Drunk Wife opened Ladbrookes online betting account and used my Natwest Card to spend £13k!!

[Mart1980]

Hi All,

I need some urgent advise in regards to a online betting site my wife had opened an online account in her name while drunk and used my bank card to deposit funds and lost a substantial amount without my knowledge.

 

I have only found this out yesterday

how this was possible I dont know because we do not hold a joint account.!!

 

I had contacted the site and told them that my bank card was used on their app and I was not the account holder

surely this is against the law for them to take the payments when it didn't match the name.!

 

They sent me a email asking for the dates and amounts my bank card was used on somebody elses account to see if they could trace the account.

 

They have now come back to me and said they can not trace the account holder details and that I need to contact the police and they will then contact the bank who will liaise with them and then they might be able to find more info.!

 

Surely they can see where the payments were made and trace it quite easy just with the card number.!!

 

Were do I stand on this

will I see any of my money back or what advise can anyone give me asap.

 

my wife did not need to give any verification I.d at all and my bank card was accepted as payments which was in my name

 

HELP.!

[dx100uk]

spousal fraud, whichever way you want to dress it up, is a very wide and emotive problem.

yours is slightly diff and as you say

the site should have systems in place to check the card owner details as anyone could have done that if you lost your wallet.

 

you should contact your bank soonest and get the moneyback.

this I suspect will be under the chargeback scheme as you did not authorise the debit.

most banks have 24/7 lines go do it now,

 

 

 

[Mart1980]

I am mindfull of getting my wife in trouble this happened all in the space of less than 24hrs on the 1st jan and it's a huge amount £13170 to be exact there was no call from my bank either.

 

I fear it is too late for the charge back ?? 

 

I have just called the bank and the department who deal with debit card fraud is closed.

 

I was hoping I could settle this with the betting company but they are acting daft and saying they can not link the payments with the online account that was set up.

 

I am at my peril the wife didn't really understand what she was doing it was a online fruit machine.

I need some sound advise asap

 

It does clearly state that you can not use any type of deposit that is not in the name of the betting account holder and that any winnings would be void so surely that is the case with the deposits.?

[dx100uk]

no it's not too late to do a chargeback you have a total of 540 days , 120 days being the longest period you can leave it after realising you could do a chargeback.

 

yes the bank is equally responsible as it the betting site - name them please.

it's not something that comes up often so info is scarce until the expert appear in the morning.

 

what are you doing with +£13k sitting in a bank account that can be taken by a simple debit card??

that's stupid sorry..

get the bulk out into a savings account that has no card against it! and gain interest on it.....

 

 

 

 

[Mart1980]

Hi the bank is natwest there was no call from the bank nothing frozen on the accounts no checks.

I just can not figure out how a big company like ladbrokes can allow a account to be opened with no id verification in one name and a bank card used in another and any payments being allowed to be taken at all let alone 27 transactions in a short period like that.!

The reason the money is there at all is because I am a sole trader with a couple of lads working for me and it's there wages as well as mine sitting in the account or was sitting there.!

I need to know what it is the best advise and outcome I need these funds back sooner rather than later ladbrokes seem to be acting daft that they can not trace these the transactions which has too be a lie/delay tactics.!

[BankFodder]

Also send all parties an SAR.

Separately, write to your bank and ask them why they have not offered you 2 stage authentication.

 

If you use the phone then read our customer services guide first.

[London1971]

Yup, as above. I’ve had 2 companies crumble now, one after sending a GDPR, SAR and the other just on a written warning that I would send one.

 

i work in marketing, nothing terrifies companies more than those four letters GDPR, I’ve had colleagues panic and lose their jobs over it.

 

 

 

 

[Mart1980]

What is a GDPR or SAR.?

 

[BankFodder]

Please follow the SAR link to discover more. It's about obtaining your personal data which is held on you from any organisation.

[BankFodder]

I have just noticed that you said that you are concerned about getting your wife into trouble. I'm afraid that that is a very real possibility. You will be effectively reporting fraudulent use of your card.

I think you are in a very bad situation. I'm sorry

[unclebulgaria67]

Hopefully the SAR will reveal more.

 

But for your Wife to use your card, she would need to know the 3 digit number on the back of the card, as well as the card number, account holder, expiry date.

 

How did your Wife gain access to your card or the detail including the 3 digit number on the back of the card ?

 

I suspect the gambling website allows an account to be set up in one name and another persons debit card to be used to add credit. This is why they cannot find your details as it was only your card that was used. The gambling account is in your Wifes name,

 

So your Bank are the ones to resolve this the quickest. You will have to report this unathorised use of your Bank card and give them all of the information they require. They may require you to make a report to Police.

[dx100uk]

no wonder you are having trouble...ruddy Natwest again..they are useless about implementing the rules of chargeback

 

 

 

 

[Mart1980]

It quite clearly states that only a debit card that is in the name of the account holder can be used and that if any winning bets are won with somebody elses card that the winnings would be void.So surely that would also be the case for any deposits to allow deposits at all in this day and age with totally different details seems ludicrous that it could be authorised at all.!

