Fraudulent Mortgage Application Approval by Natwest

Feeker99

Hi All, 

I wanted to ask the forum about a mortgage issue I have had with Natwest earlier this year. I feel that there has been a massive data breach but they refuse to confirm nor deny this in the complaint letters that I have received over a period of time. 

Long story short, at the beginning of February this year, I got scammed for £3200 (thankfully that was only the amount lost) of which Natwest have washed their hands of it and said that the money's gone and the bank account where it went to was closed, so they couldn't do anything (this was complaint #1 to them).

The super scary thing is I found there was a fraudulent mortgage application for an extension of finds on my account. The application approved was for £100,000! (My mortgage is 160k for a 200k property)

The only way I found out about the application for the mortgage extension was on a call to report the fraud to Natwest that occurred on my account in February that same day. 

The fraud investigator asked me if I had recently applied for a mortgage. I replied yes, as I had completed moving into the current property where I now live, in January 2023. He then stated that this was not the main mortgage but was an application for an extension of funds and would cancel it straight away. 

Natwest admitted a few days later that they approved that application (in a response letter) as they considered it non-fraudulent. As per FSA regulations, I cannot apply for another mortgage or extension within a 12 month rolling period regardless of my situation. The problem I have here is this was approved before the fraudster called in in February by Natwest, in the hope that the funds would be in my account and that they could transfer them out.

For the mortgage application, the fraudsters had to have known the following: Name, Date of Birth, Address, mortgage account number and sort code, earnings and financial situation, phone number, email address - there is probably more.  

I also got my mortgage broker to speak to her Natwest mortgage contact and nothing was submitted via a registered broker channel. This (she stated) must have been a direct application to Natwest either in a high street bank or via telephone. Both my solicitor I used for moving house and my broker have a higher security protocol then the natwest bank, and confirmed through their 3rd party IT providers that there had been no breach for their side. 

I am also very careful with my data as I work for a major energy company and have to have a secure home network. All my personal and unique data is never stored online.

For the scam (which again I am not worried about the loss of the money) they had the following data prior to calling me: My unique user ID (I only ever keep this in my head, no where else) to allow them to register a natwest app on the device they were using, how did they know I was at Natwest, they also had my phone number of my mobile and a shed ton more of data and information that only the bank would have.

I complained on the 7th Feb, no response. Complained again on the 9th and got the main response letter. Two further complaints to address the actual issues of how they got my data and how they approved the mortgage application were dismissed as they were redacted by personnel in the bank and then dismissed as there was not enough information in the complaints. Not once did they answer my question "had there been a data breach" and neither on the phone calls I had with them. I have tried the local branch to complain direct and they just turn me away and dismiss that the case ever happened. 

I have complained to the ombudsman and they have the case to review it to hopefully take it further, but I really do not know what to do to be honest so any advice would be very welcome. 

Many thanks

(Removed by Forum Team)

K_S

@keithmhenson Sorry to hear about this. If you haven't already, I would recommend getting a SAR done https://supportcentre.natwest.com/Searchable/959249182/How-do-I-submit-a-Subject-Access-Request-SAR.htm Ask for all the info that NatWest holds on you.

They have the right to redact some information, internal notes, etc. but it may still give you more information than you have now. 

On the odd occasion that a client is declined for reasons that I can't figure out and the lender refuses to explain (usually where they suspect something fraudulent, rightly or wrongly), I've got the client to do a SAR and figure out what the issue might be.

keithmhenson said:

Hi All, 

I wanted to ask the forum about a mortgage issue I have had with Natwest earlier this year. I feel that there has been a massive data breach but they refuse to confirm nor deny this in the complaint letters that I have received over a period of time. 

Long story short, at the beginning of February this year, I got scammed for £3200 (thankfully that was only the amount lost) of which Natwest have washed their hands of it and said that the money's gone and the bank account where it went to was closed, so they couldn't do anything (this was complaint #1 to them).

The super scary thing is I found there was a fraudulent mortgage application for an extension of finds on my account. The application approved was for £100,000! (My mortgage is 160k for a 200k property)

The only way I found out about the application for the mortgage extension was on a call to report the fraud to Natwest that occurred on my account in February that same day. 

The fraud investigator asked me if I had recently applied for a mortgage. I replied yes, as I had completed moving into the current property where I now live, in January 2023. He then stated that this was not the main mortgage but was an application for an extension of funds and would cancel it straight away. 

Natwest admitted a few days later that they approved that application (in a response letter) as they considered it non-fraudulent. As per FSA regulations, I cannot apply for another mortgage or extension within a 12 month rolling period regardless of my situation. The problem I have here is this was approved before the fraudster called in in February by Natwest, in the hope that the funds would be in my account and that they could transfer them out.

For the mortgage application, the fraudsters had to have known the following: Name, Date of Birth, Address, mortgage account number and sort code, earnings and financial situation, phone number, email address - there is probably more.  

I also got my mortgage broker to speak to her Natwest mortgage contact and nothing was submitted via a registered broker channel. This (she stated) must have been a direct application to Natwest either in a high street bank or via telephone. Both my solicitor I used for moving house and my broker have a higher security protocol then the natwest bank, and confirmed through their 3rd party IT providers that there had been no breach for their side. 

I am also very careful with my data as I work for a major energy company and have to have a secure home network. All my personal and unique data is never stored online.

For the scam (which again I am not worried about the loss of the money) they had the following data prior to calling me: My unique user ID (I only ever keep this in my head, no where else) to allow them to register a natwest app on the device they were using, how did they know I was at Natwest, they also had my phone number of my mobile and a shed ton more of data and information that only the bank would have.

I complained on the 7th Feb, no response. Complained again on the 9th and got the main response letter. Two further complaints to address the actual issues of how they got my data and how they approved the mortgage application were dismissed as they were redacted by personnel in the bank and then dismissed as there was not enough information in the complaints. Not once did they answer my question "had there been a data breach" and neither on the phone calls I had with them. I have tried the local branch to complain direct and they just turn me away and dismiss that the case ever happened. 

I have complained to the ombudsman and they have the case to review it to hopefully take it further, but I really do not know what to do to be honest so any advice would be very welcome. 

Many thanks

(Removed by Forum Team)

M9174852

Hi there, this is awful to hear what's happened to you - can you also check your own credit file via - checkmyfile.com. That can help to see when/times and credit applications put through and can also support you in seeing other financials using your name, searches on your name, addresses etc. 

The bank, and I hope they will support you in finding out with any forms of fraud, should have detailed levels of telephone calls or recordings or IP addresses where the mortgage application was made from - I'd push them to use all level of detailed content for online applications - there MUST be protection for individuals where this level of additional funding is a process. Which account would they pay it to? Where would it be sent? Whose name/voice is on the recorded telephone calls. 

Hope you can find out and block the fraud, it's very harmful to be in the position of attempting to prove your innocence - when you shouldn't have to and there safety measurements should reflect this, it's not enough to just provide DOB etc, if more credit and money is being asked for their should be bank security in place to prevent it from being exploited in your name. 

Good Luck OP, and if not too stressful, please keep us updated of your progress with this as it could help others