Have I been involved in fraud ?!

[cakeslenon6]

Hey everyone, I need some advice because I’m panicking right now.

I received a call from a friend I trust who said their account wasn’t working and they needed to make a payment for something. They asked if someone could send money to my account and then I forward it to my Revolut account so they could complete a payment through a Moonpig page. I agreed and didn’t really think anything of it at the time.

I received a transfer of £1,306 and followed their instructions. A few hours later, I tried to send the money on, but my account was suddenly restricted.

I checked my banking messages and they’re now asking for additional information about where the money came from, whether I know the person, and to provide any supporting evidence.

I’ve responded explaining what my friend told me and I’ve also sent a screenshot of the Moonpig request they mentioned. However, the conversation originally happened over the phone, so I don’t have any text messages or written proof of them asking me to do this.

I’m now really worried because I feel like I may have unknowingly been involved in fraud, and I don’t know what this means for me or what I should do next.

I have a holiday coming up next month and I’ve never experienced this before will the police get involved or would I have my account closed down what’s going to happen ?!

If you do go on holiday, don’t go carrying anything abroad for your friend. Same kinda thing. If a mate asks you to do something sus that doesn’t make sense, question it and decline. The friend of a friend stuff and weird transfers should have set alarm bells ringing. Gotta hope your naivety comes across and you’re seen as a victim, though there’s also a chance you thought you’d benefit from it too.

Re-read the OP. The money to the OP didn't come from the friend. It came from a third party. Supposedly another friend of the OP's friend.

Contact your bank OP, not your friend who may well be a scammer or else involved in something dodgy.

The bank has seen the transaction and its flagged up a commonly used money laundering pathway. They constantly monitor accounts , some more than others. You may be one of hundreds of “money washing machines “ that is being used. They are probably monitoring a known route.

A few years ago my business account was put into a “ special department” I only found out when I had a mortgage (simple remortgage) refused at the last minute. My financial advisors rang me in a panic because there was no explanation. He had been given a number for me to contact, I rang them and a very pleasant manager explained my account was in this special dept ( I don’t remember the actual name) and was being investigated. I ask why and he said he could not disclose because it wasn’t my account that was under investigation, but one I was associated with.

I had a joint account with my DSis at the time so asked if it was her account he said no, since she had joint accounts with her DH I asked if it was my BIL. He said he could neither confirm nor deny ( his actual words), but he could say it wasn’t my DSis.

Since the main problem was the remortgage, I asked him if I severed the connection would they lift the sanctions on my accounts. He said yes.

Anyway after a heated discussion with my DSis, who didn’t believe me she agreed to take herself off the joint account and after many phone calls my financial advisors rang rang me to say they’d reversed the decision on the mortgage and it was going through. He was astounded since he’d never known them reverse a decision.

Now this was where it became a little weird. I rang my bank manager, who I knew quite well. His first comment was he’d just had my account returned to him ( I presume virtually since it’s all digital) he then said that he didn’t know that it had been removed from his department. I then told him the full story and even he didn’t know about the department it had been transferred to.

The manager reassured me that it hadn’t been tagged so I shouldn’t have problems in the futures and apologised profusely. Neither of us would have ever known about the special department if it hadn’t been for the mortgage debacle.

DSis and I made up, I explained that the last thing I needed was having my business account being restricted, wages and bills were due and it would have been a nightmare. She had done a bit of digging and her DH was in a lot of debt ( alcoholic, out of work spendthrift), they were on the verge of divorce anyway, and he wouldn’t explain what had happened. He claimed the special department had got it wrong. To this day he claims it was nothing to do with him. But his situation at the time was dire and I suspect he was about to assist in a money laundering scheme in order to earn some money.

My misfortune was having a business account that was linked via 3 accounts to BILs, my personal account, joint account with DSis and joint account DSis and BIL had. I suppose the bank automatically thought that it was a network of personal accounts between which money could easily be transferred. The transfer that triggered the cascade may well have occurred but BIL never disclosed what happened.

I spoke to my DH’s DB who was in police intelligence at the time and he agreed that in all likelihood the money was whatever BIL was up to had flagged potential money laundering and they’d shut down our little network of accounts but we were able to use them despite them going into “special “ department. Unfortunately, the big red flag that was attached to the network and security refused the mortgage at the last minute.

The manager in the “special “ department was lovely and without his cryptic help it saved us a lot of hassle.

Seconded and thirded.

If your friend was locked out of his bank account, it's likely because his account's been frozen due to suspicious transfers.

It's more likely he was not locked out of anything and has used you as a mule (sorry). This rigmarole, involving two extra transfers between electronic banks that deal in electronic currencies, doesn't make sense unless the players are trying to hide the money. Did he ask you to convert it into one electro currency at Revolut and another one at Moonpay, by any chance?

As far as I can tell, Moonpay only handles electronic currencies. Never agree to buy these for someone else. Never agree to weird financial deals, however well you know the person asking.

Agree with everyone advising you to be quick and extremely helpful with your bank tomorrow. It should be clear you've been a victim here, and it shouldn't stop you going on holiday.

All that money for a moonpig order. Really? Go and talk to your bank.

I’d wager the friend is genuine and has been a mule himself but now locked out.

he required a new mule and chose the OP

as kindly as I can put it I feel the OP may have vulnerabilities and if that’s the case let your bank know this.

be prepared though for your account to be closed and difficulty in getting a new one

My understanding is that

• @cakeslenon6 has a friend that she knows quite well.
• the friend contacted cakes to say that their account isn't working, which is a pain, so could she help out.
• to help out, a person that @cakeslenon6 doesn't know would transfer money into her bank account
• the friend is using Moonpay to buy electronic funds and Moonpay has the facility to take money directly from Revolut, so @cakeslenon6 was asked to transfer the money into her Revolut account
• A few hours later, the OP transferred the money into her Revolut account and then the contact made a request from Moonpay for that money.
• The transaction was blocked and now the bank is asking questions.

