Bizarre Letter including a cheque received from HSBC....Scam ?or dangling a carrot for fishing? confused...

[Stigman]

To update the op and this thread.

 

I tried to call HSBC only to be on hold for 30 minutes and then cut off 

 

Today, I went into HSBC, the letter is from HSBC, the letter is genuine and the guy even showed me a copy of the same letter addressed to me on his tablet.

He was shocked that the telephone number comes up as a scam number in Google searches but I also pointed out that the number is not listed in HSBC's own phone book in their help section.

 

He had no comment on how they found my new address, nor the reason as to why.

 

I will now be sending HSBC a SAR request and want to know more.

 

Stigman

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Have you used any comparison website, bought Insurance  or added your information to any companies databases in the last 12 months ?

 

It is very difficult to be off the radar data wise. Your contact information will have been made available to HSBC.

[livingthedream]

6 minutes ago, Andyorch said:

 

29 November 2019

 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2019/11/over-100-000-hsbc-and-santander-customers-owed-unarranged-overdr/

 

I don't believe this is related, the amounts we are all getting are the same, they don't match the level in which this article refers too, and it's not actually relevant to my setup, as this was related to a business account which wasn't mine, I was never charged for unarranged overdraft

[listless]

Like @Stigman i too tried ringing HSBC on their genaral number couldnt get through,  I messeged them , they replied back saying it sounds geniune as they have been refunding some customers( even though im a former)  and asked if i could send a copy of the letter,

 

i sent them a copy with sensitive data edited out ,and also wrote highlighting the fact that the account number(i:e: the last 4 digits) on the letter doesn't not  correspond to any  account numbers ( any part of the number in fact )i may have hadwith any HSBC entity ,  i had about 11 years ago.

the replay i got back  was apologising for their late reply saying the letter is genuine and "If you would like to confirm the reason why this letter was sent to you, please call the business review centre & gives that number on the letter" point to note the letter i got did not  mention "recoveries & collections"  a subsequent reply states you will have to confirm your details ,DOB, address etc..etc... just as on the letter..
erm... I Think Not.

 

in the meantime i can see lots of people complaining on their social media pages  that their PM/DM s havent been answered for weeks , they answered mine 3 times in 3days

[livingthedream]

4 minutes ago, listless said:

"If you would like to confirm the reason why this letter was sent to you, please call the bussiness review centre & gives that numberon the letter"

 

I just don't like the smell of this at all, certainly not worth the £25,  i'll stick with my tried and tested method of ignore

[s3r3n31]

I received one of these cheques also. I received a £50 cheque but it was because I had two accounts. I have a feeling that these are compensation for people who did not claim PPI. I am guessing no-one on this post claimed for PPI.... I also checked the address on the letter and it's an HSBC related insurance business. 

 

I know that it's probably hard to believe that a bank would compensate people for anything without pressure to do so; but in my mind I actually think that with the current climate.

 

Banks particularly are trying to help people; they are losing money hand over fist because they are losing wealth from people who are suffering due to furloughs and job loss etc.

 

Perhaps it would be more humane to not doubt so quickly and actually believe that although in the most part banks are ravenous scavengers and lets face it £25 is nothing but a token effort I probably could have claimed thousands through the PPI scheme. But I chose not to.

 

Money isn't everything. I have enough going on with my life without filling out unneeded paperwork. Traipsing through my financial history etc. Just bank the damn cheque and don't be a fool lol.

 

£25 buys you a nice bottle of bubbly for Christmas and how many scammers are willing to give you money in order to take it. I work in IT and if you also look at the redirect of the details of the URLs that you were given in the letter they are legitimate and not spoofed.

 

I don't bank with HSBC/First Direct anymore and from the sounds of it neither do many of you.

Are you suggesting that hackers could infiltrate every banking network in the world if this is a scam???? 

Edited December 2, 2020 by s3r3n31
additional info

[Dennis25]

I’ve just got the same letter today with a £25 cheque. Apparently the quality of service I received did not meet standards I’ve not had a HSBC bank for over 20 years!

