Natwest ridiculous accusation of fraud

IvanOpinion

There have been various hard fought campaigns over the last few years that have resulted in banks being held responsible for repaying money if someone is the victim of a scammer or fraudster. So it is only natural to expect banks to become much more vigilant to protect their money, which means that sometimes people will be inconvenienced.

The public asked for it, they got it, and the public is still not happy. Personally I think anything that protects the wider public from scams is worth paying a price of occasional inconvenience, which is why it has been recommended that people have a backup account in case of emergency.

elsien

Why would you want to take the money back then give the same amount in cash instead? That can sometimes be the action of someone trying to hide something for some reason. 

Ayr_Rage

Well done Natwest for flagging suspicious transactions.

You'll just have to wait out the investigation.

born_again

Breadwinner said:

I recently transferred money to a friend's account. I sent too much and had second thoughts and asked her to transfer it all back to me and I'd give her the money in cash. She tried to send it back to me and got a call from Natwest, her bank, who asked her to confirm that she was making a genuine transaction. She told them yes, it was a simple mistake. I was with her at the time. But the money never appeared back in my account. Her account was frozen and when she called they said they had started a fraud investigation and refused to say why and that it would take days to resolve. She asked where the money was and they said they are holding it. Are they allowed to carry on like this? What's up with this bank? Seems very fraudulent of Natwest themselves to be doing this. She called them back three times and they won't say anything, even emailed and only got a message about it taking 5 days to complete an investigation (into what?), and still haven't returned the money. What now?

Right in a known scam area.
No wonder it flagged up.

Not knocking you, but in future check the amount being sent.

Bank has done nothing wrong at all, they are protecting their customer.

auser99

A big amount of cash going into an account then almost instantly being sent out is a textbook alarm bell ringing job.
Not surprised for that to be flagged, as innocent as the explanation sounds!

7sefton

Classic scam behaviour. And suspicious you were ‘with her’ when the bank called. 

boingy

I get that it looks odd to a bank but can someone explain exactly how transferring money from one account to another and back again can be a scam? If the amount is the same and it ends up back in the account it originally came from isn't that the same as not having made any transfers? I don't see how it can be a scam.

Kim_13

boingy said:

I get that it looks odd to a bank but can someone explain exactly how transferring money from one account to another and back again can be a scam? If the amount is the same and it ends up back in the account it originally came from isn't that the same as not having made any transfers? I don't see how it can be a scam.

Not a scam but a potential sign of money laundering, which they are also required to look out for.

They would expect for example multiple transfers (easy enough for someone to transfer less than needed to a bills account for example and then realise their mistake) or to send too much and return the excess. Not returning the whole amount - and if paying in cash instead was mentioned when they called to ask about it then the first thing that might come to the bank’s mind would be that that is less traceable. 

Identifying something unusual is done by a computer - so undoing something doesn’t mean it never happened. It then falls to a human to satisfy themselves that the activity will not land the bank in hot water if no action is taken. 

Yorkie1

"The process of smurfing involves the placement stage, where funds are dispersed through a network of individuals, and the layering stage, where the money is returned to one or multiple accounts."

First of the examples of common money laundering:
Money Laundering Examples: A Comprehensive Overview Of Criminal Activity