Moonpay only uses electronic money types (avoiding c word). The transactions are blockchain transactions, which means that they are entered on a database shared across a network and they can't be changed. Once the transaction is made, it can't be undone. That means that in cases of error or fraud, there's no way of reversing the transaction to set things right. In cases of error, you could hope that if the wrong wallet ID has been entered, the holder of the receiving wallet would make a corresponding transaction to set things right.

The bank will investigate and hopefully the OP will be able to reassure them of her ignorance. It will likely go against her that she would have had to answer questions that ask where the money came from and if she'd been asked to transfer money for the first time and must have said no for the transaction to get through.

It's been mentioned several times it wasn't Moonpig but Moonpay. Moonpig was a typo/autocorrect.

They asked if someone could send money to my account and then I forward it to my Revolut account so they could complete a payment through a Moonpig page

if your friend was sending the money that’s one thing but the fact that they asked if “someone” could send money then it’s highly suspicious. Probably low level money laundering.

Brilliant post, thank you. that all certainly sounds plausible and make things easier to follow especially regarding why Revolut needed to come into play

It does of course also paint a picture that this must all have looked very dodgy from the start as it all comes down to claiming they need emergency "alternative funds" 😬

Oh dear OP. Contact your bank not the friend. Don’t respond to the friend until you have spoken to the bank / the police .

Read. The. Thread. And if you can't be bothered, at least read all the OP's posts by clicking on the "see all". It was a typo. Not Moonpig, Moon pay.

The bank will investigate and hopefully the OP will be able to reassure them of her ignorance. It will likely go against her that she would have had to answer questions that ask where the money came from and if she'd been asked to transfer money for the first time and must have said no for the transaction to get through. @Lougle I don't understand the last paragraph of your post. The OP seemingly didn't ask questions and she didn't say no, her bank did at the final step? She has been naive rather than calculating and her friendship has been exploited.

You’ll be fine op. You are a victim n this but please be more careful going forward. Never mix money and friendship beyond lending a mate the cab fare home.

How is ruining someone's credit rating because of a dodgy Vinted buyer an acceptable way for a bank to behave? Is there any recourse?

This. The time to check back with the friend was when the initial request was made/ before acting.
Now that the bank are suspecting fraud/ ML, do NOT check back in with the friend. Tipping off is its own crime with some hefty penalties. If in doubt, ask the bank/ police how to proceed.
Be transparent and cautious about the friend until this is over.

How would the friend know the OP has a Revolut account? ( just curious ). Can Revolut users see which of their contacts who also have Revolut accounts ?

Hi OP. I work in fraud for a bank so see payments like this every day. The person you received the money from is the victim of fraud and you, as a money mule, are also the victim of fraud. Moonpay is a 3rd party payment processing company and from there the money is converted to crypto and becomes untraceable. The payment will have been stopped by Revolut as its an unusual payment for you and these payment processing companies are often indicative of crypto fraud. The account that the money was originally paid into is likely to also be flagged for fraud and blocked when the initial victim realises that they have been scammed. Your 'friend' has put you in a very vulnerable position as your accounts could be closed and your name added to the cifas register which will make it very difficult for you to open another account. If you cooperate and are truthful you will likely be given the benefit of the doubt. I would call both of your banks immediately and explain.

It's a scam OP. It's moonpay not moon pig. Its a bitcoin platform.

In all likelihood that wasn't your friend you spoke to. Either that or your friend is scamming you.

I dont know why my above post was hidden but anyway this 'friend' has put you in a very vulnerable position. They have used you as a money mule. It thankfully was stopped by Revolut as a suspicious payment but once the victim realises they have been scammed they will report to their bank and your initial account that was paid into will be blocked and investigated for receiving fraudulent funds. The banks could close your accounts with 60 days notice and you would find it very difficult to open another as you would be likely added to a fraud register. Call both banks now and explain. They will hopefully recognise that you yourself are also a victim. Give them as much information as possible. Im a fraud investigator at a bank.

If a bank suspects a customer has committed fraud they can close the customers account and are well within their right to. If the bank suspects the OP has been a money mule they may close the account if they believe they were an unwitting mule they may not. However a bank cannot mark a customer on CIFAS unless they have burden of proof they have committed Fraud. But banks have multiple shared systems where they can flag customers who they suspect as fraudsters. Banks lose thousands of pounds to fraud they have to be vigilant.

Most banks have an extra security system in place, where you are asked what the reason for transferring money is. Then a warning appears about fraud, and you are asked to confirm that you know the person that you are transferring money to, that you haven't been asked to set up an account specifically to transfer money, etc. It also usually contains a warning about transferring money for the first time and recommends that you telephone the person you are transferring money to.

I once transferred money to my DD. It was her money. I selected all the correct boxes but it was still blocked until I entered a free text explanation that I was transferring money that was hers from my account to her account and that it was her PIP. Then the bank released the money.

I work in this area of the bank and they are on it when it comes to things like this. You need to ensure you meet any requests to prove what happened and show you have been scammed. If you ignore requests etc they can close your account and add a Cifas marker which makes it difficult to obtain banking elsewhere. Be very very careful in the future and don't accept random requests like this.

Just to add, don't be surprised if your account is closed regardless of your explanation, the bank will see you as a risk going forward.

I had this once many many years ago, they shut down my account. More than likely shut yours down too, they’ll send you a cheque for any moneys you had in the account minus the £1000 odd payment as it’s fraud.