Closed bank accounts, no CIFAs marker

unknwnbxby

Hi guys,
This is my first post on here so apologies if it isn’t worded the best, I’ll respond to all questions.
I had a current account with Halifax for over a year but in October, this account was blocked as a stolen £40 was transferred into it, which I was unaware was stolen. Long story short, my friend told me his mom transferred it and he needed me to transfer it to his paypal as he was having issues with his bank account and his mom doesn’t have paypal (naive not to question this further i know) Anyway, I went into Halifax branch & explained the situation and they said the account has been compromised so it has to be closed. They said I can book an appointment to close this account & open a new account with Halifax so I did but the appointment wasn’t for over a month and I had no bank account at this time so I was advised to make other banking arrangements. I tried to open an account with Lloyds, unaware Halifax & Lloyds are linked, this initially went through then the next day I received the ‘following further checks, we’ve decided to close this new account’. A couple of days later, I received a similar text from Halifax but stating that ‘after reviewing my account they’ve decided to close all Halifax, Lloyds & BOS accounts held in my name’ & then I received the 2 months closure letter. So when I was called asking if I still needed the in branch appointment with Halifax, I cancelled this & tried to apply for an account elsewhere. I managed to open an account with Santander and this was open for about a month then they placed blocks on the account and sent a letter that they were closing it in 30 days & listed the agencies they’d used to make their decision, CIFAs being the top one. Halifax had told me that everything was internal & they hadn’t given me a CIFAS marker & when I requested a DSAR from CIFAS, they did state that they held no information on me. I’m just waiting on the DSARs to come back from National Hunter & Synectics Solutions aswell. I’ve applied to Monzo, I’m just waiting for the card to arrive and I’m hoping this account stays open - does anyone know whether it will? 
I’m just wondering, do these involuntary closed or suspended accounts show up anywhere and can these be a reason why I’m being declined from other banks? 

GTR_King

When your account is closed for suspicious activity it usually goes of CIFAS.  if it was with LBG then your barred from using them, 

nope all info is on CIFAS so check their first 

unknwnbxby

GTR_King said:

When your account is closed for suspicious activity it usually goes of CIFAS.  if it was with LBG then your barred from using them, 

nope all info is on CIFAS so check their first 

I closed the Halifax account a couple of weeks ago as it wasn’t going to be closed until January & checked CIFAS a couple of days ago and it sent the no information is held on our database message. So I’m confused as to why my Santander account closed - will new accounts I try to open close & what will the reason be if not CIFAs? 

username

Perhaps it takes a while for the information to be registered and ingested to the CIFAS database?

If your Santander account got suspeneded within a month of opening it, I would have an educated guess at it being some sort of adverse information as a result of stolen money being transferred in, and it being attempted to be channeled out via paypal.

I don't know how old you are, but surely this tall tale would have rang some alarm bells?

unknwnbxby

username said:

Perhaps it takes a while for the information to be registered and ingested to the CIFAS database?

If your Santander account got suspeneded within a month of opening it, I would have an educated guess at it being some sort of adverse information as a result of stolen money being transferred in, and it being attempted to be channeled out via paypal.

I don't know how old you are, but surely this tall tale would have rang some alarm bells?

However when I called Halifax they said they hadn’t and weren’t going to register my information with CIFAS, they said it was all internal & their system showed notes which they couldn’t share with me but stating why a CIFAS marker wasn’t necessary. I just checked CIFAS after that to be sure & I’ll check again in a couple of weeks. 
I’m just concerned about applying for multiple of bank accounts and what damage it will do to have these involuntary closed

Band7

If you have no CIFAS marker, the likely explanation for the closure of your Santander account lies in the transactions you made. If you received money from a person Santander consider dodgy, or sent money to such a person, Santander may well have decided to stop offering you a banking service because of your link with that person.

eskbanker

unknwnbxby said:

However when I called Halifax they said they hadn’t and weren’t going to register my information with CIFAS, they said it was all internal & their system showed notes which they couldn’t share with me but stating why a CIFAS marker wasn’t necessary. 

It might be worth submitting a SAR to Halifax too - if they've divulged that there are notes on their system relating to you and your account then you're legally entitled to see them, unless they can make a credible case exempting them from disclosing these.  It wouldn't magically allow you to open accounts elsewhere but might form a useful part of the picture....

RhondaD

I'd also be reporting your mate to the authorities for fraud.