Trading 212 - HSBC say it is a scam

Firesnuffer

I successfully opened a Trading 212 ISA with funds coming from HSBC. My wife also opened one up with a small (£1?) amount and then attempted to top it up to £20k. 

HSBC fraud intervened and told he it was a scam, even after telling them she had downloaded the app from Apple (not just a website), it was recommended by MSE and  HSBC had allowed linking of accounts to Trading 212. 
They told her if she did proceed it was at her risk and they advised it was a scam. “Most customers are telling us it is a scam”
This is most concerning and may even be against banking regulations?

Wheres_My_Cashback

Roll on September I say, they'll be far less scams around then.

Baldytyke88

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6534152/trading-212-clone-scam

eskbanker

Firesnuffer said:

I successfully opened a Trading 212 ISA with funds coming from HSBC. My wife also opened one up with a small (£1?) amount and then attempted to top it up to £20k. 

HSBC fraud intervened and told he it was a scam, even after telling them she had downloaded the app from Apple (not just a website), it was recommended by MSE and  HSBC had allowed linking of accounts to Trading 212. 
They told her if she did proceed it was at her risk and they advised it was a scam. “Most customers are telling us it is a scam”
This is most concerning and may even be against banking regulations?

Did they advise it was a scam, or did they use the wording in quotation marks, which is saying something different?

Banks are actually obliged to challenge suspicious transactions where practical to do so, so it's unlikely to be any sort of regulatory breach....

MEM62

Firesnuffer said:

This is most concerning and may even be against banking regulations?

Since when is protecting you and your money from potential scams against banking regulations? 

The banks just cannot win. Customers expect banks to pick up the tab when they are scammed (often due to their own lack of common sense) and complain when the bank put measures in place to protect them.     

EthicsGradient

eskbanker said:

Firesnuffer said:

I successfully opened a Trading 212 ISA with funds coming from HSBC. My wife also opened one up with a small (£1?) amount and then attempted to top it up to £20k. 

HSBC fraud intervened and told he it was a scam, even after telling them she had downloaded the app from Apple (not just a website), it was recommended by MSE and  HSBC had allowed linking of accounts to Trading 212. 
They told her if she did proceed it was at her risk and they advised it was a scam. “Most customers are telling us it is a scam”
This is most concerning and may even be against banking regulations?

Did they advise it was a scam, or did they use the wording in quotation marks, which is saying something different?

Banks are actually obliged to challenge suspicious transactions where practical to do so, so it's unlikely to be any sort of regulatory breach....

I find it very hard to believe that "most customers are telling" HSBC that Trading 212 is a scam. Many people use Trading 212, and if there were even more people saying "it's a scam", it would be big news. It seems like slander by HSBC, to me.

artyboy

I wonder what Trading 212 think of HSBC... after all, they ought to have the right of reply 

booneruk

HSBC and T212 user here. I've had zero problems, warnings, trouble etc. I'm not sure what's going on that's giving others a bad experience.

dusthug

There's an ongoing scam happening  where fraudsters are convincing victims to open a Trading 212 account specifically, then to transfer funds in. 

The usual coaching to lie the bank is given too.

The fraudster then uses the Trading 212 virtual debit card to empty the account.

Sounds like HSBC are doing well but could be a bit more conversational about it.

slinger2

dusthug said:

There's an ongoing scam happening  where fraudsters are convincing victims to open a Trading 212 account specifically, then to transfer funds in. 

The usual coaching to lie the bank is given too.

The fraudster then uses the Trading 212 virtual debit card to empty the account.

Sounds like HSBC are doing well but could be a bit more conversational about it.

Surely there's no "virtual debit card" with their Cash ISA.

So the investor puts some money in the Cash ISA and somehow it's then moved to their (non-ISA) Invest account, and then the fraudster takes it out of that account using the virtual debit card?

masonic

slinger2 said:

dusthug said:

There's an ongoing scam happening  where fraudsters are convincing victims to open a Trading 212 account specifically, then to transfer funds in. 

The usual coaching to lie the bank is given too.

The fraudster then uses the Trading 212 virtual debit card to empty the account.

Sounds like HSBC are doing well but could be a bit more conversational about it.

Surely there's no "virtual debit card" with their Cash ISA.

So the investor puts some money in the Cash ISA and somehow it's then moved to their (non-ISA) Invest account, and then the fraudster takes it out of that account using the virtual debit card?

Would it be easy for HSBC to differentiate between a transfer to the Cash ISA vs Invest account? Presumably these are accounts under the control of the fraudster, so it might not matter.