barclays refuse my fraud claim what next?...

[kamin89]

hi,

 

my debit card, passport and phone were stolen in a busy area of london at night. it what i can only assume was a pickpocketing. however, several transactions occurred on my bank card. a 200 pound atm withdrawal and 2 card payments at what i believe is a newsagents. the total of it all came to just over 450 quid!! All of which occured within half an hour at around 4 o clock in the morning.

 

I cancelled all my cards as soon as i knew it was stolen and filed a fraud claim, and sent off the disclosure forms. The reply was that Barclays "when the card was lost that the pin was in the recognisable form." even though in the forms i mentioned the card was stolen and that i have never revealed or wrote down the pin.

 

Moreover, the account which the money was taken from was in its overdraft so, according to consumer credit act of 1974. The debit card acted as a credit token so i am onlynot liable for the losses right?? i obviously dont want to be liable for any!!

 

The FSA guidelines and its lending code suggest that the bank has to prove my negligence, and even then if the pin is revealed to a third party (which it wasnt) liability only extends to the 1st 50 pounds of losses. is this correct?

 

Now the bank are saying that becuase the pin was entered correctly on the first attempt. it proves that i was irresponsible and did not meet the conditions inder which the card was supplied and comprimised the security of the card. However, the pin could have been recorded with a camera at the cashpoint i used earlier in the night or "shoulder surfing" could have occured.

 

I have rung up the fraud department to ask if i can speak to someone who can help me further, but the call operator was not particularly helpful and seemed as though she was reading off a cue card. I was told to write a letter to debit card operations, and was wondering if anyone can help in what i have to say or write that would help me. i know the FOS is a last resort but the bank have no evidence to suggest that i made these withdrawals or cash purchases.

 

Just a bit of background, i am a 21 year old medical student and have been with barclays all my life and never before had an issue like this.

 

Any help would be really appreciated

[slick132]

Hi Kamin and welcome to CAG.

 

We've seen several cases here where Barclays have been unhelpful to fraud victims and cases have been unresolved for months.

 

Barclays are of course right to say that, if the PIN was used, they have to consider if you were negligent with the PIN. But if you say the PIN was not written down anywhere and nobody else knew the PIN, then it's reasonable to assume the PIN was noted earlier and you were then targeted by the thieves.

 

Was your a/c in an authorised overdraft before the fraud withdrawal. Were you still within your o/draft limit after the fraud withdrawal. In any event, I'm not sure this is relevant in the way you say - about credit token, etc.

 

Don't waste your time talking to the bank by phone - you will get nowhere. Keep everything in writing and keep copies of all letters.

 

I assume you already have letters from Barclays about this. Write to them briefly outlining the circumstances of the theft of your items and confirm the PIN has never been written down or disclosed to a 3rd party.

 

Ask if they have CCTV covering the ATM where YOU withdrew cash earlier or where the thieves withdrew cash later.

 

Have you contacted the police about this and do you have a Crime Reference Number. You should also ask the police if this method is one commonly used in that area - ie getting the PIN No. and then stealing your card.

 

A complaint to the FOS will be a lengthy process and they may well find in favour of the bank, despite the new rules put in place by the FSA last October. These said the bank should quickly refund a customer's money in fraud cases but the bank will not want to do this while doubts remain about the PIN No. being used.

[kamin89]

thanks for the help. i was in my overdraft before and after the money was taken. i'll write a letter explaining the situation and asking about surveillance and hopefully it will resolve things...

[slick132]

Hi Kamin,

 

My Q above was whether the o/d was within authorised limits both before and after the fraudulent withdrawal.

 

Do you have a Crime Ref No.

 

Have you asked the police if this is a common problem in the area where you were targeted.

 

This may take many months to resolve, based on other cases we've seen here.

[gezwee]

Hi K89

 

Slick offers sound advice, one additional point I would make is that the police will record as secondary incident only, Fraud act 2006 pretty much tied their hands with regard to financial institutions.

I'd get a secondary incident report logged at your nearest police station. Advise the reporting officer that you are unsure of the bank employees integrity due to the response received and ask them to call the fraud team member noted on your correspondence to verify the department they work in and their location....... if nothing else this will set their minds to the task whilst you prepare a suitable response to the bank.

 

Gez