I've worked for a natwest contact centre in the past and it was quite common for cheques to be made available before they clear, we always had to advise customers that it was their responsibility if they draw on the funds before 5 working days.

I had a similar thing happen to me, although I was expecting a payment which turned out to be fraudulent, NatWest seem to have a habit of making money available, reversing it and then asking for it back, i find it ridiculous. As for legal action, this is very rare over an amount like £6000, they need to be 100% sure they can get the money back, otherwise its just not feasible to go through the courts. Personally, I think they will just send a few threatening letters and make phone calls, as they need to prove to the insurance companies they have tried to contact the debtor before selling the debt on to a DCA. Whats your friends current situation? is he a high earner? own a property? or a car? They always look at assets before taking legal action.

I did report it, i got a crime reference no. etc. but to be fair I don't think the police pay much attention to frauds like these, as for the client I didn't manage to get in contact with him after the incident (surprisingly!) I'm wondering if this debt is actually enforceable, seeing as it wasn't credit, do CCA's exist for current accounts?

Well not in error, I was expecting a payment in exchange for the website, although the buyer used someone elses details to pay me. The funds were made available, Natwest even called to let me know... with regard to prosecution that would've happened already if it was going to seeing as it was 6 months ago. Natwest have now passed it on to AIC debt collection agency.

Hey people, im just in need of a few opinions here. Back in July i received a BACS payment for a website i designed along with some SEO, which came to £5000. 2 weeks later i receive a phone call from a member of the fraud team, saying that the payment was fraudulent, the BACS had been recalled and as a result of this i owed them £5000. I then went onto explain I was expecting the payment and he replied in the case of a fraudulent payment your account with us will be closed. I didn't hear anything from NatWest and then a few weeks ago I started receiving phone calls from AIC saying i owe them approx. £5000. I explained that i had received a fraudulent payment and the mentally challenged women on the other end of the phone said that I was responsible because I had withdrawn the money, my reply to this was why did NatWest make the money available, which enabled me to withdraw the funds? To be fair I'm not that worried about this because its not something Ive agreed to pay back like a loan or a credit card. Just need to know where I stand? Am i entirely reponsible? I dont believe so...

To be honest you might aswell just leave it, only £400, you're living in a different country. It's highly unlikely they will visit your parents house as everytime a debt collector visits a debtor personally it costs them money, it just wouldn't be feasible. I know people who have overdrafts of 5-10k and they don't get any visits from debt collectors, lol, hope that puts you at ease

Ok, cheers guys

Hey people, im just in need of a few opinions here. Back in July i received a BACS payment for a website i designed along with some SEO, which came to £5000. 2 weeks later i receive a phone call from a member of the fraud team, saying that the payment was fraudulent, the BACS had been recalled and as a result of this i owed them £5000. I then went onto explain I was expecting the payment and he replied in the case of a fraudulent payment your account with us will be closed. I didn't hear anything from NatWest and then a few weeks ago I started receiving phone calls from AIC saying i owe them approx. £5000. I explained that i had received a fraudulent payment and the mentally challenged women on the other end of the phone said that I was responsible because I had withdrawn the money, my reply to this was why did Natwest make the money available, which enabled me to withdraw the funds? To be fair I'm not that worried about this because its not something Ive agreed to pay back like a loan or a credit card. Just need to know where I stand? Am i entirely reponsible? I dont believe so...