16 year old scammed and bank account closed
Discussion
Can anybody give us a steer?
Recently opened a bank account for our 16 year old for him to put birthday/Christmas money in and to do some online selling of clothes
First issue is that he sold a stone island jumper - with tags but not sold as brand new. The bloke who bought it got in touch claiming he had advertised as BNWT and pressuring him to refund and he would send the jumper back, otherwise he would report him and he would lose the money and the jumper. Naively the young un refunded him and whoever this bloke is insists that he has sent the jumper back (even though he never got our address from him)
We now have the situation where his bank account has been frozen as somebody has sold an iphone through his account apparently. The bank have been less than useless, not phoning back when promised. He has chased them today and they asked him to name 2 payments that have gone out of his account - there aren't any in the last 2 weeks as his account has been frozen
The bank have now told him they're going to close his account and he has 30 days to try and get his own bloody money out
Obviously getting into branches is a nightmare at the minute and the telephone assistance has been abysmal. Any ideas how we go about getting it sorted as I've never had any of these issues before
Seems a little coincidental that he's had both of these issues in the last few weeks
Guess I need to talk to him RE password protocols etc.
Recently opened a bank account for our 16 year old for him to put birthday/Christmas money in and to do some online selling of clothes
First issue is that he sold a stone island jumper - with tags but not sold as brand new. The bloke who bought it got in touch claiming he had advertised as BNWT and pressuring him to refund and he would send the jumper back, otherwise he would report him and he would lose the money and the jumper. Naively the young un refunded him and whoever this bloke is insists that he has sent the jumper back (even though he never got our address from him)
We now have the situation where his bank account has been frozen as somebody has sold an iphone through his account apparently. The bank have been less than useless, not phoning back when promised. He has chased them today and they asked him to name 2 payments that have gone out of his account - there aren't any in the last 2 weeks as his account has been frozen
The bank have now told him they're going to close his account and he has 30 days to try and get his own bloody money out
Obviously getting into branches is a nightmare at the minute and the telephone assistance has been abysmal. Any ideas how we go about getting it sorted as I've never had any of these issues before
Seems a little coincidental that he's had both of these issues in the last few weeks
Guess I need to talk to him RE password protocols etc.
Was the account actually used to sell an iPhone?
And if so, does your son have any idea how they got his details?
A CIFAS marker has probably been put on the account, and in tandem on his name/credit file, this will make it very hard for him to open up an account anywhere else, normal policy dictates that once a bank has closed an account for fraud, they won't reopen it apart from in very specific circumstances, but it may be possible for the CIFAS marker to be removed if your son had no part in the fraud, or if it didn't happen at all. The bank he's with right now probably will never take his custom again, as it's just too risky.
And if so, does your son have any idea how they got his details?
A CIFAS marker has probably been put on the account, and in tandem on his name/credit file, this will make it very hard for him to open up an account anywhere else, normal policy dictates that once a bank has closed an account for fraud, they won't reopen it apart from in very specific circumstances, but it may be possible for the CIFAS marker to be removed if your son had no part in the fraud, or if it didn't happen at all. The bank he's with right now probably will never take his custom again, as it's just too risky.
essexd said:
Was the account actually used to sell an iPhone?
And if so, does your son have any idea how they got his details?
A CIFAS marker has probably been put on the account, and in tandem on his name/credit file, this will make it very hard for him to open up an account anywhere else, normal policy dictates that once a bank has closed an account for fraud, they won't reopen it apart from in very specific circumstances, but it may be possible for the CIFAS marker to be removed if your son had no part in the fraud, or if it didn't happen at all. The bank he's with right now probably will never take his custom again, as it's just too risky.
I need to get him to fill me in properly. Apparently his account has been frozen for 2 weeks but he only told us last night. I think he's tried being grown up and sorting himself and just got tied up in knots tbhAnd if so, does your son have any idea how they got his details?
A CIFAS marker has probably been put on the account, and in tandem on his name/credit file, this will make it very hard for him to open up an account anywhere else, normal policy dictates that once a bank has closed an account for fraud, they won't reopen it apart from in very specific circumstances, but it may be possible for the CIFAS marker to be removed if your son had no part in the fraud, or if it didn't happen at all. The bank he's with right now probably will never take his custom again, as it's just too risky.
If he rings the bank involved and gives them authority to speak to me can I get involved?
robinessex said:
Goto nearest bank branch. Get access somehow. Sit down, and refuse to leave until they sort it. They can't use physical force to eject you.
