let someone open bank A/C in my name, ran up £2K OD - help

[B Joe]

I let someone I know open a bank account in my name as they had issues with using their bank at the time.
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I even went into the bank once to verify it was my account using my passport etc as there was a hold placed on the account once.
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Years later I owed the person £2000 for some electrical goods of theirs I offered to sell for them when they were moving home but I lost them.
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I questioned why should I have to pay for the goods when it was not my fault that I lost them and I was only trying to help them.
I told them there was no way I could afford to pay it
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They have now taken out a £2000 overdraft on the account in my name and transferred it out of the account to cover their £2000 I lost, telling me if I think I can question why I should have to pay them for goods I was responsible for which I can no longer produce then they can't trust me and don't want a bank in my name anymore and have just thrown the card away and discarded the account details.
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They have told me the bank will put interest on daily and eventually close the account and try to collect, the address on the account is my old address and I don't have a fixed abode.
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They have said I am now OK to not pay the £2000 as I wanted as it is no longer owed to them.
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I will never be able to pay the £2000 or the interest it will clock up every day so it will just be a bad mark on my credit for years.
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I expect if I go to the police and tell them then I will have to admit to letting someone else open a bank in my name which I know is fraud & I will just have to wait however many years for the debt to be statute barred as I will never be able to pay a penny of it.
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Can anyone offer some advice on what I should do?.
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Will I be putting myself into trouble by reporting this to my bank or the police?

[45002]

Its your fault in the 1st place for  letting someone open a bank account in your name, you even went to the bank to verify the account.

 

Sorry but Its your problem, your debt, pay up !

 

 

...

Edited March 15, 2020 by 45002
Spelling

[BankFodder]

 

15 minutes ago, 45002 said:

Its your fault in the 1st place for  letting someone open a bank account in your name, you even went to the bank to verify the account.

 

Sorry but Its your problem, your debt, pay up !

...

 

I'm sorry to say that although maybe allowing somebody else to open the account in your name was not good idea, I find that the comments above are rather harsh. People come here for help and advice and not be criticised and certainly not in this rather aggressive manner.

[45002]

1 minute ago, dx100uk said:

embedded ctrl chars# removed from 1st post

 

dx

 

That's better dx100uk , Thanks ..

 

BankFodder, I stand by what I posted ....

 

 

 

[BankFodder]

As I have pointed out above, allowing someone to open an account in your name was a very bad idea – even though it appears that it may have been working successfully for a few years. You were always in danger.

In terms of the items that you were meant to be selling – I'm afraid that you took possession of them and I would say that in law you were responsible for their safekeeping.

Your friends action in taking a £2000 overdraft – was probably dishonest and of course it isn't clear that the items that were for sale were worth that much. You probably ought to check what their second-hand value actually was.

However, the thing is such a mess that I'm not sure there is going to be very much you can do about it. If you inform the bank then they might decide that there is a fraud issue and place a CIFAS marker on your file – which will cause even more problems. If you inform the police, I can imagine that they will end up laughing at you – I don't think they have time for this kind of thing especially during the current crisis.

I'm not quite sure what to suggest. Maybe somebody will come here with some good advice – and I would certainly like to see it. I don't think we've had this particular kind of problem on the forum since we started 14 years ago

[dx100uk]

sorry 45002 but i don't 100% agree either with you...

the background is nothing to do with the issue..

 

contact the bank concerned and tell them you did not authorise the transaction and to reverse it.

regardless to the fact you allowed the account to be created etc etc..is immaterial.

when they look at the details of the transaction it will soon be apparent it was not you that actioned it.

it must be reversed...sweet revenge coming to your 'friend'.

 

 

dx

 

[B Joe]

The transaction will have no difference to every transaction ever took place on the account before and after I went into the bank to confirm is mine, would be the same device used also.

 

I am not willing to tell the bank I did not know about it as I do.

 

I am just wondering if the police would help me with this?

[45002]

12 minutes ago, B Joe said:

The transaction will have no difference to every transaction ever took place on the account before and after I went into the bank to confirm is mine, would be the same device used also.

I am not willing to tell the bank I did not know about it as I do.

 

I am just wondering if the police would help me with this?

 

You need to come clean and tell the bank Exactly what has happened and Not hide anything from them, your just digging a bigger hole for yourself getting further into trouble.

 

Don't think the police would be interested, even if they where their 1st question would be "why did you knowingly let someone else open a bank account in your name and let them carry on using it"

 

 

[Manxman in exile]

I'd be concerned that the bank would say "As far as we are concerned you have authorised this transaction in the same way as you have all the others over the years.  Why are you saying this one is different?  What have you been doing with this account?"  The OP does say this account has been used in this way by this friend for "years".  I would not want to argue that the overdraft was not authorised, even though it wasn't, because in reality all the transactions have been equally authorised/unauthorised.  It's a can of worms.

