NatWest no longer crediting transactions that have been scammed

MikeCrux1

Once when I had some fraudulent transactions I called the Credit Card company and they removed the transactions.  This time I had a small fraudulent transaction, where I had been tricked into giving my card details.  It was a dubious website offering no services.  This time I called NatWest and eventually got through to the Fraud department.  This time they told me I had to use the App to apply for a refund.  I went through the menu options with the fraud person, who didn't recognise the menu choices.  I went through all the options and found out there wasn't an option on the App or the Internet banking website to report a scam or claim a refund. It doesn't exist.  Two Fraud department contacts sent me forms, but they were for applying for a refund from a retailer supplying goods.  The first point was that you have to contact the retailer and try and resolve things.  This is impossible because there are no services delivered and no goods.   Even if you fudge this by saying you have contacted the retailer the online form then asks whether either you have the goods, returned the goods or are they stuck in Customs.  You have to choose an option and none fits.  This ends the process.  NatWest knows they have created a process that prevents the scam from being reported.  It also means the scammers can keep charging.  The only options are to report the card stolen or close the account.  In my opinion, Senior management at NatWest has decided to stop any help for Customers who have been scammed.  This saves them considerable sums at customers' expense.  

MorningcoffeeIV

Just dispute the charge with CS or do a chargeback. 

Far simpler than all the above nonsense.

elsien

Have you tried making a complaint to the bank?

retiredbanker1

Have you tried contacting the company involved?

grumbler

MikeCrux1 said:

This time I had a small fraudulent transaction, where I had been tricked into giving my card details.   ...I went through all the options and found out there wasn't an option on the App or the Internet banking website to report a scam or claim a refund. It doesn't exist.  ...

'Scam' is a far too ambiguous word. The first question is whether you authorised the transaction(s) or not.

eskbanker

MikeCrux1 said:

Once when I had some fraudulent transactions I called the Credit Card company and they removed the transactions.  This time I had a small fraudulent transaction, where I had been tricked into giving my card details.  It was a dubious website offering no services.

As above, there is a distinction between unauthorised and authorised transactions - for the former, the institution is required by the regulator to refund them promptly (from its own funds) unless it has reason to believe you were negligent or complicit:

https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/unauthorised-payments-account

However, where you've authorised a transaction but haven't received what you understood you were entitled to get for your payment, then that's an entirely different process, namely chargeback, which entails the customer initially having to try to resolve the matter with the merchant, and only then claiming via the bank, who'll provisionally recover the money from the payee's bank while giving them the chance to challenge the chargeback.

Unfortunately both of these can end up being labelled as 'fraud', which doesn't really help make the important distinction between them....

born_again

grumbler said:

MikeCrux1 said:

This time I had a small fraudulent transaction, where I had been tricked into giving my card details.   ...I went through all the options and found out there wasn't an option on the App or the Internet banking website to report a scam or claim a refund. It doesn't exist.  ...

'Scam' is a far too ambiguous word. The first question is whether you authorised the transaction(s) or not.

Think OP answered that question
, where I had been tricked into giving my card details.  It was a dubious website offering no services. 

Card fraud as described by banks, is where a unknown 3rd party uses your card details. Not when you enter them yourself.

So not fraud, but may be done as a dispute...

Perhaps Op could link to site?

elsien

As an aside, “scam” and “gaslighting” - words appearing ever more frequently on here, generally incorrectly, in relation to banks and businesses. 

SaverRate

Make a complaint to Natwest. 

Natwest have made it very hard to make a complaint (or even just speak to them) as you have to go through their digital assistant so just use this link to their form https://www.natwest.com/support-centre/how-to-complain/complaint-form.html

To be honest if I cannot get hold of someone from Natwest using the digital assistant I just use the complaints form now.