Debt card fraud bank a/c closed

aidoDel

Hello,


My wife was a victim of identity fraud just before Christmas. She had details of her debit card accessed on multiple occasions: three times with Monzo and once with Lloyds. Both banks have now decided to close her account and there is no clarity on any repayment. What can she do?



It seems that her cards were accessed during work when she keeps her purse in her staff locker. Monzon repaid for two occasions, but are refusing to pay the third one and closing her account in 60 days. She has filed a complaint which is currently under review. The outstanding amount is for circa £1000.



The Lloyds situation is more serious and there was £5000 spent on gambling websites. They have frozen her account and given notice to close it in 60 days. It remains unclear if they are paying back and she is getting mixed messages from various departments. Online it seems that the money is repaid but because the account is frozen she can't do anything and they continually say that the investigation is ongoing.



I'm curious to know her rights, the consequences and whatever help might be out there. Will she have troubling opening a new bank account with another bank and will her credit rating be affected? Are there agencies who can advise us legally?



She reported the first instance to Action Fraud, who said it wasn't a crime. She reported the later instances and they agreed it was a crime and gave her a crime number. It turns out several out women in her workplace also suffered from the same crime, but none for as much money as her. She has encouraged her colleagues to also report this to Action Fraud.



I don't understand why the banks' verification systems did not active when using her card to make payments to gambling websites - she has never used a gambling website in her life. Surely the banks should have flagged this as unusual activity?



She is extremely upset and worried about the whole ordeal and I feel rather useless. I'm hoping someone here might be able to advise us or might have experienced a similar situation and knows the potential outcomes.

Ben8282

You say that several other women (only women?) in her workplace have been similarly affected. You say that you are sure that her cards were accessed while in her work locker.
I assume that this has been reported to senior management. What are they doing about it? Have they involved the police? While action fraud may say the financial transactions are not a crime, accessing another persons closed locker is and the police will be obliged to investigate so would suggest that the company involve them ASAP.
You will have to allow the banks to carry out their investigations. I can't really speculate how the thief managed to get past identity and security checks, both the checks of the gambling websites and the checks of the banks, and spend so much money on gambling websites. The gambling wevsites will in all probability have a record of the ISP and possibly the device used as well so it may not be all that difficult to pinpoint who the culprit is.

Gaz83

I'm going to take a stab that they are closing the account as they feel she is not taking reasonable steps to keep her card secure, and may even believe she is complicit in any fraud.