 

Also I appreciate that this is a consumer forum giving advice to consumers, but if I were a customer of a bank (and I'm a customer of several) I'd be a bit hacked off if I ended up baling out or subsidising other customers who behave like this.  At some point consumers need to take responsibility for what may sometimes be the detrimental but foreseeable consequences of their actions.

 

OP - the only advice I would give you is to attempt a reconciliation with your friend and try to get them to refund at least the £2k into the account, and then address the problem of their equipment that you lost.  If that equipment was entrusted to you to sell, then you probably are liable for it if you lost it.

 

EDIT:  The police may be happy to help you - but it may not be the sort of help you want.  The only way I can see you sorting this out is with your friend's help

 

 

[dx100uk]

doesn't matter its the same as all the other transactions....

the op is now taking control of HIS account that he setup for his mate and allowed his mate to use in his name.

being guilty of allowing that is no excuse and being guilty to allowing an account to be run by someone else is no excuse

 

as the owner of the account the op has the legal right to question the transaction and might well get it reversed once he has come clean.

it's no skin off the banks nose, they aren't losing out. worth a try.

[B Joe]

Thank you for the advice dx100uk but I would not want to lie to the bank by telling them I did not know about the 2K being taken as I had been told this was gonna happen.

I could not do something to get the person into trouble either as this would be bad.

[dx100uk]

On 15/03/2020 at 14:18, B Joe said:

I will never be able to pay the £2000 or the interest it will clock up every day so it will just be a bad mark on my credit for years.

and then be sold to a dca to get a guaranteed backdoor ccj for the £2k + about another £1k in fees and court costs....

 

and lose your only chance of creating a valid dispute record with the bank.

you are not lying...YOU did not authorise it..you signed no letter giving his authority to allow it.

and the fact that you are getting him into trouble is not true.

the bank wont and cant do anything to him (bad publicity they never do) all it will do is strip him of his £2k gain and force him to negotiate with you on YOUR TERMS.

 

go do it even if its not successful 

 

[B Joe]

I have since found out he took the money out in cash from atms

 

[slick132]

If I can add my thoughts :-

 

1. If BJoe goes to the bank to say someone else was using it and withdrew the cash, I think Bankfodder is right - it'll end with BJoe getting a CIFAS marker for involvement in the fraud of opening the a/c for the friend - which will result in serious credit and banking issues for the foreseeable future.

 

2. Involving the police would be pointless.

 

3. BJoe is totally responsible for the loss of items the friend gave him to sell but, again, this has little bearing on the current problem.

 

4. If BJoe does not repay the bank o/draft, the bank will close this a/c and look to him for the money.

 

5. It may be that it is better for BJoe to take responsibility for the unpaid debt, than to have the CIFAS marker as well.

[Manxman in exile]

Think I agree with slick132

 

I can't see that the OP can do anything sensible other than try to attempt some sort of reconciliation with their "friend" and recover some of the money - but I fear those bridges are now burned.

 

I appreciate dx100uk is doing their best to help the OP, but in the circumstances of this case, I could not advise the OP to go to the bank and say "this transaction was unauthorised", even if they've got nothing to lose by doing so - and I think they have a lot to lose...

 

First (and I don't want to appear morally superior or judgmental) it seems clear to me that the conduct of the OP in allowing a third party to operate an account in their name for several years is legally questionable*.  Why couldn't the friend open their own account?  Is this in breach of money laundering legislation?  What on earth was going on?  I find it hard to believe this arrangement was wholly above board and without any intent to deceive.  Without knowing more about potential criminal liability I would not want to be involved giving any advice beyond trying to sort it out with my friend.

 

Second, I know this is a consumer forum designed to help consumers, but that doesn't necessarily mean that everyone who comes here for help ought to be.  My personal view is that advising the OP in this case to try to get redress from the bank is not in the wider interests of consumers in general or of bank customers in particular.  I see very little difference between this case and, for example, suggesting someone make a bogus "whiplash" claim in a car accident.  Everyone else ends up paying.

 

I'm sure others will disagree and find my view harsh - but that is what I think.

 

*I understand dx100uk doesn't think this is an excuse - and I agree - but I think it's naïve to believe that complaining to the bank won't end up with the OP being asked some awkward questions... possibly about criminal offences.

Edited March 17, 2020 by Manxman in exile