Yahoo Finance 'I paid £6,000 to an eBay fraudster. Why didn't the criminal's bank help me?'
Victims of fraud struggle to navigate the complicated process of reporting the scam and often feel that the criminals have more rights than they do.
Some victims seek help and information from the bank used by the fraudsters, only to be told that data about the criminals’ accounts cannot be disclosed because of data protection rules.
When one reader, Alistair Black, paid £6,000 for a non-existent Harley-Davidson motorcycle on eBay, he thought the recipient bank would be best placed to stop the payment leaving the fraudster’s account.
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However, when he tried to report the fraud to Nationwide, the criminal’s provider, it refused to help.
Banks have a duty only to their own customers – in this case, the fraudster – and could not tell Mr Black anything because of “data protection”.
Mr Black also reported the crime to eBay, his local police in Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, and Action Fraud, the national cybercrime reporting service.
Mr Black, 62, a motorcycle enthusiast said he mentioned the fraud in passing to a staff member at his branch of Halifax, but didn’t think it could do anything as he had instructed it to make the payment.
Mr Black said he felt that he had been a “bit of a fool”.
He had used eBay for the first time and was drawn to the motorbike by its attractive price.
“I would’ve paid £7,000 for that bike. Or even £8,000,” he said.
After extensive correspondence with the fraudster, Mr Black was convinced he was genuine seller who “wrote in perfect English and knew about bikes”.
However, he did find it odd that when he asked for a phone number, the request was ignored.
Mr Black made a £6,000 bank transfer in his branch on November 1. When the bike failed to arrive as agreed that week, he contacted the buyer but got no response.
He contacted the organisations he thought would be able to help, but didn’t realise that any remaining funds would need to be clawed back by his own bank.
No word from the banks – and an unexplained delay
In mid-December, police told Mr Black that there was £2,500 frozen in the criminal’s account.
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Mr Black said this was the first he had heard of remaining funds.
According to Mr Black, police said the criminal had withdrawn £3,000 from a Nationwide branch in the south of England on the day of the transaction and then took out £500 from a cash machine outside.
It was then that Nationwide became suspicious and froze the account, although it would not say what caused the alert.
The building society then contacted Mr Black’s bank, Halifax, to make it aware of the scam.
However, under data protection regulation, Nationwide was not permitted to inform Mr Black of the remaining funds.
Mr Black contacted Halifax on December 19 and asked it to get his money back.
However, the bank did not carry out his instruction until eight weeks later on February 6 – and then only with the involvement of Telegraph Money.
Halifax admitted it had been contacted by Nationwide on November 3 regarding Mr Black’s transaction.
The bank claimed it “attempted to reach” Mr Black by telephone.
When it could not get through, it sent a letter, which Mr Black said he did not receive.
Halifax did not comment on what caused the delay, but has apologised to Mr Black and offered him £150 as a goodwill gesture.
It explained to Mr Black that it would take six to eight weeks to get his £2,500 back.
Protecting the fraudster?
Numerous victims of fraud have told this newspaper that they feel the criminals have more rights than they do.
The recipient bank, which manages the account on behalf of the criminal, cannot communicate information about the fraudster’s account, such as whether it was newly opened or if fake identity documents were used, because of data protection and other legislation.
If police investigate the crime, they are unlikely to reveal details about the fraudster either. But such information could make the difference between getting your money back and not.
For example, David Burton was reimbursed £3,400 by TSB two years after he was tricked into buying a fake motorhome on eBay after police told him that the criminal had used false details to open the account.
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The British Bankers’ Association said the financial industry was working closely with law enforcement agencies to improve the handling of cases that involved suspicious activity.
A spokesman for Nationwide said: “In order to open an account, customers have to provide valid identity documents to verify their name and address. If there is any suspicion of fraud, an account would not be opened.
“Nationwide takes the protection of customers’ money very seriously, and if we notice any suspicious activity, we will take action, as we did in this case.”
Have you been the victim of a scam? Email amelia.murray@telegraph.co.uk
