AvalonRetail
07-05-2009, 07:51 AM
Hi
Here is my tale. I hope I've put it in the right place.
This is a warning tale of what can happen if you get caught by one of the increasingly clever hoaxers. I know this because it happened to me recently. I take it for granted that you, like me, believe that scammers, hoaxers and fraudsters are the scum of the earth so I will concentrate my tale on the following events.
Neither the bank nor I suffered any losses but I have still been severely penalised by the bank for my mistake. The bank have not said that their action was prompted by recent events but I have been a customer for 20 years and they have never carried out a ‘routine review’ before. Their conclusion was that I no longer meet their criteria. What changed?
The moral of this story: Please be warned. If you have all of your accounts with the same bank then make sure they are not linked. If possible move one to another bank. And if you get an email from anywhere in the world with a large order that is out of the ordinary the safest thing to do is ignore it. It might be genuine and profit lost but better safe than sorry.
Following bank advice, my personal and business accounts were linked. Easier when you go online as you only need one password. But when something goes wrong it affects all your accounts. Just imagine how you would manage without access to business or personal bank accounts for several weeks.
I received a personal email enquiry on my business email address from an overseas import/export company who wanted to place a large order to be shipped overseas. As I’m only used to dealing with small personal orders, mostly within UK, I was very sceptical. I have never used the services of a credit reference agency but now seriously wish that I had on this occasion.
After several days and many email exchanges I felt confident that this was genuine and a deal was done. My bank told me to give IBAN and Swift codes and accept payment directly into my business account. They assured me it was safe and cheaper than paying merchant fees. I sent this information to the ‘customer’ and was told payment had been sent. A couple of days later I received another email from the ‘customer’ telling me that there had been a mistake and a payment for three times the order value had been sent and could I return the excess. Now it sounded like a scam but I hadn’t shipped the goods and had no intention of returning any money unless the bank could guarantee that the payment was genuine.
This is where it gets truly scary. I suddenly found I couldn’t log on to online banking and when I went to draw cash from my personal account the machine kept my card. Both my accounts, business and personal, were frozen without warning. So there I was on a Saturday afternoon with no cash, an empty fridge and a hungry dog.
I was then told by the local branch that the accounts were being closed. I lodged a complaint at the branch as I felt this was very wrong. No one from Customer Service or Fraud Investigation contacted me. The complaint was denied and the process continued. I then appealed to the Regional manager for a review. After another couple of weeks he said there was nothing he could do to change things and the original decision held. Both accounts are now closed.
I contacted the Financial Ombudsman, who said the bank must give 30 days notice. I had only been given 14 days therefore the Ombudsman was willing to complain on my behalf but didn’t feel that it would be of much help. Otherwise there was nothing the Ombudsman could do. Any bank can close any account at any time without giving a reason. I also contacted a solicitor who didn’t think any laws had been broken but I might have a claim for ‘distress’.
The truly hypocritical thing is that twelve months ago the bank presented me with an award for overcoming adversity, I’m disabled, and setting the business up. How quickly you can go from star to pariah. They also declare their support for SME’s at every opportunity.
Thanks for reading this
Olive
Here is my tale. I hope I've put it in the right place.
This is a warning tale of what can happen if you get caught by one of the increasingly clever hoaxers. I know this because it happened to me recently. I take it for granted that you, like me, believe that scammers, hoaxers and fraudsters are the scum of the earth so I will concentrate my tale on the following events.
Neither the bank nor I suffered any losses but I have still been severely penalised by the bank for my mistake. The bank have not said that their action was prompted by recent events but I have been a customer for 20 years and they have never carried out a ‘routine review’ before. Their conclusion was that I no longer meet their criteria. What changed?
The moral of this story: Please be warned. If you have all of your accounts with the same bank then make sure they are not linked. If possible move one to another bank. And if you get an email from anywhere in the world with a large order that is out of the ordinary the safest thing to do is ignore it. It might be genuine and profit lost but better safe than sorry.
Following bank advice, my personal and business accounts were linked. Easier when you go online as you only need one password. But when something goes wrong it affects all your accounts. Just imagine how you would manage without access to business or personal bank accounts for several weeks.
I received a personal email enquiry on my business email address from an overseas import/export company who wanted to place a large order to be shipped overseas. As I’m only used to dealing with small personal orders, mostly within UK, I was very sceptical. I have never used the services of a credit reference agency but now seriously wish that I had on this occasion.
After several days and many email exchanges I felt confident that this was genuine and a deal was done. My bank told me to give IBAN and Swift codes and accept payment directly into my business account. They assured me it was safe and cheaper than paying merchant fees. I sent this information to the ‘customer’ and was told payment had been sent. A couple of days later I received another email from the ‘customer’ telling me that there had been a mistake and a payment for three times the order value had been sent and could I return the excess. Now it sounded like a scam but I hadn’t shipped the goods and had no intention of returning any money unless the bank could guarantee that the payment was genuine.
This is where it gets truly scary. I suddenly found I couldn’t log on to online banking and when I went to draw cash from my personal account the machine kept my card. Both my accounts, business and personal, were frozen without warning. So there I was on a Saturday afternoon with no cash, an empty fridge and a hungry dog.
I was then told by the local branch that the accounts were being closed. I lodged a complaint at the branch as I felt this was very wrong. No one from Customer Service or Fraud Investigation contacted me. The complaint was denied and the process continued. I then appealed to the Regional manager for a review. After another couple of weeks he said there was nothing he could do to change things and the original decision held. Both accounts are now closed.
I contacted the Financial Ombudsman, who said the bank must give 30 days notice. I had only been given 14 days therefore the Ombudsman was willing to complain on my behalf but didn’t feel that it would be of much help. Otherwise there was nothing the Ombudsman could do. Any bank can close any account at any time without giving a reason. I also contacted a solicitor who didn’t think any laws had been broken but I might have a claim for ‘distress’.
The truly hypocritical thing is that twelve months ago the bank presented me with an award for overcoming adversity, I’m disabled, and setting the business up. How quickly you can go from star to pariah. They also declare their support for SME’s at every opportunity.
Thanks for reading this
Olive