ScamsApr 6 2021

Victim of complex push scam repaid just 50% by HSBC

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Victim of complex push scam repaid just 50% by HSBC

A man who fell prey to a bank scam that raided his Help-to-Buy Isa has had just half of his money restored to his account.

The victim, M, who has been a client of HSBC for 18 years, contacted FTAdviser in March seeking help after being scammed out of nearly £10,000.

He said he had been waiting weeks to hear back from HSBC's fraud team following his complaint to them on February 20, in which he explained how scammers had cleaned out his savings in a clever, three-stage process.

On February 13, he received a text purporting to be from Virgin, stating that his billing details needed to be updated.

He said: "I suspected I may have deleted a direct debit for my Virgin contract on my online banking. At this point, I had no reason to believe this message was not legit. The site I was sent to was exactly the same as the Virgin media website and proceeded to update my details."

However he said his suspicions were raised when he saw how detailed the questions were getting. He said: "I called HSBC straight away to block and cancel my card due to fraudulent activity. At this point it was explained by customer service that a new card will be sent out."

I should be refunded the whole amount as I never handed over my hard earned savings carelessly.

On February 19, he received a call from what he later realised was a cloned HSBC number.

The scammer said M's account had been part of fraudulent activity, with someone attempting to set up an insurance and Virgin Mobile account under his name.

The caller said they would set up a safe account for him to transfer his money into. He said: "The process by which they conducted the case gave me no reason to suggest this was not legitimate, especially as they knew basic information about my account and said all the things I would expect from a professional."

He transferred £5,600 into the safe account and was told his bank would call him tomorrow with a safe code. The next day, a further £4,300 was deposited.

But when he did not get a follow-up call on February 20, he phoned the real HSBC and a customer service operator said there had been no such conversation. After 90 minutes on hold with HSBC customer service, he was cut off.

"I called back, waited 40 minutes and then was told they had to speak with the fraud team." He said he was told he would be sent an email.

On February 21 he called HSBC's fraud team again, after contacting Action Fraud for help, only to discover a third withdrawal had been attempted, this time totalling £3,400.

His card was blocked and an official investigation was begun that day. The £3,400 withdrawal was stopped and refunded to him on that day.

Twenty days later, having heard nothing, M contacted FTAdviser for help.

He said: "This was my life savings which I worked hard for. This [scam] was convincing and sophisticated. Under the lending standards board guidelines, I have reasonable rights to believe I was protected and had acted accordingly."

He claimed his first contact with HSBC on February 13 should have "raised an alert" with the team that his account might be subject to fraudulent activity, but it was not.

The resolution

Initially, FTAdviser helped M compose a letter to HSBC's fraud team, using the templates set out by Which? and Citizen's Advice. In 2020, in the case of APP push scam victim W, her money was restored to her in full following our investigation.

A few days after FTAdviser spoke with HSBC, £4,950 was refunded to the customer.

This included a payment of £4,674.81 that was credited to the customer’s Help To Buy Isa, rather than his bank account, so that his government entitlement won’t be impacted.

It is understood the bank accepts the customer did not get sufficient fraud warning, so repaid only 50 per cent of the money taken in the first two transactions.

M said: "I should be refunded the whole amount as I never handed over my hard earned savings carelessly. If that's all HSBC are willing to do then that's what it will be. I just don't feel this is good enough."

A HSBC UK spokesperson said: “Protecting customers from fraud is an absolute priority for us, and we are sorry to hear that Mr M has fallen victim to an authorised push payment scam.

"Scammers are unscrupulous criminals who use a range of sophisticated techniques to obtain the necessary information from their victims."

HSBC UK said it works hard to deliver on its commitments under the CRM code, helping protect as well as support customers should they fall victim to scammers, working hard to "ensure fair and reasonable outcomes for our customers.

“HSBC would never ask a customer to move funds to a ‘safe account’. Customers who believe they are the victim of a fraud, a scam, or want to discuss a suspicious payment should call the number on the back of their card which can be used 24/7.”

The spokesperson added it encourages people to learn more about the different forms that financial scams can take and how they can protect themselves by visiting its security centre at HSBC.co.uk, or the industry-wide Take Five To Stop Fraud campaign website.

simoney.kyriakou@ft.com