@hsbc_uk_help Economic domestic abuse - HSBC demanding I pay back £9.5k debt from identity fraud by abusive ex

[90sbornincog]

I was in a relationship with a man who was both physically and emotionally abusive.

He had used my bank account to commit fraud and HSBC held me liable for the debt from the fraud which is £9,566.

I managed to find another place to move to and made sure I was virtually untraceable on social media and the internet.

 

I never told the police about the abuse at the time for fear of him being arrested then released and onto me.

However I did report the fraud to the police through Action Fraud and they replied a few months later saying that they cannot follow up on it as there is not enough evidence.

 

Now HSBC are harassing me to pay back the debt,

I'm a 22 year old student who cannot pay back such a large amount.

 

Although I am terrified of him I tried to locate him so the police can find him yet he is nowhere to be found and I believe now that he had been using a fake identity whilst with me.

 

HSBC have been immensely unhelpful,

I have gone back and forth into branches and made numerous phone calls which have all been useless and I cannot take out debt relief management plans or file for bankruptcy because the debt is from fraud.

 

They also filed a CIFAS flag marker against my name so I have to use an online bank now and will not be able to get jobs in many sectors when I finish uni, for 6 years.

 

I opened a case with the Financial Ombudsman which is taking a long time but have been studying hundreds of their decisions on similar cases and they never rule in the favour of the victim/consumer, so I am not confident.

 

What do I do?

Edited November 3, 2018 by dx100uk
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[fkofilee]

Hi There - Welcome to CAG - This is a lot to take in.

How long has your case been with the FOS?

 

What happened when you complained to the Bank itself?

[90sbornincog]

I reported it to FOS in May after receiving a final response from HSBC where they said they were not budging and this would be their last response to me on the matter.

 

They said my secure key was used and therefore believed it was me authorising the transactions

I was not able to supply the FOS with the original HSBC responses to my complaint so it took some time for them to retrieve it themselves from HSBC.

 

I rang them up a few days ago they said it is a priority case but they have yet to assign an adjucator to contact me.

[fkofilee]

Hi There - Do you have the letter from Actionfraud...

How confident would you feel to go beyond the FOS towards potentially taken HSBC to the legal stage?

[90sbornincog]

Hi yes I have the letter from Action Fraud.

 

My issue is I do not have enough money for legal action, I simply cannot afford it.

[fkofilee]

You dont need a lot of money for legal action - You actually can bring a claim against HSBC yourself.

But we need to know the full story of what happened?

[90sbornincog]

From the beginning I received a phone call around the end of September last year from what I believed to be HSBC.

I believed that it was a customer service agent from the Safeguard team asking security questions as he said the online system needs to be updated,

 

he was very convincing as he said my username i.e already knew it which now I realise that my ex must have seen me logging into my internet banking when he was with me. I believe that number spoofing was used as I did recognise the number to be from HSBC and I did not know that this spoofing technique existed until after the fraud occurred.

 

My ex used to say that his phone was broken, malfunctioning or did not have enough credit so would use mine often however I would always unlock the screen for him. It came to the point where he became agitated and insisted that I add his fingerprint to my Touch ID and give him my lock screen password. I said no and then he got physical with me, accusing me of cheating on him and all sorts. I caved in and did as he wished. Now my idiotic self used my lock screen password as my HSBC digital secure key password so that I can remember it more easily, but of course I never thought that he would use my banking or do any sort of fraud.

 

To my horror one day in late October last year I discovered my account was blocked when I logged in.

I immediately called HSBC asking why this was going on, and they told me I had to come into a branch for a meeting.

 

When I went in they showed me a fraudulent cheque for the amount £9,566 had been paid into my account 3 days before and the money sent to two random accounts. I was in complete shock and extremely confused. At this point I did not suspect my boyfriend was involved but told them of the phone call from a few weeks before and they said they would carry out an investigation.

 

Come January HSBC sent me a letter saying that they were closing my account and wanted me to pay back £10,566 (£1000 of it my student overdraft).

I spent the rest of my days in and out of branches and making numerous phone calls protesting my innocence to no avail. I had already contacted the police and directed to Action Fraud who I filed a report with and awaited their response.

 

I filed a complaint with HSBC and received a response in March where they essentially said they believed I authorised the transactions and to go to the FOS if I was unhappy with their response. I complained to the FOS and it took them time as the original customer help assistant got confused and thought I had not complained to HSBC already so contacted them on my behalf, HSBC responded in May with their final response saying that as the secure key was used I authorised the transactions and they would not discuss this again.

 

It was at this point that I was certain that my evil ex was involved because my secure key was on my phone and he was the only other person who had access to my phone, he also conveniently disappeared not too long after the fraud occurred which was a relief for me because I did not know how to leave him. I was still terrified of him though since he knew where I lived and although I am in a new residence I do have fear that he could see me anywhere. I took the final response to the FOS and it has now been months for them to assign an adjucator, they sent me a letter last week saying that as the case is complex it will take longer than anticipated.