[s3r3n31]

I was wrong whatever you do do not use online banking to deposit the cheque. It has a qr code on it. 

[Tallman69]

I received exactly the same letter/cheque amount/style as Stigman, this was on Saturday 28th November. Certain things on the letter,wording and presentation just don't add up. shout SCAM!!!!

• www.hsbc.co.uk/mydetails doesn't take you to that page
• 0345 587 3533 been used as a scam no# with text/links etc
• HSBC red logo up top of letter,black logo on cheque(wouldn't be the case)
• 9-5pm Mon-Friday, except public holidays, can't see HSBC working to those hours and especially not weekends.
• "we're here to help section" nothing relating to that on the letter anywhere.
• QR code on cheque, just comes up with random crap..tried this on my bank app.
• End of the letter would have a persons name and possible a signature,again nothing of that nature.
• Address on back relates to HSBC life insurance and not actually HSBC themselves.

The only things that looked remotely legitimate were the sortcode and account no# and the registered address on the back. Let's be fair, anybody can get these details of the internet.

 

Get the impression they're relying on people calling in on the no# on the letter to clarify on why they have this letter, then they get people d.o.b/address/bank deets/maiden names etc via confirming these back to whoever down the other end of the phone.

 

Be interesting to see what other people make of this, and yes I just ripped and shredded everthing up.

.

[Stigman]

16 hours ago, unclebulgaria67 said:

Have you used any comparison website, bought Insurance  or added your information to any companies databases in the last 12 months ?

 

I updated our details as we recently moved (May this year) with a certain price comparison website that uses a small mongoose as well as his servant and family as their advertising.

 

I had not connected the two and have had no searches by anyone on my credit reports that I receive.

 

Stigman

 

 

[listless]

Same here no searches on my reports ,but im on the electoral register ( for the last 6 months -thats after about 12 years i guess),not on the public register though  and I haven't done any searches  comparison websites in my name either.

[theoldrouge]

Very Interesting, from the latest  HSBC Interim Report 

These payments clearly relate to this 

HSBC will not comment further until the investigation is complete 

 

 

Various HSBC Group companies, including HSBC UK, are subject to an ongoing investigation by the FCA in connection with collections and recoveries operations in the UK. HSBC UK is cooperating with the investigation. There are many factors that may affect the range of outcomes, and the resulting financial impact, of this matter, which could be significant.

 

 At 30 June 2020, a provision of £227m (Dec 2019: £220m) was held relating to the estimated liability for redress payable to customers following a review of collections and recoveries practices in the UK, including HSBC UK. During the first six months of 2020, redress payments and incurred operating costs totalled £9m.

 

 The provision has been estimated based on a number of customer cohorts who may have been impacted and a number of assumptions which are highly judgemental. The provision has been adjusted to reflect latest available information, but remains subject to significant judgement. Operating costs for the programme have also been reassessed, and the provision has been increased by £16m as a result of these factors.

 

 Work to identify relevant data continues, and there is significant uncertainty surrounding the total number of customers affected and the amount of any redress to be paid. Redress is expected to be completed during 2020.

 

Work to identify relevant data continues, and there is significant uncertainty surrounding the total number of customers affected and the amount of any redress to be paid. Redress is expected to be completed during 2020.

  

 

[listless]

 I should have updated earliar ,but here it is

 

i did call the number on the letter  early on Monday and got through within 15 mins on Monday, did seem like a   local call centre.

I told them about the letter and how the social media teams asked me to call to get details as to why the letter was sent they said the same as the letter . when i mentioned the letter does not mention collections/recoveries ,

 

i was very careful about not giving them any extra details they did ask for DOB & address I said im not giving any as all you need is the ref and my name as on the letter, & the cheque would verify if it is only my bank account it shouldn't be a problem. besides i didn't know if this really was HSBC as it does not appear on the HSBC phonebook 

 

@Stigman  mentioned earlier  , just gave the reference number and asked what this was about i was Extremely polite.

 i said as  i dont know what this account number is , they asked if i had a CC i denied it , then they asked if i had some thing called a "managed loan"  ( i read what these were from another thread )

