PoundstoPocket Refusing Fraud Claim after theft.

[mrkipling]

I was the victim of a professional gang of thieves. I have no memory of the actual theft as I was drugged. All I know is I was out in Manchester centre and I woke up in my bed and it took me a while to figure out what had happened. I woke up bruised and sore, realising I'd been robbed when I couldn't find my bank cards and checked my accounts. I only have 1 flashback of the memory blank of being in a car with 3 guys who at the time were being really friendly. I can only presume that struggling to get a taxi I was approached by these guys who managed to convived me for them to give me a lift home. They somehow then drugged me and they managed to get my pin number and the only way they could have done that is by either watching me at a cash machine or by beating it out of me. While they had me drugged and under their control and they had my fingerprint access to my phone.

They transferred all the money I had in my coinbase account which was around £1600 worth of ETH
They stole
3 credit cards
3 debit cards
My driving license with my name, address and DOB on it.

They applied for several loans in my name and were successful with 2 payday loans, the loans were paid into my accounts and removed from cash machines.

All in all they managed to get £5k out of me and it has cost a further £1k to change all the locks in the house and the car.

Now I've accepted that I'll never see the Cryptocurrency again as once it's gone it's gone but I'm really upset that the Bank are refusing my claim.

I've obviously reported this to the police and action fraud and put a CIFAs on my credit report to stop any more fraud.

All 3 credit cards were easy to deal with and accepted my theft claim.
2 of the banks accepted my claim.

I'm having problems with Barclays which I have opened another thread on:
https://legalbeagles.info/forums/for...im-after-theft

PoundstoPocket one of the payday loans have refused my fraud claim with them, their argument is that they did the checks they needed to do and the money was paid into my account. They take the opinion that since the thieves put the money into my account and in my name then I am liable and I need to pay them back.

Do I have to pay them back or can I fight this? This was not taken out by me and was taken out my the thieves in my name as they had both my ID and my bank account.

What are the FCA guidelines in a situation like this? Can they get away with just rejecting it if they feel like it? What is the best way for me to fight this?

[mrkipling]

Pounds to Pocket-Fraud Ref: 1234


Dear _____,

The claim submitted by you to the Fraud Department has been rejected based the results of our investigation. The account has been placed back into the Collections Department.


During our investigation, we contacted the Fraud Investigation Unit with Lloyd's bank in attempt to validate your fraud claim. Lloyd's bank confirmed you to be a victim of fraud, and issued you a fraud refund. The refund you received from the bank was inclusive of the £550 funded to your account by Pounds to Pocket.

In order for us to finalize the investigation, we requested the repayment of the principal loan balance. You have advised that you refuse to return the principal amount. As a courtesy we have waived the fees and interest on the account, and advised that requests to CallCredit/Experian would be submitted once the funds are returned. Due to your refusal to return the principal amount the claim has been rejected.

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify that our stringent client identification which include Experian, CallCredit, and Bank checks are designed to avoid such cases. Where we are put on notice of fraudulent activity we are required to undertake a full investigation. However, due to the information available to us about your case, which included;

• Lloyd's bank account (of which the funds were deposited) being registered to your name, address, and DOB
• CallCredit/Experian validation
• Contact with the Lloyd's Fraud Investigation Unit
• Lack of acceptable supporting documentation

Payment on this loan needs to be made immediately. Should you have any queries in relation to the outstanding debt owed, the Collections Department may be contacted at:



Pounds to Pocket Collections Department

Freephone Number:	0800 016 3106
Fax Number:	0808 280 1025
Email Address:	collections@poundstopocket.co.uk
Website:	www.poundstopocket.co.uk

If you are not happy with this outcome I need to ensure that you are aware of the ultimate availability of the Financial Ombudsman Service. You have six months from the date of this Final Response letter to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service and I have enclosed an explanatory leaflet (or provided you with a link to the leaflet) for your information to assist you if you decide to pursue this further course of action.


You can contact them at:
The Financial Ombudsman Service,
South Quay Plaza,
183 Marsh Wall,
London,
E14 9SR

Tel: 0845 080 1800

Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Further details are also available on www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Pounds to Pocket- Fraud Department
PO Box 74347,
London EC1P 1YZ
Fax: 0808-280-1025

[des8]

If the PoundstoPocket money was paid into your Lloyd's account, and that amount was taken into account when Lloyds refunded you, you should return it to PoundstoPocket.
Not to could be considered as unjustified enrichment

[Amethyst]

The refund you received from the bank was inclusive of the £550 funded to your account by Pounds to Pocket.

As Des8 says, if that was indeed the case, then the money needs returning to PTP. Once that is done you should be in the position you would have been in had the thieves not managed to obtain a loan in your name with your details ie. There shouldn't be any markers left on your credit file and no interest/charges should have been applied.

[mrkipling]

Problem is the theft goes deeper than one loan on one account. Yes Lloyds have returned some of the funds lost but Barclays have not. The thieves have taken a total of £5k from me plus it cost another £1k in locks for my house and car bringing it up to £6k in damages. £1600 in cryptocurrency I will never see again. Around £1k Barclays are refusing to pay back. Brings my non returned loss to £3600. I have a second payday loan company now starting to pipe up so now have 2 payday loan companies chasing me for around £1k, if I pay them it is transferring what is their loss over to my loss. I did not contract with the payday loan companies in any way and did not ask them to send over the funds. The funds were used by the criminals and I am the one suffering the loss.

In my opinion, they should be the ones who suffer the loss not me. I never took out the loans with them and I have no contract with them, my identity was stolen and used with them resulting in a large loss for me. They should have better checks in place to stop this happening. I have provided all the police reports and action fraud report to back this up.

I know this is going to be a fight with them but If I had to pay them I would feel robbed all over again. I could do with some advice on how best to fight this. I'd like to take it to the financial ombudsman.

[Amethyst]

You're not suffering the loss on this payday loan. The PDL money was paid into your account by PTP, the money was removed from your account by the thieves... the bank then put that money back into your account - and you should therefore repay it to PTP. The only loss is to Lloyds. If you now kept the PDL money you would be benefitting from the crime, which, if you think about it, wouldn't help your Barclays case - have the police checked the Barclays CCTV at the cash machine yet?

[mrkipling]

I'm awaiting getting hold of the police officer dealing with the case. I missed a call from them Friday, Called back today and systems were down. I'll call them back tonight or tomorrow.

I understand your point and to be honest I don't think I have any choice but to pay both payday loans back, they will wreak havoc on my credit file if I don't. It's upsetting to me that I'm having to pay back loans that I didn't take out considering the overall losses I've had. The second PDL went into Barclays who are refusing to pay anything back into my account and it looks like they want their money back as well.

[Amethyst]

The Barclays one will be different. You haven't had the benefit of the money the PDL company paid to your account as it was taken by the thieves and not refunded to you by Barclays. If Barclays did refund it to you, you should give it back to the PDL company.

PTP have said they haven't applied any charges / interest and you can simply repay the amount that went into your account to bring a close to the matter. I would still make a complaint through the Ombudsman about how they lent money to someone that wasn't you although because of the nature of the offence against you the criminals had all of your relevant information in order to obtain the loan and the loan was paid into your correct bank account ( just not on your instruction ) so other than seeing you in person with photo ID there wasn't any way to know it wasn't you. PTP are aware it was repaid to your account by Lloyds hence them asking for it back now.