Bank account fraud

Cliffkerry6068

Hi how do i help my relative recover money stolen from her bank account by her sister and niece 

eskbanker

The police would probably be the best place to start?

Edit: I should have added what quickly becomes obvious in subsequent posts, i.e. that to get any meaningful guidance, you need to supply significantly more detail of exactly what happened and how, rather than expecting people to guess....

JGB1955

How have they got enough details to be able to move money from her account to theirs?

Brie

She needs to find out why the money was taken and how.  Once she knows that then she can decide whether she has any recourse to make the bank deal with the fraud.  You can't ask the bank on her behalf unless she has given you permission to talk to them.  

It may be helpful to get a SAR (subject access request) so the bank needs to provide every record they have of her - potentially this may include transcripts of phone calls or at least notes about phone call made by her sister and niece impersonating her.  

If however she gave someone her debit card and pin so they could do some shopping for her she's likely out of luck.  The bank will assume that she has not acted responsibly in keeping her own money safe.  So, stating the obvious, if she gave her card to sister and said "pick up this stuff from Tescos" and sister then went to an ATM and cleared her account that would be the account holders fault.

SiliconChip

To be honest the initial suggestion from @eskbanker is probably the correct one. Without at least a crime number the bank is unlikely to do a lot. The police probably won't do much either at this stage (they may do later if the bank confirms that money has been taken fraudulently) but with a crime number she can approach the bank again, and this time if they refuse to do anything she can make an official complaint.

In terms of you supporting her from a distance occasionally banks will provide third party access to accounts but the right thing to do would be to be granted Finance Lasting Power of Attorney https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

Cliffkerry6068

OK, thanks everyone for replying. I reported her sister who believe it or not is a Social Worker, doesn't that make you want to scream. Social Work England aren't even bothered as it is a personal issue not a professional one. What a joke. 

Standingstrong

You need to get your sister into a branch ASAP to report this fraud..

how much did they “drip feed “ from your sisters account ? Are we talking £££’s ? 

You both need to go to branch and explain the terrible situation

is it via bank transfer or cash withdrawls?

if it’s cash withdrawals her bank needs to raise them as fraudulent atm withdrawals 

if by transfer your sister can dispute those and they can contact the receiving account’s and put in a claim and block their accounts until they prove where this moneys come from. 

k_man

Also suggest you remove the names from your post, as that and the username mean that it may be possible for individuals to be identified.
It is possible some of the accusations could then be potentially libelous.

Cliffkerry6068

Thanks for the advice 

Cliffkerry6068

The amount is £14,000.

elsien

She can set you up as someone who can speak on her behalf.
Them straight back to post 1.
How  exactly have they managed to access the money. Drip feeding money how exactly? Over what period and why had it taken her this long to notice - does she not get bank statements? Does your relative have an online account she can go into tochange all her passwords, set up two factor authentication using her own mobile number and remove any details relating to the relatives alleged to have stolen the money. 

Then if they have taken it without her knowledge or consent she must report to the police. It won’t go anywhere otherwise. 
If your relative is a vulnerable adult then she/you could also raise a safeguarding with the local authority. 

But for any of this to go anywhere, she needs to be very clear on how the money has been taken without her knowledge. 

She may also wish to change the locks to prevent any further access.