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

[listless 5]

Hi Again  every one,
here im again asking for advice, im not sure where to post this thread so i created this under the bank name, did search CAG & google didnt come across this exact situation.


I Received a letter fom HSBC today first one ever so suprised what it was about it goes  a below, apologies for the spelling mistakes in advance.

Dear MR *****,
our Reference ****  "quite long"

Relavant acount number(s)*****

 

 

we recognise that you may no longer me a customer with us , however we are writing to you because we've undertaken a reviewof the above account(s),

we've determine that the quality of service you received rom us did not meet the standard...etc...... you should be compensated for your experience.

the address information we hold on file may no longer be up to date ,thereforwe the information included in this letter is limited for confidentiality reasons.further details can be provided upon reqeust..

the payment due to you is £25.00  a cheque for this amount is attched .

what we need you to do

simply bank the attched cheque....etcccc. goes on to say if this is not possible ( it isnt now) they direct you to a website , hsbc.co.uk/mydetails  which will ask you for all sorts of details and documentaion  for verification( suspicious to me ).

i am stumped by this .as i mentioned in my previous thread i only returned to the country and went on the electoral roll at my current address last year.

 

 

this is the first letter i have received from HSBC

i, used to have a CC with them ( default when in 09/20009 .last payment 06/2009) no acknowledgement since ever . 

have checked saved credit file from 2014/2015  they dont seem to have updated it since 2012 obviously this fell i guess somewhere in 2015.

they dont seem to have assigned it to any one either(not sure)

 

there is a GAIN marker in the old file.

i didnt know they kept records over 11 years anyway

come to the present day no CCJ's ,

checked registry trust for CCJ's no records,

even during those days i dont remember receiving many  collection letters from these before i left ,

definitly didnt make a complaint either.

Google serach says they automatically review accounts with HFC & john lewis accounts for compensation .

only had a 1 HFC finance account but that was before my illness & financial troubles and i definitely paid that off with out a missed payment ,

it does not appear in the old CRA file i guess its because its so old ,

no JL finance accounts ,

so im really confused about this.

 oh most importantly the last digits of the account number they give doesn't match my old CC number , dont know about old HFC dont have any records, but i never complaint about that i dont think , think it was only small monthly payment .

apologies about the length of the post , any thoughts welcome, is this a fishing expedition by dangling a £25  carrot i have no intention to bank it anyway even if it was possible,

Thnaks

 

 

[dx100uk 9,449]

cant harm you bank it

 

dx

 

[listless 5]

thanks dx like your thinking , but its so bizarreand out of the blue it too good to be true even if its £25   and add to it they ask me to bank it in 3 differnt places too eager , cant find anything on a websearch either so thought id like to know more details too many sharks about  , 2nd time i declined a handout this year

[dx100uk 9,449]

i wouldn't be refusing any handout at all

there is no reason

it cant reset anything

and most certainly can never be used as acking any debt.

 

dx

[BankFodder 1,976]

But - if there are any problems - don't give any personal details

[listless 5]

Thanks for the replies ,yes went to the link stated on the letter definitly asking for a lot of document copies  and other data.., just google the number on the letter and came up with this,one mentions they had geniuine acc numbers but not so in mine completley wrong, even in part .
https://scam-numbers.co.uk/Number/03455873533/

[BankFodder 1,976]

Gobbledegook 

[listless 5]

i just read my reply back

 

ooops i used quote

 

cant edit my reply , meant to say above ,

i googled the  contact Number on the HSBC letter 03455873533 and came up with the above link

seems like im not the only one who got the exact letter , all seems to have received it within the past few days.

one comment mentions that the letter had their correct account numbers ,but the letter i got has  a completely different account number no part of the account number matches the genuine number .

 

apologies for the Gobbledegook 

Edited November 28, 2020 by listless
.

[Stigman 1,005]

Just to update this thread for the op.

 

I have received the same letter with a cheque for £25, the letter had my correct A/C Numbers on as well.

 

The letter is vague as all it states is that they have reviewed their collections and recoveries departments and that it did not meet the standard that they expect.

The letter does not say what had gone wrong or where, what standards had failed and I will now be following up on this.

 

This stems from our Accounts from 2008 btw and we continuously thought with HSBC before it got to the collections stage so they have now opened up more questions that I want answers to.

 

HSBC found my new address, I did not give HSBC my latest address as I had postal redirection and the Accounts have been statute barred for nearly 6 years now.

 

Stigman

 

[listless 5]

Just as update to Stigman,

the letter I received does not mention collections and recoveries at all .

the account number is definitely wrong .

 

like @Stigman i did not give them the current address either in fact the old credit file even has a GONE AWAY marker too,

 

mine has been SB'd for over 5 years now , so im in the same boat.

 

having looked at that old CRA file it says satisfied with a default balance , so they must have sold it on perhaps in 2013 as it wasn't updated since ,but no other records on file to who may have purchased it .

MSE has this article but it doesn't seem relevant me MSE Article & which article

[BankFodder 1,976]

Bank the cheque.  No doubt it will bounce - but you never know.

When it bounces - that is when you are meant to access their website link and enter your personal details - but of course - DON'T.

[listless 5]

Thanks , what  I can't understand is why they would go to such elaborate scheme to try collect statue barred debts ( if that is what they are trying to do , certainly on my one I'd does seem so ,as the account number is wrong , unless some one stole my identity and opened an account in a different address and defaulted it.

 

Am  I correct in thinking this wouldn't appear on my credit files  unless it goes on public records?

My credit score has been pretty good for a while now even though I shouldn't be approved for credit as I still hardly have an income to speak of  unless someone told porkies. I hope this is not the case.

I even checked the bank address on the cheque it seems a genuine HSBC bank branch.

55 Above Bar Street 

        Southampton, SO14 7DS

As I said bizarre..

Btw : they have a Q&A section on the letter where they say they might write again as the review system may not have completed. Does sound like a fleeces letter.

 

[dx100uk 9,449]

no it's not a fleecers letter...

can't harm your credit file as you are not admitting to anything.

if the account is still with the original creditor then on their books its never statute barred

if it's sold, then it is and nothing can ever reset that.

 

its also worthy to not that if you did still have any debt with the OC, they would be sending you a cheque, they'd take it off the balance..

 

dx

 

[listless 5]

Thanks dx,
when you say  " on their books its never statue barred "  by law its statue barred correct? its been 11 years since the default and never been acknowledged afterwards , i should have couple more old saved credit reports from 2013/2014 ill have a look n see if its comes up with another purchaser ,not that it matters, but will get my mind off it a but

[dx100uk 9,449]

debts still owned by original creditors still on their books don't effectively become statute barred as they can always use offset.

in E&W the only thing SB does is removes being able to enforce a debt, so what's the point of court if it cant ever be enforced. they don't bother.

 

but if read things carefully again...as i said, if there was a debt to the OC they wouldn't be sending a cheque would they..think abou tit..

 

 

[listless 5]

Thanks dx, that makes it clearer ,you learn something everyday , i didnt know about the OC & SBthing , thanks.

[theoldrouge 793]

Just bank the cheque 

100% genuine 

Banked mine, cleared,

money in account ready for a bottle of something on HSBC for Christmas 

Have written to HSBC requesting details of their "failure "

and will decide on the details of their reply whether to press for further redress 

[Stigman 1,005]

My letter and Cheque is attached.

 

I have searched like Listless the addresses both on the Cheque, and the Business Centre and these comes back as correct for HSBC.

Even the FCA number in the small print on page two is correct.

The pages have a good quality feel to them, not something you would expect from a scam.

 

Just so weird that the telephone number that they ask you to call is not only on spam lists but also not showing on HSBC's own Phonebook list in their help section.

 

I will be phoning HSBC tomorrow and asking them directly.

 

Stigman

 

HSBC Cheques CAG.pdf

[listless 5]

Like @Stigman the cheque is the same but letter is not quite the same , I have attached the first page ,there is also a Q& A section.
to add to my previous comments , i have come across the HFC entry in the old Credit report , and that account number doesnt match the number ststed on the letter either , so i dont know what this account is at all !! no other dealings with HSBC in over 12 years ,in the mean time the HFC account was never over due in fact i have paid it off in 8 months with out anything being missed!!
 

 

hsbc refund letter.pdf

[dx100uk 9,449]

if these payments are anything to do with any HFC account of any type in any of their many names.., beneficial finance, hamilton, marbles, endeavour..  you can bet your bottom dollar you can add atleast 1 zero to the end of the sum they are offering ...customers were always ripped off..

 

try and use PDF please, images to screen force people on limited bandwidth to wait several minutes for pages to appear that they could otherwise choose not to view..

[listless 5]

apologies dx .didnt know i edited that on my mobile , i cant seem to edit it now as no option available ,will keep it in mind for next time.

[dx100uk 9,449]

done it for you.

 

whilst you are both on the same thread...

WERE these HFC accounts?

 

[listless 5]

Thanks dx. I cant say because the account number mentioned match neither my HFC nor my HSBC account so in my case i dont know what its about at all!!,
as i said HFC didnt fall into arreas ,but HSBC  CC did and was defaulted in mid 2009.  i only learned about HFC & JL accounts from the MSE article i linked to from 2019.
 

Edited November 30, 2020 by listless
.

[dx100uk 9,449]

credit card would be 16 digits

 

dx

[listless 5]

DX . They have only mentioned the last 4 digits it doesn't match any account .Infact any  of the four blocks of numbers at all, don't have the full HFC account number,but the last 4 doesn't match.