Crapwest (Natwest) appalling customer service regarding unauthorised transactions
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hagendaz
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hi MSE members,
I am after some advice and to share with people my appalling experience I am having with Natwest currently. I have been a victim of fraud and have had approx. £22k in total transferred and withdrawn without my authorisation from my Natwest account. Somebody impersonated me and went into the branch and did these transactions.
I understand that they have a protocol to follow, but I am completely appalled with their customer service and their inability to have prevented this from happening!!
It all started last week, when I received a text message from Natwest confirming the opening of a new account and the notification of a new ATM card and PIN ordered and to be delivered within 2-3 days. I immediately called up Natwest when I received this message to warn them that I did not authorise for this account to be opened and I was told that the account will be investigated by the fraud team and be flagged, also to protect myself I should create a new customer ID. I had asked at the time if my other accounts will be at risk but I was told that my account will be investigated.
Come this Monday, I log into my account to find that 3 of my accounts have been wiped and the fraudulent account is still active! I called up Natwest immediately to report that these transactions were unauthorised, however they can not refund me until it has been investigated which can take up to 5 days. I am now completely without money and I have mortgage payments and DD due in the next few days! I am worried that I may default on payments and it will affect my credit score!
My outrage is with their inability to prevent this and their bad customer service with dealing with this. They did not cancel the card that was sent out, nor did they close the fraudulent account when I had alerted them. Also, why did this not get flagged up in the branch when there was a flag against the fraudulent account??!! Had they have had done this, this would have never happened. It makes me wonder what kind of shoddy processes they have to safeguard their customers? It looks like none!
I am confident that I will get my money back, but is there anything they can be made accountable for or anything I can pursue to get some sort or compensation for the inconvenience and distress this is causing me? I am currently on maternity leave so have not got an income, and I have spent several hours on the phone calling Natwest and speaking to the police about this incident in between caring for my baby. Yet all this chasing is getting me nowhere and all I kept being told is “it takes 5 days to investigate”. I am getting completely stressed by the whole thing as I don't know what is going on.
I am definitely looking to bank elsewhere once I get my money back. I had spoken to customer services about any sort of alert system to send me a text message when funds get debited above a certain value and was told they don’t have such an alert system for this. This gives me no assurance that my money is safe and that if it happens again, I will only find out on the off chance I log into my account!
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my post and for your help,
Hagendaz
I am after some advice and to share with people my appalling experience I am having with Natwest currently. I have been a victim of fraud and have had approx. £22k in total transferred and withdrawn without my authorisation from my Natwest account. Somebody impersonated me and went into the branch and did these transactions.
I understand that they have a protocol to follow, but I am completely appalled with their customer service and their inability to have prevented this from happening!!
It all started last week, when I received a text message from Natwest confirming the opening of a new account and the notification of a new ATM card and PIN ordered and to be delivered within 2-3 days. I immediately called up Natwest when I received this message to warn them that I did not authorise for this account to be opened and I was told that the account will be investigated by the fraud team and be flagged, also to protect myself I should create a new customer ID. I had asked at the time if my other accounts will be at risk but I was told that my account will be investigated.
Come this Monday, I log into my account to find that 3 of my accounts have been wiped and the fraudulent account is still active! I called up Natwest immediately to report that these transactions were unauthorised, however they can not refund me until it has been investigated which can take up to 5 days. I am now completely without money and I have mortgage payments and DD due in the next few days! I am worried that I may default on payments and it will affect my credit score!
My outrage is with their inability to prevent this and their bad customer service with dealing with this. They did not cancel the card that was sent out, nor did they close the fraudulent account when I had alerted them. Also, why did this not get flagged up in the branch when there was a flag against the fraudulent account??!! Had they have had done this, this would have never happened. It makes me wonder what kind of shoddy processes they have to safeguard their customers? It looks like none!
I am confident that I will get my money back, but is there anything they can be made accountable for or anything I can pursue to get some sort or compensation for the inconvenience and distress this is causing me? I am currently on maternity leave so have not got an income, and I have spent several hours on the phone calling Natwest and speaking to the police about this incident in between caring for my baby. Yet all this chasing is getting me nowhere and all I kept being told is “it takes 5 days to investigate”. I am getting completely stressed by the whole thing as I don't know what is going on.
I am definitely looking to bank elsewhere once I get my money back. I had spoken to customer services about any sort of alert system to send me a text message when funds get debited above a certain value and was told they don’t have such an alert system for this. This gives me no assurance that my money is safe and that if it happens again, I will only find out on the off chance I log into my account!
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read my post and for your help,
Hagendaz
0
Comments
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I'm not sure that any of us can really offer much help, but I hope that things are sorted to your full satisfaction.
Given the impending direct debits, try asking NatWest for an authorised overdraft to cover them and get them to agree that should their investigation show that this was a fraud for which you are not responsible, they will waive all fees and interest. If they won't do this then make a formal complaint.0 -
Hopefully the person that impersonated you to do the withdrawals is caught on the banks CCTV. However did the fraudster know all your details though!?
If the bank failed to carry out timely checks and stop the fraud happening after you had reported the new account being set up maybe you get a refund?
All these frauds being reported on here forget to mention the large amount of personal information the fraudster needs to carry out the fraud. Its all very odd.0 -
Yorkshire Pud - I've been trying to figure out over the last couple days what happened as the bank has not updated me with any details of this case.
I believe someone intercepted my post. I was already on alert and someone on the day the card for the fraudulent account should have arrived tried to enter our apartment block claiming to be lift maintenance. I had spoken to neighbours and it seems that post has been stolen from other post boxes too in previous weeks. Perhaps that is how they managed to obtain details? I have no idea, I think they probably have been watching our block waiting for the post man to arrive. Our post box is very easy to steal from.
Whoever did this, had planned it out very well I'm sure off and now I feel vulnerable in my own home...
All the bank had to do was cancel the card... That upsets me more than the money going missing as it looks like these fraudsters got a free ride!0 -
Hagendaz - i'm really sorry to hear about your experience with natwest. what happened to you is incredibly similar to what i am going through right now. Someone got hold of my debit card before it was delivered to my address and used it in a branch to empty my account through withdrawals and payments. what i can't wrap my head around is:
- How did they get access to my PIN number, assuming that the PIN number and card were actually requested in the branch before allowing operations on the account?
- Why is natwest sending out 'ready to use' bank cards that do not require activation?
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Hagendaz - i'm really sorry to hear about your experience with natwest. what happened to you is incredibly similar to what i am going through right now. Someone got hold of my debit card before it was delivered to my address and used it in a branch to empty my account through withdrawals and payments. what i can't wrap my head around is:
- How did they get access to my PIN number, assuming that the PIN number and card were actually requested in the branch before allowing operations on the account?
- Why is natwest sending out 'ready to use' bank cards that do not require activation?
Most banks 'cards are activated by entering a PIN.0
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