Suspect credit card transactions

TallulahT

Bit of a long story...

Whilst trying to begin the process of getting my 77 year old auntie moved nearer to us, we recently discovered her finances are in a complete mess. She's heavily in debt with credit cards, and I've now got a debt management plan set up with Step Change.

But I've been going through her credit card and bank statements and discovered many suspect looking transactions.
Examples-
on Halifax debit card
Oct 20 - Printeternally £59.00 - this occurs as a payment again in Dec 20, Jan 21, Mar 21
Dec 20 - Photobumble.com £59.00 x 2 on different dates in Dec
Dec 20 -WELL OKMAL7.COM £49.95 (many similar to this with random letter/number mixes for payee name)
Dec 20 - Bundleprint.com £49.00, again Jul21

Too many examples to list from credit cards (M&S card and John Lewis Partnership card) including lots more of these photo print type companies, going back to July 20.

She did have payment refunded in Jan 21 as it was recognised as fraud by the bank (VASUSTCS.COM) and following that there were no more of the transactions from the random letter/number mixes.

She has bad memory problems and gets very confused (suspect she has dementia) and can't remember what any of these charges for. I've been back through all emails and can't find anything relating to any of the dodgy transactions. And, as we've been clearing her house we've not found anything to show for these transactions. I really can't imagine what she would have bought from these printing companies, especially for the numerous transactions across the credit cards.

I've tried contacting John Lewis card fraud dept by phone, but they wouldn't speak to me as I've not got LPA.

The dodgy transactions seem to have stopped in Sept 21.

A lot of the transactions were from companies outside of the UK, surely the credit card companies should have picked up on an unusual pattern of transactions, especially for someone of her age?!

So, I'd really like to know if there's anything I can do now about all of these transactions? Is it too late to ask the bank and CC companies to investigate and possibly refund as they appear to be fraudulent? These have contributed in a huge way to her being in so much debt.

There are also 2 payments made to Revolut from John Lewis credit card back in April 21 on the same day, one for £169 and one for £856. She wouldn't have bought anything for such a big amount. When we were at hers at the weekend I found a gold coloured metal Revolut credit card, which has only added to the mystery! I've not come across any sort of paperwork regarding Revolut and there are no more charges to any of her accounts from Revolut. Not knowing how they work, I've no idea what's going on, why she made those payments and why she's got this credit card from them (she says she has no idea).

Thanks in advance.

eskbanker

TallulahT said:

I've tried contacting John Lewis card fraud dept by phone, but they wouldn't speak to me as I've not got LPA.

Are you going to get this?

TallulahT said:

A lot of the transactions were from companies outside of the UK, surely the credit card companies should have picked up on an unusual pattern of transactions, especially for someone of her age?!

So, I'd really like to know if there's anything I can do now about all of these transactions? Is it too late to ask the bank and CC companies to investigate and possibly refund as they appear to be fraudulent? These have contributed in a huge way to her being in so much debt.

There's a huge difference between you not knowing what the transactions are and them actually being fraudulent - it is possible to challenge any transaction if there's a genuine belief that it was unauthorised, but my suspicion here is that there will be evidence that she signed up to various services.  Any such claims need to be made within 13 months:

https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/unauthorised-payments-account

However, going forward, she (or someone with LPA) can ask for each continuous payment authority (individually) to be stopped to prevent further payments.

born_again

These all seem to be print companies. Often people get some prints & do not realise that it starts a CPA. Or they are tagged on the back of another purchase or free trial.

Has she had any other family or friends helping her with her finances?

Can you get her to go through security & then ask that they speak to you. Should not be a problem. I think that the only way forward is to get them stopped, so no more comes out.
Reporting fraud could see the companies come back with her details & she would just be redebited again.

There is a time limit of 13 months on reporting fraud/disputes.

TallulahT

Thanks to you both.

Yes, we've started the process of getting the LPA.

No one else has been helping her.

I'll look into contacting the card companies re the ones with the random number/letter mixes as they look most likely to be fraudulent.

penners324

Revolut is a current account and sounds like she has a premium account with them (with monthly fees).

You/she need to get access to that ASAP.

Is the Revolut app on her phone,?

WillPS

Fraudulent transactions typically involve products or services that the criminal can either get quickly (food delivery typically) or quickly convert in to cash (common examples are gift cards, cryptocurrency and luxury goods).

Print on demand type products doesn't really fit the bill as they are of little to no value to anyone other than the recipient and they involve uploading of identifying material of whoever they are intended for. That's not to say it's impossible, but I would compassionately suggest these are probably legitimate (or at least not fraudulent) purchases.

The Revolut thing is something of a puzzle. Is your auntie tech savvy?

Brie

It may be easier to get third party authority on the bank accounts rather then simply waiting for the LPA.  I've got this for MiL so I can do anything on her bank account other than shut it down.  Might be handy for you in any case.  I don't know if credit cards will allow you something similar but for either if she is there and goes through security (as suggested by @Bornagain) and says you are talking on her behalf any of the customer service people should be happy to assist you.  It's likely to be needed each time you ring until the paperwork is in order.

SiliconChip

The LPA may be a bit of a drawn out (and expensive) process, if she doesn't have capacity to authorise it, which seems possible, you'll have to go to the Court of Protection

https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals/court-of-protection

brianposter

born_again said:

There is a time limit of 13 months on reporting fraud/disputes.

Who says there is a time limit ?

eskbanker

brianposter said:

born_again said:

There is a time limit of 13 months on reporting fraud/disputes.

Who says there is a time limit ?

The FCA, in the link I posted above....

brianposter

Thanks. It would appear that the time limit is with respect to providing a refund.

I would expect a bank to act on a fraud report whatever the timescale.