It's out of the hands of a local branch now, only fraud teams can get involved, and they have to do everything very slowly to comply with anti money laundering regulations, it's not something that can happen within a few hours.Pieman68 said:
I need to get him to fill me in properly. Apparently his account has been frozen for 2 weeks but he only told us last night. I think he's tried being grown up and sorting himself and just got tied up in knots tbh
If he rings the bank involved and gives them authority to speak to me can I get involved?
Depending on the banks policies, they may not be able to speak to you about him without him being present each time you talk to them, but as long as he rings them up, and says I'm going to hand over to my dad for the rest of this phone call, I see no reason why it wouldn't happen. But beware that these banks have to be very careful with accounts that may have been involved in fraud, so there really isn't much they can do, unless your son can categorically prove he wasn't involved, but even then the bank may not wish to do business with him anymore.If he rings the bank involved and gives them authority to speak to me can I get involved?
essexd said:
robinessex said:
Goto nearest bank branch. Get access somehow. Sit down, and refuse to leave until they sort it. They can't use physical force to eject you.
It's out of the hands of a local branch now, only fraud teams can get involved, and they have to do everything very slowly to comply with anti money laundering regulations, it's not something that can happen within a few hours.Edited by robinessex on Tuesday 26th January 18:03
Thanks for the replies. Apparently payment has been made into his account for 2 iphones - these have been refunded to the original senders so no additional funds in his bank
They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
robinessex said:
At least they can get off their backsides and do something. A similar tactic got me a result in a certain high street mobile phone shop. Don't they have telephones yet in the fraud department? A 16 year buying and then selling, a jumper, isn't a bloody high-level drug dealer, is he? I'm 100% certain the bank could follow an audit trail of the bank accounts that were involved. A quick scan of his bank account, by someone with a brain between there ears, should be able to sus it out in about 30 seconds unless the banks are staffed with muppets these days.
Unfortunately most banks are too quick to close accounts, and then fob the issue off as much as they can, but unfortunately as it's related to fraud they do need to follow the rules, which tell them to be over eager to try and stop it. Edited by robinessex on Tuesday 26th January 18:03
These rules mean that nothing can be done in 30 seconds, everything needs to have I's dotted and T's crossed, which means that it takes time, I'd say OP would be best off going down the official complaints route, as inter department pressure will help, but if he has been in anyway complacent with it, then the bank won't want to hear it, and FOS will probably not be much help either.
OP also needs to look at the sons mobile banking and see what the transactions were, making DSAR's to get information about how the money was transferred out, it will all depend on how the money was paid in, and out, and how long between the transactions.
OP's son may be best off trying to open an account with Monzo or Starling, but not both, before any CIFAS markers get put into the system, as these are very difficult to remove.
Pieman68 said:
Thanks for the replies. Apparently payment has been made into his account for 2 iphones - these have been refunded to the original senders so no additional funds in his bank
They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
Banks claiming not to be able to do an audit trail of an account pisses me off. The whole banking system is run by computers, and a trail of ALL payments is contained within. Just needs a lazy sod in the banks IT department to get off his backside and do it.They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
Pieman68 said:
Thanks for the replies. Apparently payment has been made into his account for 2 iphones - these have been refunded to the original senders so no additional funds in his bank
They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
Okay so the money was only paid in, and not out?They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
This will mean that any trails will be harder to follow, as all the bank can see is that your son was trying to keep the money for himself, are you able to see how the money was transferred in, paypal, BACS or similar?
Pieman68 said:
Thanks for the replies. Apparently payment has been made into his account for 2 iphones - these have been refunded to the original senders so no additional funds in his bank
They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
Lastpass won't be much use if the passwords being stored in it are weak. Two factor authentication is what he needs, for everything where it is available. Certainly eBay and PayPal both have 2FA available.They asked him to name some transactions from his account in the last 2 weeks - but it's been frozen for 2 weeks so he can't
I'll see if I can speak to them tomorrow. I will also be introducing him to Lastpass to make sure the chances of any future issues are lessened
Who knows where his details have been obtained. Could have hacked his paypal or could be another site he has purchased something from. Apparently the bank have said nobody else has accessed his account so possibly the fraud has been detected before they accessed it to remove the funds
I have taken great care not to name the bank but will speak to them tomorrow hopefully and see what we can resolve. Last thing we want is any markers on our address as we may be looking at a mortgage in the next 12 months (me and the wife, not him obviously)
I'm a bit perplexed by the involvement of the bank account to be honest. Normally hijacked eBay accounts would be changed to pay into a different account (i.e. the scammers). A hijacked PayPal account ought not to result in the bank account connected to it being frozen.
