Unusual £800+ Debit Transaction – Fraud, Impulse Spending, or System Error?

kah22

I’m still following this up. 

I’ve sent several emails to address given on their website ‘customer service’, fraud’ and they just keep bouncing back. So frustrating. I’m wondering if they have put a block on my address, I’ve composed the emails in notes, cut and pasted into mail - yahoo and iCloud. 

It looks like I’m down to sending in hard copies but as I have no printer I’ll have to wait until my library opens

I’ve also emailed customer service at their parent company Nat West

This looks like it is going to be a long struggle. i will keep the group updated. 

born_again

kah22 said:

I’m still following this up. 

I’ve sent several emails to address given on their website ‘customer service’, fraud’ and they just keep bouncing back. So frustrating. I’m wondering if they have put a block on my address, I’ve composed the emails in notes, cut and pasted into mail - yahoo and iCloud. 

It looks like I’m down to sending in hard copies but as I have no printer I’ll have to wait until my library opens

I’ve also emailed customer service at their parent company Nat West

This looks like it is going to be a long struggle. i will keep the group updated. 

Doub't they are blocking you, as it would not bounce back.
Sounds more like a address issue.
Also contacting Nat West is pointless, she banks with Ulster Bank. Even if they are part of the same group, they have no power to do anything.

But as emails are a insecure method. Be surprised if they take any action. We won't. 

You need to get your friend to go through security with them on the phone & hope that they will speak to you with her permission. 
But a a PIN trans, there is little they can do. 

PHK

Just to point out that in law, a bank has a duty to obey it's customer's instruction. 

Only in very limited circumstances can they stop a transaction. Such as clear evidence that the person is vulnerable and a victim of fraud. Even then the default is to allow the transaction (See Philipp Vs Barclays Bank Supreme Court Decision)

A bank could act on the instruction of the account holder to put a block on certain types of card transaction such as gambling. Or an account holder might voluntarily refuse to have a card so that transactions are in cash. 

So there are some things that can be done, but these need to come from the account holder themselves. 

If someone genuinely is unable to look after their money then an application could be made to virt for someone to look after the money on the person's part (the language varies in the different UK Countries). So the person would need the "guardian" to make payments for them. But this would be an exceptional circumstance and not fit someone who splurges occasionally. 

kah22

PHK Thank you it is great to have as much information as possible

Today I signed up with X to see what the hell was going on with bounced emails etc.  Anyway we are now in talking mode and the Bank has now received the full email that we tried to send; so it’s on their files now.

At the moment everything is informal. We are asking  for clarification regarding a transaction  on her account and to clarify who the payment was made to, it looks like there are more than one company with the same name and we are asking for additional information on the merchant involved  Finally we are also asking what steps she should take to raise a formal concern, if necessary?

I believe we have laid out a well structured letter giving all relevant details.. We are not claiming any wrong doing at this stage, simply asking if we are not satisfied where do we go next. The letter is moderate and non conformational  

born_again

kah22 said:

PHK Thank you it is great to have as much information as possible

Today I signed up with X to see what the hell was going on with bounced emails etc.  Anyway we are now in talking mode and the Bank has now received the full email that we tried to send; so it’s on their files now.

At the moment everything is informal. We are asking  for clarification regarding a transaction  on her account and to clarify who the payment was made to, it looks like there are more than one company with the same name and we are asking for additional information on the merchant involved  Finally we are also asking what steps she should take to raise a formal concern, if necessary?

I believe we have laid out a well structured letter giving all relevant details.. We are not claiming any wrong doing at this stage, simply asking if we are not satisfied where do we go next. The letter is moderate and non conformational  

Banks get very limited information on just who the company is. That is controlled by the retailers merchant bank & limited to description on statement & Catsic code, which hopefully provides info on what type of company. But if you get financial services. That covers a massive range.

There is not address of where they are or what the purchase was. 
So don't be to hopeful on getting exactly who it is.

Online transaction they can request a voucher with more info, but often is nothing more than on statement. PIN transaction no way of doing that.

Formal concern? If PIN transaction, then nothing that can be done, sorry to say as it is authorised by customer.

user1977

And your friend has no memory of where she might have been to make a £800 in-person transaction around that date? And nothing to show for it at home in the way of purchased items, paperwork, emails, etc?

kah22

I promised to update.

Up until now the bank was quite insistent that they would only speak to my friend. Messages travelled back and forward but basically they said, ‘ we can only speak to the account holder.)

When I introduced the terms: Vulnerable Adult, Specialist Service Team and Hospital their approach seem to change, now they have sent me a secure link to talk to them (and they know we are not related! ) They are also talking about a face to face advisor with her and she can have an advisor with her

i see a small chink of light 🌦️

born_again

Good luck.

1st thing is getting full details of transaction.
But that is going to depend on how old the transaction is. Anything over 120 days & you are stuck with what is on statement, other than Catsic (MCC) to hopefully say type of retailer.
No other way of getting info via systems.
Over 13 months & that is the end full stop. As for as FCA go there. After that point bank does not have to do anything, as they take it that customer is happy with transaction, even if it was fraud.


Just remember the old adage

You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.👍

Okell

@kah22 -  what exactly are you hoping to achieve here?

If you want your friend's bank to recognise that she or he is vulnerable going forward, then fine.

But I don't see how you are going to retrospectively challenge a transaction from several months previously - unless you can show that your friend's bank knew that she or he was vulnerable and should have done something to block a suspicious transaction.

So far as I can see, the bank didn't know, and as it was a chip and pin transaction there was nothing to suggest the transaction was suspicious.

Unfortunately, if your friend was or is vulnerable then their family or friends ought to have put safeguards in place before the horse had bolted - not afterwards.