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Original poster

£900 gone to cryptocurrency company-bank won't refund

140 replies

SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 21:07

My partner had two separate amounts go missing from her bank account over a short period of time, to a 'cryptocurrency' company. The bank will not refund. I've written three letters to them advising they're breaking their own policies by not refunding this money (using quotes from their own complaints policy website) as it is an unusual transaction, an unusual amount of money, at 0200 so an unusual time, etc etc.

All their responses have been along the lines of that the transaction required a pin for her internet banking to have been inputted-therefore they think my partner paid this money and is lying.

£900 is a lot of money to anyone, and I just think it is absolutely disgusting. Ombudsman is the next step I guess. Anyone ever been successful with this sort of thing, any advice?

I had a similar thing happen when my card was 'cloned' or such but my bank blocked most of the transactions and refunded me for the ones they hadn't, no problem! I just can't believe how obtuse her bank are being. She's been with them for 20 years!

OP posts:
GiltEdges · 01/07/2022 21:14

How do you know she isn't lying?

AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair · 01/07/2022 21:20

Have you reported the theft to the police? How did someone manage to get her PIN, do you have any idea?

JustTheOneSwan · 01/07/2022 21:30

What type of transaction were they, card or app transfer or?

Anabanananaaaaaa · 01/07/2022 21:34

Something smells fishy

Both my bank accounts require authentication for any transactions (regardless of amount) via the banking app which requires their log in details

By all means escalate it but brace yourself for the possibility that your partner fucked up and doesn't have the guts to be honest with you about it

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 01/07/2022 21:36

Why are the bank telling you anything if its her account?

WafflyVersatileOohOoh · 01/07/2022 21:36

Why are you writing to your girlfriend’s bank?

Discovereads · 01/07/2022 21:39

Has she changed her PIN? Gotten new cards issued? Bank account number changed? Taken any steps at all to prevent it from happening again?
If she hasn’t, I can understand why the bank isn’t taking her very seriously

Original poster
SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 22:55

giltedges Well I guess nobody could know 100%!

allthatfancypaintsasfair
I don't think they have-I mean when it happened to me someone had somehow managed to do this using my card details, no idea how or who but I was refunded. Her bank are saying that for this transaction to have occurred, someone would have had to have been in her internet banking app-but they haven't explained how they're certain of this.

Would the police do anything, I used to work for them and they'd have just referred this on to action fraud.

justtheoneswan it was an online banking transaction as far as I understand. I will ask her tomorrow, she's sleeping at the moment.

anabanananaaaaa I guess there's always the possibility isn't there. I just can't see her paying for cryptocurrency at all. I don't think she even knows what it is, to be honest.

bernadetterostankowskiwolowits
wafflyversatileoohooh I am writing the letters on her behalf, she's reading and signing them. She asked me to, she isn't very articulate and this sort of thing overwhelms her.

discovereads She has changed her Pin but I am not sure about anything else. As I've said I've had this happen to me, and the bank didn't ask me to do any of that.

OP posts:
Alicewither · 01/07/2022 23:14

What app was it? I use Coinbase and it’s literally impossible for someone to have done that putting money into Coinbase

Original poster
SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 23:16

Alicewither · 01/07/2022 23:14

What app was it? I use Coinbase and it’s literally impossible for someone to have done that putting money into Coinbase

It was indeed coinbase. Would you mind elaborating please, I don't know much about them.

OP posts:
Alicewither · 01/07/2022 23:20

You have to get a code from Coinbase and put in very specific and unique details in the bank transfer, it’s not entering card details online. Also as it’s a suspicious payment banks send a text asking you to confirm every time (I’m with Halifax and starling)
your name on Coinbase (verified by ID) must match the account you’re depositing money from, otherwise it will go missing in the system and won’t be received in Coinbase, no hacker would do this as no point

Original poster
SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 23:25

Alicewither · 01/07/2022 23:20

You have to get a code from Coinbase and put in very specific and unique details in the bank transfer, it’s not entering card details online. Also as it’s a suspicious payment banks send a text asking you to confirm every time (I’m with Halifax and starling)
your name on Coinbase (verified by ID) must match the account you’re depositing money from, otherwise it will go missing in the system and won’t be received in Coinbase, no hacker would do this as no point

Right I understand, thank you.

So the only possibilities are, she's lying to me, OR, someone has got hold of her 'phone? But why would they do that.

The night it happened, we were camping with some of her family and friends. We were both asleep in our tent and it was 02:00. I guess not impossible that someone could have sneaked in and done this on her 'phone but for what motive?