Edited November 3, 2018 by 90sbornincog

[dx100uk]

urm.. something not sitting rigt with me here.

I doubt this fraus was anything to do with your ex

sounds like the std acam that these jokers pull on just about any bank account

once they get access to it

they transfer in money

then transfer is out

and the funds then turnout to be bogus.

 

happens 1000's of times a day one just about every consumer program there is.

you got sc@mmed by a faker on the phone... and you fell for it.

nothing to do with your ex.

 

dx

[90sbornincog]

No, I am 100% sure that my ex was involved.

I believe that those who called me and involved are a team that he has links to

 

How come he just happened to disappear not long after the fraud?

How I know that it is definitely him is that in the final response from HSBC they said that my digital secure key was used for the transactions.

My digital secure key is on my phone.

The only other person who had access to my mobile was him.

[dx100uk]

have you in all this written to the HSBC CEO?

 

there are numerous examples on the net , even with the digital secure key, that this type of thing happens without the need of a third party revealing it.

[90sbornincog]

have you in all this written to the HSBC CEO?

 

there are numerous examples on the net , even with the digital secure key, that this type of thing happens without the need of a third party revealing it.

How does one get a hold of the HSBC CEO? Does he respond to these letters?

 

I am sure that he had set me up and the fact that he cannot be found anywhere suggests his identity was fake which is typical of fraudsters. I know in my bones that he had something to do with this, he is that nasty character capable of it.

[dx100uk]

ceoemail.com

 

lets put it this way..

I bet the call you received to your phone from the supposed HSBC Safeguard team, was to the same phone that had your digital keys on?

[90sbornincog]

Do these bank CEOs actually reply?

And yes it was.

[dx100uk]

https://www.hoax-slayer.net/hsbc-safeguard-update-phishing-[problem]/

 

I bet your bottom dollar you or him clicked on the link in the email and your read/do email on the same phone too?

[90sbornincog]

I did actually get an email like this, but I knew it was fake and did not enter my information in it. I read my email on the phone sometimes but mostly on my laptop.

 

Sorry I only just read your signature as I was viewing on mobile version and just clicked view classic full site.

[BankFodder]

This is the second case I have heard about in the last month involving economic domestic abuse and which was referred to the financial ombudsman service and in which they cause delays and made errors and eventually blamed it all on the fact that they thought that the case was "complex". https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?486569-Unlawfully-withdrawn-Mortgage-Reserve-Account&p=5118964#post5118964

 

 

I think that this tells you a lot about the financial ombudsman service. It is out of touch and it is certainly not handling economic domestic abuse cases appropriately.

[BankFodder]

I don't understand a huge amount about the digital secure key et cetera, but for the moment I have to say that I am broadly the same mind as site team member dx100uk.

 

It seems to me if you can establish that your abusive ex was not involved then you have a much better chance of getting it resolved in your favour.

 

I'm interested in this fraudulent cheque. Who paid the cheque in? Do you have a copy of it? Can you get a copy of it? You say the money was paid out to 2 random accounts. Do you have any information about these accounts?

 

Are you saying that a cheque was paid in to your account and before it was fully cleared, your bank allowed money to be drawn against it and sent to random accounts?

 

Have you tried sending an SAR to the bank? Have you tried sending an SAR to the FOS?

[90sbornincog]

I do not know who paid the cheque in. I did retrieve a copy of the cheque. I do not know these two random accounts and I did not recognise their names.

 

Yes the bank let money be drawn against the funds before it was fully cleared.

 

I was not aware that you could send an SAR to the bank and FOS, but I will go ahead and do that, thanks.

[BankFodder]

I think you could post up a copy of the cheque on this forum in PDF format and also give us details of the two accounts which received the money. You never know, it might strike the bell with somebody.

 

Send the SARs off immediately. I can imagine that the bank may object because they will say that there is a CIFAS marker and they are not obliged to comply – but you may as well start and then we will see what happens.

 

It may be a blessing in disguise that the FOS is dragging their feet because this is likely to impede the bank from bringing a claim against you for the recovery of the money.

 

One of your problems is that the sum claimed is apparently over £10,000. This means that it is no longer a small claim and you do not benefit from the small claims rules. He will be treated as a fast track claim.

 

Is the debt still attracting interest?

[BankFodder]

Also, send an SAR to CIFAS - https://www.cifas.org.uk/contact-us/subject-access-request

[mrabody]

Yes, by all means SAR both HSBC and CIFAS. Be aware that CIFAS, contrary to the law will make rather stringent demands for Id documents for you to prove your identity. You should send ID with your SAR, but don't jump through the hoops they insist upon. Sue them instead.