselves.

I remember at the time of trembling with fear I was doing something wrong.

Anyway full marks to Lloyds for their efficient fraud systems.

Jami74

MABLE wrote: »

The more I read this thread the more angry I feel inside. Are we to assume once you receive the age of 70 plus all common sense goes out the window.

I am sure we are not to assume that at all. I know lots of people far younger who are not internet savvy and don't have any scam awareness (the other week I caught my partner about to put card details into a website because Argos were going to give him a free watch and he just had to pay postage :doh: He is a long way from 70).

I imagine we hear about older people more often getting scammed because they are more likely to be targeted. They are likely to have more money and more time to spend on the phone being groomed and going to the bank to transfer funds.

A couple of years ago we went to the bank to withdraw £4k and that involved showing ID and explaining why we wanted to withdraw it to more than one person. The OPs Dad did want to withdraw/transfer his money in fact he was probably very determined that he needed to do it exactly then, he believed he was doing the right thing because the scammers did such a good job on him :mad: They probably told him exactly what to expect and how to answer and the importance of keeping quiet. I hope it was an inside job and they get caught.