Banks paint fraud victims as criminals

INNOCENT victims of card fraud are being left out of pocket by banks who flout the rules.

Last week Money Mail revealed how bank customers are being treated like criminals when they complain about fraudulent transactions on their accounts.

Since then we have heard from victims who have had to do their own police work to prove their innocence or were 3,000 miles away when the payments were made.

In each case the banks seem to be breaking strict rules that demand they give back a customer’s money unless they can prove they were at fault.

Often customers have had their bank card stolen or cloned by a crook, and the four-digit security pin correctly guessed or secretly filmed. The fraudster then buys goods or withdraws cash at a cash machine, leaving the innocent cardholder to pick up the tab.

In most cases, the bank fobs off the customer or fails to properly investigate — and the customer is left empty-handed.

Peter Nixon, from Middlesbrough, is one of many angry bank customers whose card was cloned.

Days before his recent work trip overseas to the Middle East, a new Barclays credit card arrived in the post. Though he didn’t have time to activate it, a fraudulent £200 withdrawal was made just 48 hours later.

Chip ’n’ pin fraud? It’s all YOUR fault from last week’s Money Mail

‘Barclays said I must have withdrawn the money, so I sent them a photocopy of the passport stamp, the plane ticket and my boarding card,’ he says. ‘But they still said I must have taken the cash — even though I had proved I was 3,000 miles away.’

The bank dug in its heels, but Mr Nixon’s threat of a court challenge prompted a cchange of heart. Barclays refunded the cash aand Mr Nixon, outraged, promptly cancelled hhis account.

Chris Warmley, of Preston, had a similar bruising fight with RBS to get his cash back. ‘I was told I must have been grossly negligent aafter fraudulent payments were made,’ he says. ‘They told me the card was used in Tesco, but it had nothing to do with me.

‘So I asked the store security if they had the CCTV and found out the tape had been handed to police as part of an investigation into a team of card fraudsters.

‘Yet I had to do all the work and relayed this to the bank — and only then did they give me my money back.’