Monzo fraud - they refuse to do anything!

adamp87

Monzo are quite notable with being difficult or shall we say less forgiving or helpful with theft/fraud if you look online and such.

However OP, it’s likely they are following an internal investigation and will be in touch. Strange they are saying the accounts closed though and nothing more - but also saying there’s no trace of the account. Which is it?

either there’s an account it’s been closed - they could see that from the details 

or there’s no account because the details are wrong. It can’t be there’s no trace of the account but oh no actually it’s been closed?

Might be some details missing, although you can bypass biometrics if you use a pass code, could be it was just easy enough to guess, or sometimes if it’s a heavy used phone some screen protectors you can see areas where it’s been pressed a lot.. not sure if that would have been a cause but anyway as above before playing Agatha Christie let’s see what happens.

you would imagine if the overdraft was never used or never anywhere near £2k an odd pattern of behaviour would be evident  

if she gets nowhere (as it seems the above if they are saying there’s no account, but there is and it’s closed) a formal complaint - it may escalate a response at least 

AmityNeon

If the phone was secured with a simple 4-digit PIN that happened to be the same as Monzo's debit card PIN, the following can happen to an Apple iPhone assuming knowledge of the PIN is somehow acquired:

• The PIN acts as a fallback measure should the phone's biometric authentication fail, so biometric authentication is effectively bypassed and can then be completely disabled.
• If the Gmail app is used, there is no default method of requiring authentication to open/unlock the app, so not only is there full access to emails with just an unlocked phone, but the user's full email address is also displayed.
• If the Monzo app has been secured with biometric authentication (fingerprint or face), the user can simply log out of the app (if previously disabling the phone's biometrics didn't automatically trigger it). Logging in again requires entering the customer's email address, after which a login link is sent to that address. Following the link, the user enters the 4-digit Monzo PIN to regain full access to the Monzo account.
• Not only is the Monzo account now completely vulnerable, Monzo also offers additional 'convenient' methods of payment such as:
  • Share a link: choose an amount to pay and then generate a standard URL that anyone can visit to enter a name, sort code and account number. Monzo then sends the specified amount from the customer's Monzo account to the account details supplied.
  • Pay someone nearby: use Bluetooth to scan for other nearby Monzo users to pay.

sassy_one

I am in no way accusing the OP of anything, so apologies if that is how my post reads.

I'm plating devil's advocate here and how it will look.

I don't know about iPhone but my phone isn't a number, it's an actual password required.

For some accounts if you were to set a new Payee up and make a sudden transfer it would flag it, or some even require a card reader or third party code not just a pin wouldn't be enough - Monzo isn't the only account mentioned by the OP.


Was the mobile phone reported stolen immediately before or immediately after contacting the bank? As they may wish to have proof of this, as blacklisting it and barring the sim would of stopped any SMS passcode being sent also.
If it wasn't, why not?

I am aware some bank apps can actually GPS the location of the phone at the time, so this again could reveal something.

I'm afraid, and again I'm not accusing anyone merely how the banks will see it, they will weigh up the chances of how likely someone could hack into three bank accounts, the phones security, transfer the funds with any relevant two step security and then close an account without by such time the account holder contacting them and also the phone being barred.
I've heard of it happening to one account before on here and the person didn't get the money bank and actually had the account closed and a CIFAS marker, hence why I got some previous information from.


The bank will contact the bank where those funds were sent, to see if it relates to anyone with the same surname or to someone else, then from there will dictate where the investigation will proceed to.


I hope you manage to resolve it, genuinely but unless you get a very understanding person at the bank I think they are going to weigh it up and make their own minds up.


Always, always have more than a pass code on a phone people, a password is much stronger.

Nervalslobster

Coming back late to this. To the poster who suggested it, any suggestion of fraud on my daughter’s part was ridiculous. The nonsense with Monzo is still ongoing. The next step is to escalate via the press/ombudsman. All other problems related to her phone theft have been resolved. New phone via Apple care. Fraudulent transactions on her mobile number sorted. Bank accounts with Santander/Revolut sorted. It’s just Monzo who are being intransigent, unhelpful and just plain awful. To anyone who asked, the theft was reported to the police, who believe she was observed entering her passcode. There are gangs that specifically do this apparently. 

It’s taken well over a month to sort out though, (apart from Monzo!) and has been a tough thing to go through, especially when you take into account Christmas and new year. 

I’ve been so disgusted by the whole way in which Monzo has treated her that I’ve closed my account with them - not that I had very much in it - as speaking to people about this has unearthed other horror stories about them that don’t inspire confidence. 

[Deleted User]

As other's have said or hinted, it's almost certainly that your daughter is unintentionally responsible by someone seeing her code then gaining access to the various apps after stealing the phone. 

If she has re-used a phone pin on the Monzo app then their reticence to refund is understandable.

GeoffTF

[Deleted User] said:

If she has re-used a phone pin on the Monzo app then their reticence to refund is understandable.

How would they know?

flaneurs_lobster

GeoffTF said:

[Deleted User] said:

If she has re-used a phone pin on the Monzo app then their reticence to refund is understandable.

How would they know?

Maybe they asked?

Nasqueron

GeoffTF said:

[Deleted User] said:

If she has re-used a phone pin on the Monzo app then their reticence to refund is understandable.

How would they know?

I would guess they know the account was accessed via PIN correctly being entered, therefore they don't need to know, per se, that the PIN was used on multiple accounts, they can just infer it.

boingy

Some of you folks seem awfully keen to blame the victim despite the lack of evidence. 

GeoffTF

Nasqueron said:

GeoffTF said:

[Deleted User] said:

If she has re-used a phone pin on the Monzo app then their reticence to refund is understandable.

How would they know?

I would guess they know the account was accessed via PIN correctly being entered, therefore they don't need to know, per se, that the PIN was used on multiple accounts, they can just infer it.

That is effectively a claim that the bank's app has perfect security, even on an insecure phone. Banks typically say that the phone must run Android 8 and above. Android 8 ceased to get security updates years ago. Security updates do not fix zero day exploits anyway. If a bank is claiming that their app can only be activated by entering a valid PIN, I would not want to use their app. If there is security weakness that allows a hacker to get in, they are going to deny my claim. Doesn't a bank have to prove negligence in cases like this?