Man ‘forced to sleep with rats’ as bank cancels card

● Holidaymaker caught out abroad ● Expiry date is April 2021 he says

A man has claimed he has been forced to sleep in abandoned buildings with rats and cockroaches on holiday in Thailand after his credit card was cancelled in error by a Scottish bank.

Alberto Perez was on a twomonth holiday on a Thailand when he discovered his credit card had been stopped. When he contacted Bank of Scotland, he was told it was due to anewcardbeingsentouttohis home in Edinburgh while he was away and that the old card could not be used.

Mr Perez, 42, who works at a vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh, says he is now working in a restaurant in Thailand in return for meals and has nowhere to stay for the remaining two weeks of his holiday, forcing him to sleep on the streets and in disused buildings.

He said: “Nearly a week ago, I realised that my credit card had been cancelled. I phoned my bank – Bank of Scotland. They told me that my credit card is about to expire when this is absolutely wrong.

“I am on an island in Thailand with no money. I didn’t eat anything for the first 48 hours and I had to beg for water in the restaurants. This is my sixth night sleeping on the streets or in abandoned houses or restaurants.”

Mr Perez said the credit card he has with him has an expi

0 Alberto Perez has been sleeping rough with rats while on holiday in Thailand

ry date of April 2021 and that he had visited his branch in Edinburgh to check his banking facilities were in order before his trip. He has contacted the bank by phone, as well as through an online chat facility, but says a number he

was given to phone to try to have his card reactivated has not worked. He said: “I didn’t ask for a new credit card. They ruined my holidays because I am stuck on this island and my flight back is in two weeks, so I have no idea how to get

through this situation.” Mr Perez added: “I’ve been bitten by 100 mosquitoes at least. I had to sleep with rats and cockroaches or slum dogs and on my second day sleeping on the streets I woke up feeling sick.”

A Bank of Scotland spokesman said the bank would send money to Mr Perez through Western Union and would then investigate the situation.

He said: “We are in contact with Mr Perez to try and resolve this as a matter of urgency.”