And this is why the bank are being reluctant.With my situation when it happened to me, someone had tried to pay £600 or so on an Air B&B and the bank stopped it, a couple of other transactions of lesser amounts that they stopped-but then they let two other payments through which I protested. The bank rang me about the suspected fraud and refunded me for the ones they'd permitted. BUT that's different to coinbase isn't it, I understand that now.

OP posts:
TravellingRound · 01/07/2022 23:28

Yeah, your problem isn't with the bank I'm afraid...

Original poster
SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 23:29

I wonder why they didn't send her a text to confirm the transaction? I mean I know she hasn't done this before-I've stated this in the letters I've written, and the bank's replies haven't disputed it.

OP posts:
Alicewither · 01/07/2022 23:30

They’d have to get ahold of her face and ID too. I would say there’s a 95% chance she’s lying. My guess is she wanted to get into crypto but entered a number wrong on the reference and her money got lost in the system and she panicked. Maybe it took a few hours for the payment to go through, I’m not sure, you can set up payments to be sent at a specific time. The amount is odd in my opinion, it’s a complex procedure and I only send £10 a time just in case something goes wrong
its different because it’s bank transfer rather than a card for payment. I got somebody’s bank details wrong a couple years ago, meant to send £400 to the new childminder and sent it to a random account. Bank told me there was nothing they could do but the money appeared in my account 2 months later

Alicewither · 01/07/2022 23:32

I don’t know, halifax send me texts and block my card all the time. Even paying my phone contract with Vodafone flags up their system!!

EarthquakesinEastActon · 01/07/2022 23:32

Has she fallen victim to a scam, such as the email one telling you that someone has video of you wanking to porn, and they’ll send it to your contacts if you don’t send them cryptocurrency? Especially if she’s not very worldly wise? She might be reluctant to tell you about something like that.

Original poster
SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 23:35

Alicewither

Thank you.
Okay. This is a bit of a shock. I've spent so much time on this. I wonder if I should just ask her outright if there's any possibility she's done it, even if by mistake.

I can't remember exactly but I do know it was two payments, one of a larger amount than the other amounting to £900.

I was going to say I know 100% she was asleep but I guess that's impossible as I was asleep! However she's much more slumberous than me and sleeps a lot more, so I don't see her waking at 0200 to play on her 'phone.
However if payments can be set up and then go out at a later time that would make sense.

I've also done that! Went to pay
an invoice and got a digit wrong. Bank said they couldn't do anything, I'm having to take the recipient to court.

OP posts:
Sisisimone · 01/07/2022 23:36

If someone had got hold of her phone they would also have had to log on to her mobile banking app using her passwords, make the transaction then return the phone to her without her knowing. So very unlikely ( I work in fraud btw)
Your girlfriend might have decided to invest in crypto or she might be the victim of a crypto investment scam. Either way she clearly doesn't feel able to tell you the truth for whatever reason.
Why are you dealing with your girlfriends bank?

EllenWaiteourkid · 01/07/2022 23:40

I am sorry, but on this occasion her lips are moving.

TooBigForMyBoots · 01/07/2022 23:42

Get her to check her texts.

Original poster
SeriousAlligator · 01/07/2022 23:45

Sisisimone · 01/07/2022 23:36

If someone had got hold of her phone they would also have had to log on to her mobile banking app using her passwords, make the transaction then return the phone to her without her knowing. So very unlikely ( I work in fraud btw)
Your girlfriend might have decided to invest in crypto or she might be the victim of a crypto investment scam. Either way she clearly doesn't feel able to tell you the truth for whatever reason.
Why are you dealing with your girlfriends bank?

I am going to look up crypto investment scams, thank you.

I am dealing with it just because she's not great with writing letters, isn't good at spelling, grammar, anything to do with writing, and also is very anxious and this sort of thing makes her worse.
She asked me to do it for her.

OP posts:
Sisisimone · 01/07/2022 23:57

The usual scam is that the victim sees something on social media about making money from crypto, contacts them, gets the spiel about how much money they can make, is persuaded to open their own crypto wallet on coinbase etc and then transfer in the funds. From there the money is moved to the fraudster and becomes untraceable. Coinbase becomes the exiting bank in terms of the scam as the money has effectively been transferred to another account held by, and under the control of your girlfriend. The bank will be able to see from online banking systems that it was your gf that made this transaction, especially as OTP have been sent to your gf phone prior to the payments going out and she has entered them. In order to have any chance of getting the money back she needs to be truthful about what has actually happened. With the crypto crashes atm its also possible that there was no scam but she has just lost her investment and is too embarrassed to tell you

Alicewither · 02/07/2022 00:13

download Coinbase and use her email to sign up, if it says there’s already a user with this email then you have your answer