Are you saying that someone hijacked his actual bank account?
La Liga said:
robinessex said:
Goto nearest bank branch. Get access somehow. Sit down, and refuse to leave until they sort it. They can't use physical force to eject you.
The police who they may call can. There are probably better ways to go about it.
Edited by Bigends on Tuesday 26th January 19:21
OP, I don't think you are being told the whole story here by your son.
Organised crime gangs targeting young people to help launder money or participate in fraud is very common. People don't randomly send money to accounts unless there is a simple way for the money to be either forwarded on, or taken out in cash and handed on, so your son almost certainly knows more than they are letting on. Understandable they would be embarrassed about it. The jumper thing sounds like a bit of a red herring.
I think your son may be naively involved in something criminal and is now paying the price. Banks are showing zero tolerance to fraud and money laundering these days, especially as economic crime is high on the governments agenda. Sadly, if your son turns out to be a money mule, he might get a little sympathy from the police but a nice CIFAS marker from the bank for the next 6 years.
Hopefully you have access to the transaction history of your sons account so you can see the flow of money in or out and get to the bottom of what has happened and why.
Organised crime gangs targeting young people to help launder money or participate in fraud is very common. People don't randomly send money to accounts unless there is a simple way for the money to be either forwarded on, or taken out in cash and handed on, so your son almost certainly knows more than they are letting on. Understandable they would be embarrassed about it. The jumper thing sounds like a bit of a red herring.
I think your son may be naively involved in something criminal and is now paying the price. Banks are showing zero tolerance to fraud and money laundering these days, especially as economic crime is high on the governments agenda. Sadly, if your son turns out to be a money mule, he might get a little sympathy from the police but a nice CIFAS marker from the bank for the next 6 years.
Hopefully you have access to the transaction history of your sons account so you can see the flow of money in or out and get to the bottom of what has happened and why.
Camelot1971 said:
OP, I don't think you are being told the whole story here by your son.
Organised crime gangs targeting young people to help launder money or participate in fraud is very common. People don't randomly send money to accounts unless there is a simple way for the money to be either forwarded on, or taken out in cash and handed on, so your son almost certainly knows more than they are letting on. Understandable they would be embarrassed about it. The jumper thing sounds like a bit of a red herring.
I think your son may be naively involved in something criminal and is now paying the price. Banks are showing zero tolerance to fraud and money laundering these days, especially as economic crime is high on the governments agenda. Sadly, if your son turns out to be a money mule, he might get a little sympathy from the police but a nice CIFAS marker from the bank for the next 6 years.
Hopefully you have access to the transaction history of your sons account so you can see the flow of money in or out and get to the bottom of what has happened and why.
This has been going on for years. We had a spate of local students targetted pre 2010 . They were asked to process cheques through their accounts on the promise of payment for doing so. The lads not to blame here at all. The criminals are good at what they do. Police should still be involved to record and maybe investigate?Organised crime gangs targeting young people to help launder money or participate in fraud is very common. People don't randomly send money to accounts unless there is a simple way for the money to be either forwarded on, or taken out in cash and handed on, so your son almost certainly knows more than they are letting on. Understandable they would be embarrassed about it. The jumper thing sounds like a bit of a red herring.
I think your son may be naively involved in something criminal and is now paying the price. Banks are showing zero tolerance to fraud and money laundering these days, especially as economic crime is high on the governments agenda. Sadly, if your son turns out to be a money mule, he might get a little sympathy from the police but a nice CIFAS marker from the bank for the next 6 years.
Hopefully you have access to the transaction history of your sons account so you can see the flow of money in or out and get to the bottom of what has happened and why.
Bigends said:
This has been going on for years. We had a spate of local students targetted pre 2010 . They were asked to process cheques through their accounts on the promise of payment for doing so. The lads not to blame here at all. The criminals are good at what they do. Police should still be involved to record and maybe investigate?
Not sure it’s accurate to say “not to blame at all”. At what point do you have to take some responsibility and wonder to yourself why these people need to use your account, etc?Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff