Barclays account under review **MONEY RETURNED - A/C CLOSED**

[Boogz123]

Hi I really need some help

 

today Barclays have removed all my money from my current and savings account in total I had around £53k which is all the money I had with no notice.

 

I called them up to find out what had happened and all they have told me that my account is under review,

 

they can’t tell me how long it’ll be under review for or why it’s under review,

 

this is my main account with all my direct debits coming out of as well as my universal credit being paid into there, I don’t know what to do I have no money to do anything at all

 

I’m at rock bottom and Barclays won’t help me at all, I’m really stressed out and I just don’t know what to do next.

 

is my account going to get closed ?

Will I get my money back ?

 

I’m really lost and confused right about now and I can’t focus or do anything because this is all I keep thinking about 

 

all I want is my money back 

 

what should I do ?

What can I do ?

Edited March 1, 2022 by dx100uk
Spacing

[BankFodder]

Start reading this

 

 

[dx100uk]

Moved you to the Barclays forum 

 

You'll see loads of like threads here . Bottom line is there is nothing you can do bar wait about 10-14 days 

 

They suspect you of money laundering ..

Have you made or received any large sums of money to/from your account in recent times or transferring stuff in/ out of the UK?

 

Your money is not gone just hidden

 

I would go open a parachute account today

 

Dx

[slick132]

Hi Boogz and welcome to CAG

 

We've seen this many times and you'll get your money back when the bank has finished their Anti Money Laundering checks.

 

Acitvity on your account has triggered AML markers which the bank has a duty to report/investigate. This may be due to unusual cash transactions, overseas money movements, etc.

 

As DX says, get to work fast opening a new account so you can continue to manage DD's, standing orders, etc until Barclays let you have access to your money again.

 

Bear in mind they may decide they'll close the account, depending on what they conclude from the investigation.

[Boogz123]

I’ve been making cash deposits into my account since I was 18

 

I’m 28 now and there has never been an issue the only difference I can see now is that I’ve been receiving transfers from people I have sent money previously

 

but it’s literally money I’ve sent them and around 2 weeks later they have sent me the money back 

 

What’s the possibility that I will get my money back and what can I do to ensure I don’t lose all of my money ?

 

[dx100uk]

It's not gone anywhere. Just wait a bit 

 

Just type no need to hit quote

[Boogz123]

Ok thanks for that 

[dx100uk]

Rough size of these transfers and are they via say an intermediary 3rd party system like world pay to off shore people?

 

Dx

[Boogz123]

The transfers would usually be anywhere between 3-6k and it would be direct from their bank account 

 

also the cash deposits would be around 3-5k usually once a week but sometimes twice 

[dx100uk]

UK or outside?

 

[Boogz123]

Uk

[fkofilee]

----------

The transfers would usually be anywhere between 3-6k and it would be direct from their bank account 

 

also the cash deposits would be around 3-5k usually once a week but sometimes twice 

------------

 

Theres your answer. I think thats spooked them 

[Boogz123]

I thought as much but just due to the fact I haven’t had any contact with them or they haven’t notified me about the situation is what’s worrying me 

[honeybee13]

Have you read some other threads from people who've been in the same situation as you, Boogz, including the one dx pointed you to? In this Barclays forum, we have a series of them and there was a recent one where the OP was moving cash around.

 

Not all off them have come back to tell us the outcome, which is a shame, but I'm pretty sure that if the problem hadn't been resolved we'd have heard more.

 

HB

[MOSS 41]

i would be more worried about the DWP

 

you are receiving universal credits?

 

whilst having 53k in savings/funds with weekly 3k plus deposits going in 

neither scenario would be accepted by DWP to make you eligible for universal credits 

[dx100uk]

They won't notify you ..think about it..

You seem to be rather innocent by having any income paid into an account with dd's etc ...whereby anyone can grab what they want when they want.  

 

All income esp benefits should always be paid into a sep a/c parachute account with no dd's at all!! to stop grabbing..then transferred out as necessary to your other ones.

 

Dx

[Boogz123]

Sorry what does dwp stand for ? 
 

thanks for the information I’m setting up new accounts as we speak 

[MOSS 41]

department of work and pensions

 

the ones that issue universal credits i believe ,

when you applied for universal credits, you would of had to declare your savings and income, earnings/deposits going into account, but your suggesting you get 12-20k per month paid in in cash and then other large amounts paid in deposits 

so are you saying none of these amounts are income or earnings ?

 

you cannot claim universal credits if have over 16k in savings 

 

 

 

[Boogz123]

At the time I didn’t have the savings the money is from gambling and I don’t always win I’ve just been on a winning streak of late 

[dx100uk]

Time to stop then 

 

Dx

[Boogz123]

Most definitely lool 

[MOSS 41]

as an outsider looking in, and being the victim of a gambling addict which stole all our business cash, taking it and placing it in his own account and the bookies -destroying said business

 

i might have a biased view of this -so i apologise in advance 

 

once you passed 16k savings you had to inform dwp and stop tax credits , so depending when this happened /threshold was passed everything after (universal credit received)  -if investigated would have to be repaid, and they may prosecute if its a large amount -

 

you havent said if any is earnings - do you work ?

while the occasional big win is unlilely yo be highlighted with the DWP, regular winnings (which you seem to indicate) can be a different story

there are recent cases of the DWP examining gambling winnings and classing them as payments and regular income

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[comebackjimmy]

Hello

 

I sympathize with your plight having suffered similar from Barclays and lately from Starling.   No one has attempted to explain what is happening here so I will attempt to do so based on my own experiences and research.

 

A few years ago new Draconian laws came into force to prevent money laundering and fraud.  This is how they work:

 

Every bank has a fraud officer and he must legally monitor all the accounts.

 

If he fails in his duty he can be prosecuted and so can the bank.

 

To monitor the accounts certain automation has been put in place by the bank and if the automation sees transactions it does not like it will alert the fraud officer.

 

Also, bank staff have a duty to alert the Fraud officer if they suspect customers of fraud or money laundering.  if they do not notify the Officer they can themselves be prosecuted.

 

Once a suspect transaction or account has been highlighted the Fraud officer will notify the National Crime Agency (NCA) and by so doing the bank is no longer held liable for any fraud that might be taking place.   When  they do this they also have to freeze the account or otherwise make it impossible to use.

 

In a further twist once they have done this they cannot tell you why they have done it because to do so would be to "tip you off" and if they did so they would again be liable to prosecution for tipping you off as a suspected fraudster.

 

The effect of all this is that if they don't like a transaction they will freeze the account and not tell you.  The biggest indication that this is happening to you is that they don't tell you anything and leave you in the dark no matter what.

 

The NCA have ten working days to decide if they want to investigate you further.   If after ten days the NCA has not come back to the bank then the bank is free to unfreeze your account.  In practice this happens 97% of the time with only 3 in 100 freezes being taken any further by the NCA.

 

So you have a 97% chance that your account will be unfrozen in ten WORKING days.

 

Once your account is restored the money will re-appear and it will be business as usual except for the fact that any standing orders etc will not have been paid and you will possibly have problems with insurance, mortgages and so on that need to be sorted out.

 

Additionally, the bank may decide they don't want to provide you with a service in which case they will give you notice.  This should be at least thirty days notice  but could be sixty or as little as seven days.

 

Given what has happened I think you should open another bank account, start using it with whatever funds you can muster and then use the porting service to get your account moved to your new bank once you are unfrozen.

 

Additionally I would open yet another account and spread some of the money around so that if it happens again you are not unusually disrupted.

 

You may think it is not fair and I 100% agree with you but that is the situation and all you can do is wait for the time to elapse and get those other accounts sorted out.  Any huffing and puffing on your part will get you nowhere as the bank has covered its arse and will follow the process.   It does not care about you and will not talk to you.

 

Afterwards you can write a letter of complaint to your bank asking for compensation if you have failed to make payments.

 

They will probably give you the finger but having written the complaint you are then able to go to the Banking Ombudsman who may very well find in your favour and order the bank to give you compensation.

 

I think the law is out of control on this point given the fact that 97% of suspensions go no further.  It is just the banks covering their arses at your expense.  But that is where we are.

 

Hope that provides some context for you for what has happened.

Edited March 2, 2022 by comebackjimmy
Spelling/grammer

[Boogz123]

Thank you so much for that it was in so much detail and has given me a lot to think about much appreciated 

[mantis shrimp]

It's a shame those rules are not applied to political parties' accounts, given the dirty Russian money that the tories are happy to accept.