I dont know if I have done the right thing because I called them and told them I didnt know anything about this account.They then asked for the transactions and dates which i sent and then they replied that they can not find any payments and to contact the police and bank and they will be able to look in to it further.

It surprises me that they can not find it yet if I call the police and bank they can.!!

I am stuck between a hard rock and a stone here really of what to do.!

Yes my wife had my card I trust her to use it and have not had any problems before.

I will send the email reply thanks for all the advise guys

Thank you for contacting Ladbrokes Customer Support yesterday regarding your disputed transactions.

Our Risk team have carried out extensive searches on our database, but have not been able to locate the account that these funds have been deposited on I'm adfraid.

They have advised that you report the deposits to the Police, who will give you a reference number and to then in turn take this to your bank. You will need to state to your bank that you wish to make a chargeback request. Your bank will then contact us with specific details, so we can then try to locate these for you. Unfortunately, we are unable to contact the bank, we have to await them to contact us, they will be aware of this protocol.

I do apologise for any distress this incident has caused mark and I am aware that this may not be the news that you were hoping for. Once the bank makes contact with us, we should be able to investigate and resolve this much more swiftly for you. I hope that I have been able to answer your query fully. For a quicker

[unclebulgaria67]

Can your Wife log into the Labrokes account ?

 

If this is possible, then you will see all of the account details and transaction history ?

 

She would have given mobile phone number or email address as part of registration process, so there will be messages or emails about the account.

[Mart1980]

She doesn't remember the log in details but she has the details ie name on account address date of birth and email address it was set up with.(she can not get access to the email address to get the user name)

[Mart1980]

The account has been closed and they can not link the payments to any account.

It seems that this is a way of knowing they have made mistakes and of keeping the money even though it is not the same name as on the original account.

They are acting dumb and telling me to contact the police and the bank and then they may be able to find the info.

I have looked in to so many rules now it seems that firstly they didnt take any I'd verification off her and the account was allowed to rack up deposits of £13170 in less than 24hrs without it being flagged and now they can not find these transations.!

[unclebulgaria67]

Ok your Wife set up a Labrokes account, used your debit card, which you have given your Wife access to, plus ongoing authorisation to use and now the Labrokes account is no longer open.

 

So your Wife contacts Ladbrokes with her details and requests all of the information.  It is your Wifes complaint to Ladbrokes that they have allowed her to use a debit card which is not hers and Ladbrokes system has not prevented her from doing what she has done.

 

Your own complaint is with your Bank, for not having a system to prevent these transactions from their side.

 

Don't bother going to Police, as you have given your Wife permanent authorisation to use your Bank card, until you have told her otherwise.

[Mart1980]

So is my bank the best one to resolve this surely they will see payments were made and the payments that were taken were not in my name on the account when they speak to the company for a chargeback.?

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes  probably. The issue is not that the Ladbrokes account was in a different name, as I don't think Banking systems would pick this up.  This is because the full debit card information was provided including the 3 digit number on the back. So it was as if you were present, to authorise the transactions.

 

The issue is that the Banks systems should have been programmed to detect such odd transactions on one day in a short period of time.  Normally I would expect a Bank to block transactions, after x percentage of account balance was used and to require further methods of authorisation.

 

So start Banks complaints process.

 

 

[Mart1980]

I believe they sent one txt to check transactions after a few thousand but no calls or anything because obviously they would of had to talk to me and it was allowed to rack up a lot of payments within quick succession.

[Mart1980]

Hi bank fodder can a company just keep my money when the online account is not in my name?

If that was the case then anybody could use anybodies bank card on there online account when there rules stipulated that you can not use any other payment method than the persons name on the online account.

[Manxman in exile]

Apologies if I've missed this, but how do you know your wife has racked up a £13k debt with Ladbrokes if Ladbrokes say they can't trace the account?  Have you found out via your bank statements rather than Ladbokes?

[unclebulgaria67]

Does your Wife have same surname as you used on the Labrokes account .

 

First name start with same letter e.g  Martin and Mary ?

 

Bank is best way of resolving, as they authorised the payments and may be able to do something.

[Manxman in exile]

28 minutes ago, Mart1980 said:

I believe they sent one txt to check transactions after a few thousand but no calls or anything because obviously they would of had to talk to me and it was allowed to rack up a lot of payments within quick succession.

 

Sorry - you only "believe"?  Where did the text message go to?

 

(Was this from bank or Ladbrokes?)

Edited January 12, 2020 by Manxman in exile
question

[Mart1980]

Yes I was shocked at my bank transactions I spotted two days ago not ladbrokes themselves.

 

No all my wifes id is in her maiden name passport/drivers licence her bank account ect but the account had my second name and no her initials are not the same as mine not even close.

 

A txt message went to my phone which she also had we were on holiday on the drink all new years day and night this is when it happened.