Lloyds Group Closing my Bank Account after a FaceBook Marketplace Sale 3 October 2022 at 1:52PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 11 replies 826 views

emp00

Hello everyone, 

As the title says I made a sale on Facebook marketplace for 160£ once. The buyer sent a relative (friend?) to pick up the item and event the money for the purchase the day prior. 

Two weeks ago I receive a text saying my account has been closed, pending an investigation for receiving fradulent funds. I spoke to representative, explained the situation and was advised Lloyds would review the case and advise. It was suggested I'd need to bring proof of posting for the add and anything to support my claims within 30 days. Since Ive been out of the country I haven't yet provided anything. 

I opened a NatWesst bank account in order to receive my salary. 

Fast forward to today I receive a text informing me my Lloyds, Halifax and Bannk of Scotland accounts will be closed with further details due in the next couple of days.
I would greatly appriciate it if you could advise in regards of - how do I go about ensuring my credit score doesnt' get affected (CIFA?) and should I be worried about my NatWest account?

I've got no savings in the Lloyds account and am actually using 23£ pounds of my 2000£ approved overdraft. 

Thanks

phillw

emp00 said:

As the title says I made a sale on Facebook marketplace for 160£ once. The buyer sent a relative (friend?) to pick up the item and event the money for the purchase the day prior. 

That sounds like something you would do if they were laundering money.

Legitimate buyers would be thinking about what would happen if you were a scammer.

I'd contact lloyds and ask to make a complaint, but I don't think there is much you can do to protect yourself in the short term.

emp00

phillw said:

emp00 said:

As the title says I made a sale on Facebook marketplace for 160£ once. The buyer sent a relative (friend?) to pick up the item and event the money for the purchase the day prior. 

That sounds like something you would do if they were laundering money.

Legitimate buyers would be thinking about what would happen if you were a scammer.

I'd contact lloyds and ask to make a complaint, but I don't think there is much you can do to protect yourself in the short term.

Thanks for the prompt reply. 
I was advised that the buyer has advised them the item was never received hence the complaint raised against my account. 

Protecting myself in the short term meaning - from potential impacts to my other bank accounts, credit score or both? 
I'm shortly returning to the country and will be visiting a branch asap, I just want to ensure this doesn't impact my overall ability to transact and get paid at the end of the day.

WillPS

You don't have a credit score, so don't worry about that. The scores you see online are not seen by anybody other than you.

Your credit records will show a closed account, but nothing more than that. In and of itself that is not a problem.

CIFAS markers are the ones to watch out for: https://www.cifas.org.uk/dsar

Ebe_Scrooge

emp00 said:

I made a sale on Facebook marketplace for 160£ once. The buyer sent a relative (friend?) to pick up the item and event the money for the purchase the day prior.

This is a classic sign of fraudulent activity/money laundering, which is probably why the bank froze your account.

emp00 said:

It was suggested I'd need to bring proof of posting for the add and anything to support my claims within 30 days. Since Ive been out of the country I haven't yet provided anything.

So the bank have fulfilled their legal obligation as regards suspected money-laundering, until such time as you are able to provide evidence to the contrary.

emp00 said:

I was advised that the buyer has advised them the item was never received hence the complaint raised against my account.

I'm a little surprised that an anonymous Facebook buyer is able to raise a complaint directly to your bank.  It's different if it's Paypal, for instance, but banks don't usually get involved in "private" transactions, and certainly not for alleged non-delivery of goods.

As above, check your CIFAS status - but I suspect there's more to this story than you're telling us.

emp00

emp00 said:

I was advised that the buyer has advised them the item was never received hence the complaint raised against my account.

I'm a little surprised that an anonymous Facebook buyer is able to raise a complaint directly to your bank.  It's different if it's Paypal, for instance, but banks don't usually get involved in "private" transactions, and certainly not for alleged non-delivery of goods.

As above, check your CIFAS status - but I suspect there's more to this story than you're telling us.

Thank you for your answer, I'm unsure if the complaint was directly raised with the bank or the police. My building has security cameras so I'm hopeful I'll be able to provide recording as proof of the pick up.

The buyer was happy to pay via paypal or to my bank account directly, I opted in for a direct bank transfer. 

Funds were sent on the day before the pick up and I've had no contact with the buyer since.
Once I got to speak with the representative I was just informed the buyer had complained the TV was never handed/sent over. 

The facebook account has since been either privated or deleted.  

Ed-1

Ebe_Scrooge said:

I'm a little surprised that an anonymous Facebook buyer is able to raise a complaint directly to your bank.  It's different if it's Paypal, for instance, but banks don't usually get involved in "private" transactions, and certainly not for alleged non-delivery of goods.

They raise a scam claim with their bank who then contact your bank that they believe their customer has been defrauded by your customer and to freeze the funds pending investigation.

Ebe_Scrooge

emp00 said:

emp00 said:

I was advised that the buyer has advised them the item was never received hence the complaint raised against my account.

I'm a little surprised that an anonymous Facebook buyer is able to raise a complaint directly to your bank.  It's different if it's Paypal, for instance, but banks don't usually get involved in "private" transactions, and certainly not for alleged non-delivery of goods.

As above, check your CIFAS status - but I suspect there's more to this story than you're telling us.

Once I got to speak with the representative I was just informed the buyer had complained the TV was never handed/sent over.

This is the part that's confusing me.  An ordinary bank is highly unlikely to get involved in alleged non-delivery of goods in a "private" transaction - by which I mean, member of the public selling to another member of the public.  Paypal have a disputes process for this, and banks may help if you buy something from a large company who fails to deliver - but they're usually not interested in small private transactions.

I'm wondering whether the "buyer" had already been flagged as a suspected money-launderer, and when your bank saw the receipt from his account, that's what triggered their AML processes?

username

Halifax, Lloyds and (Halifax) Bank of Scotland are all part of the same company (Lloyds Banking Group - LBG).

Without knowing the full facts perhaps the lightest penalty that that could have happened is LBG have decided they do not want your business in light of the recent sale and buyer claiming non receipt, and so shut all of your accounts with the group.

Make sure you keep an eye out for any CIFAS markers, however, you will likely find out your Natwest account is shut if a marker is applied.

It's bad enough you have been stiffed out of a TV and £160 but the CIFAS marker tends to stay on record for 6 years. However, I am surprised matey boy who bought it has been able to cause such damage.

I suppose it's a cautionary tale on these third party marketplaces (Gumtree, fb marketplace etc) to deal only in cash and face-to-face.

emp00

Thanks to everyone that took the time to reply. 
I've submited CIFAS check request and will be on the look out. 
I'll file a complaint with Lloyds to hopefully avoid any further restrictions to my accounts. 

On a side note- Facebook marketplace is definitelly not worth it , would've rather throw the TV out at this point.

penners324

FB marketplace is great but use cash