Halifax fraud team asked me to call

[User0311]

We have recently had a few quotes for renovations doing on our house. Mostly recommendations and highly rated people online etc. we decided on a builder who had been recommended and also highly rated on Facebook etc. He asked for 1/4 payment as a deposit which was £1000. I made payment through my Halifax app but it wouldn't go through, Halifax fraud team asked me to call them to confirm the payment. Iv never had this before when paying somebody new so I have since paused the payment. Has anyone else had this or should I be worried about the person we have agreed to do the work to?

Call the fraud team. They have automated systems for fraud prevention and your payment was flagged, most likely because it's a new beneficiary and quite a big amount.
They will discuss it with you and will let the payment through.

The call shows the bank's fraud systems are working. Call them. They are protecting you by identifying an unusual payment.

Yes I had exactly this recently with tsb. I'm 98 percent sure the lad who quoted me was genuine but after speaking to the fraud team I decided to go with someone else. Give them a call and they'll explain

I did call them and spoke to an advisor who has made me doubt it! I have paid new payees before decent values but have never had to call them before now

This is how I feel! I'm certain he's genuine but now considering going to someone else

What triggered the call? Btw I always do a test payment of £1 if it’s a large amount.

I had this with a roofer.
They authorised the payment, he came and did the work, 5 years on, the roof is still as good as new 🙌🏻
I thought it was more that it was an unusual payment from your account, rather than the recipient of the money 🤷🏻‍♀️

I work for a bank, this is completely normal. It can happen with any payment for any amount to anyone.

Just make sure you call Halifax on a number you know is theirs or even better call through the baking app.

I have had this when I wanted to pay the plumber. I think they have stepped up their preventative fraud processes recently. Mine was £400 they wanted to know why, was I sure of their identity, was I sure about paying him etc, said I was pretty sure he was really a plumber as he had just fixed my loo and replaced a water tank and yes I was sure about paying him as he would be bit cross if not. Don't think it's anything to worry about.

I had this opening an ISA in my own name at a different bank to my current account. Lady on the phone asked me if I'd ever heard of the bank I was transferring the money to and if I'd met the owners. It was NatWest . . . They have their script and they have to stick to it.

They have an algorithm built into their systems that flags up all new, large payments which are different from customers' usual activity. They are simply checking that everything is in order. DH had much the same conversation with his bank last week when he tried to pay a garage for a car.

These systems are in place to protect the vulnerable from fraud and scams, and of course they don't know whether you (or who you want to pay) fall into that category unless they actually speak to you.

I had this paying a new after school club setting. I think it was the combination of new business account plus fairly decent sum of money which triggered the fraud alert - was on the phone for a while confirming that the bank details were correct and its all been fine. Just make sure you call the banks proper number for fraud prevention.

Banks are cracking down as there's so much fraud. I wouldn't hold it against a tradesman.

We had this with Halifax when paying a trade, he'd basically slightly mis spelt his name when he messaged us his details so it had flagged up to the fraud team. They just wanted to check we knew the person and were happy to make the payment. I think the guy had missed out a & sign and had said ltd at the end that kinda thing. Plus if it's a new account and a large amount it's just sensible to flag I guess in case it's not you making the payment

Yes, this.

It's just the amount being higher than usual and to a new payee that's flagged. Nothing to do with the recipient.

It's also because 'paying a builder/roofer' is a very common way for vulnerable people to get scammed. My bank asks what the purpose of your payment is, and I had to go through security checks to approve it when I started paying our very reputable builder recently. So not related to your builder in particular, just cowboys and fraudsters more generally.

Made a payment of £776 to a plumber who I ‘be known for over thirty years. Asked to ring fraud team. Ridiculous questions asked. Eventually made the payment. Could have been because I kept forgetting my password and reinstalling the app. It’s been a pain since new one started.