 

i said i haven't had any loans, cc or any bank accounts with them at all ( in effect i only had a CC defaulted in 2009 last payment 2009 ,never acknowledged as you know above in the thread later).when i said no  this seemed to throw them in to a bit of a faff and put me on hold for about 10 mins.

they came back apologised and asked about HFC & JL accounts , i admitted to the HFC but said that was paid off  fully before time years ago , and it had nothing to do with collections/recoveries  and the account number doesn't match anyway . so on hold again for about 5 mins came back said they currently do not know why i have been sent the letter!!!!

but i can bank the cheque as their reviews have identified that i needed to be compensated even though they didn't know why lol. Apparently there are no conditions attached.

 

Apparently they will call me back, at this point i interrupted  i want to go this on record to say never to call me back , and to put it writing saying the matter is closed.

 

believe  it or not she said OK and said she wrote it notes to say that i requested in writing not to bother me again  apologised again and hung up.

this is becoming more & more bizarre . lets wait and see if the letter confirming this is closed arrives or not , I will update

[dx100uk]

i was going to say i wonder if this is all to do with these HSBC Managed Loan

They really were out of order upon what they did to 10'000 of people by doing those without express agreement from the customer.

 

but my bet lay with HFC and all their other names..

[theoldrouge]

No wonder HSBC have set aside £ 227 million to deal with this, seems that the problem is systemic amongst the banks

We await the full details, but it seems to me that £25 won't cut it!

A small detail buried on page 30 in Barclays’ full results for H1 2020, published on Wednesday, July 29 2020, shows that since February 2018, the FCA has been investigating whether the group implemented effective systems and controls with respect to collections and recoveries and whether it paid due consideration to the interests of customers in default and arrears. 

Barclays and HSBC refuse to comment until the investigation is completed 

[listless]

dx ,

I guess since they asked about a managed loan it may be so that also comes in to the equation,

 

but as to me  - i did not have one at least knowingly so , as i had just the CC. but again no account number match

 

but then again when i denied having one, ,they still should definitely have known why they sent it , instead of saying they cannot identify why it was sent ,

 

surely they must have a note under that reference number once they bring up details on screen  .

[dx100uk]

if you only had a CC and no bank a/c it wont be the managed loan issue.

[Paddy695]

Had same letter they are giving me a Christmas present because they didn’t do a good job collecting a debt which I can’t even remember . Well I don’t believe in Father Christmas they must have some Devious motivation . Put mine in the bin!

[listless]

dx yes same thought came in to my mind. only everyone seems to recognise the account number except for me. oh well it is what it is !! will be keeping an eye on this thread  for other posters too

[Dennis25]

I didn’t recognise the account number either but when I took it to my bank it was legit so I banked it

[listless]

@Stigman , apologies for addressing you directly , just want to ask if you had deposited the cheque or not?   my bank does not have online deposit  and i dont want to go out to the city center to the only branch , but im thinking  of getting a starling account which has this feature . in the mentime HSBC havent got back to me about what this  account number is ,i asked them to write to me because on the phone they did not know , still no news on that .
did you get any news on the SAR?  probbly not enough time?
 

[Dennis25]

I deposited my cheque yesterday, the guy at the bank said they’ve had loads of customers with them and are legit

[Paddy695]

Yes trying to convince the regulators that they have acted properly towards their clients makes some sense however this means they have records going back over a decade,  I bet they turned down lots of PPI saying their records only go back a little while bla bla bla. Anyone who had a claim turned down on those grounds should go to the regulator and accuse HSBC of telling porkies!! perjury is a criminal offence i believe . As I said earlier No Father Christmas!! he has been arrested for crossing from tier 3 to tier 4 without reasonable excuse!!

[Dennis25]

That’s exactly what the guy at the bank said! Although I never put a ppi in with HSBC so it’s all very odd. Hope your wrong about Father Christmas though, I’m counting on him coming here

[listless]

Never Had PPI with HSBC in fact they dont even know what this account is ,neither do i.
Father christmas will have to  use santiser & disinfectant though  leave them by the door.