Worrying....

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Worrying....

Postby Mandrake » Sep 19th, '12, 10:36



Just FYI, my son recently noticed a sum of just over £400 going out of his bank account and he knew he hadn't arranged it. Subsequent activities showed that his Debit Card details had been cloned/obtained fraudulently. Having reported this to his bank, they arranged to credit the money back while they investigated. It turned out that whoever had obtained the card details had passed them on and the money taken was used to pay off a Wonga.com loan - all done by phone. Even though the name of the bank account and the person who took out the loan was completely different, Wonga didn't query it, apparently their policy is to just take the money regardless.

As part of the repayment, my son's credit details were checked which means he now has an inaccurate note on his credit rating file - although the loan was being paid off it now shows that he seems to have used a short term PayDay loan firm which can't do his rating any good. The only people who can erase that credit check is Wonga and they don't seem to be inclined to do anything. When my son notified the Police they didn't want to know and refused to give a crime reference - something which is vital if legal actions are to follow. The Bank can do something but only when they trace the culprit and the sum involved is below the level which would raise concerns in the first place.

Apparently there is a method of contacting whoever does credit checks etc and registering a password so that any future credit checks are refused unless the checker has been authorised by the account holder - this should prevent fraudulent activities and will add just a day or so to any genuine loan application.

It seems to me that Wonga are very much at fault for not querying the difference of names and verifying that the card was being used correctly, this is something which needs to be changed - the bank gave the impression that this is quite a common practice and can only lead to more personal grief and increased banking costs for us all.

Bottom line - guard those debit cards and details even more carefully!

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Tomo » Sep 19th, '12, 10:48

Go to Trading Standards.

If you don't get any joy, use the W word: "Watchdog". I've done some work with them, and have the name and number of a producer.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Heckler » Sep 19th, '12, 11:14

Heard this a lot lately about Wonga, there's already been a few stories in the media, their security checks are a fraudster's dream. Of course the only way they can do such a rapid credit check is by effectively not doing one.

I signed up to credit expert yonks ago, it's £8 a month but if anyone makes any reference to my credit I get a text. Won't stop someone cloning my card but at least I know no-one is passing themselves off as me.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby kevmundo » Sep 19th, '12, 12:19

If you sign up to equifax or experian (the two major credit reference agencies) you can keep track of your credit file. You can also query inaccurate entries and get them removed. They're usually pretty good and it's well worth doing it.

:D

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Mandrake » Sep 19th, '12, 12:44

Thanks guys, all very worthy advice and info. These short term high interest loan firms seem to be ripe for being misused like this.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Tomo » Sep 19th, '12, 12:53

when the first lending companies (Ocean, etc) came along about a decade ago, a friend who is a bank manager was on a course in Warwick about new lending rules. Also on the course were a lot of Russians from these lending companies. Makes yer wonder...

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Mandrake » Sep 19th, '12, 13:13

My first query about these firms was, 'Where do they get their money from?'. Originally I wondered if any of the High Street banks were behind them but apparently not. As our wunnerful Government is keen to see banks lending more, how come the big banks haven't cottoned on to these short term higher interest loans? I would have thought that NatWest etc offering up to 30 day loans and undercutting Wonga etc would be a sure-fire money magnet for them.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Rob » Sep 19th, '12, 13:54

Wonga.com was featured in last weeks watchdog.

It's on Iplayer (Serues 30, Episode 1) - the stories are remarkably similar; essential that you watch it mate!

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Discombobulator » Sep 19th, '12, 14:01

mandrake wrote: I would have thought that NatWest etc offering up to 30 day loans and undercutting Wonga etc would be a sure-fire money magnet for them

<sarcasm>
.. But then they would have money going outside the bank and would not be able to pay their director's bonuses.
</sarcasm>

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Craig Browning » Sep 19th, '12, 16:36

About ten years back I got a call from my bank asking if I was buying Scuba gear in Spain. . . I was still in New England at the time. . .

I.D. theft is horrid I've been hit 3 times in the past 20 years and sometimes it seems that there are no genuine safeguards.

I hope you the best in dealing with the issue though.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Lady of Mystery » Sep 19th, '12, 17:12

Craig Browning wrote:I.D. theft is horrid I've been hit 3 times in the past 20 years and sometimes it seems that there are no genuine safeguards.


I've been stung with that too, once I apparently spent over £500 on shoes in Italy and once was on £400 worth of music equipment in Australia. There was another time too but I can't remember what that was now.

My bank were really good about it and cancelled the transactions and refunded the money straight away.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Mandrake » Sep 20th, '12, 08:52

My son Peter sends his thanks to you all for your advice and suggestions, sadly the Watchdog item has moved off Iplayer but there's a bit about it all on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mg7 ... ount-fraud. The Wonga statement is full of fine words but the reality seems to fall far short. Certainly the basic and obvious point of checking the difference between the names of the borrower and payee account needs to be rigorously introduced and enforced. Come the revolution folks, they'll be the first up against the wall!

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Re: Worrying....

Postby A J Irving » Sep 20th, '12, 13:02

Mandrake wrote:As our wunnerful Government is keen to see banks lending more, how come the big banks haven't cottoned on to these short term higher interest loans? I would have thought that NatWest etc offering up to 30 day loans and undercutting Wonga etc would be a sure-fire money magnet for them.


My suspicion is that the people who get loans from Wonga etc have usually already been turned down for loans by the banks as they don't have good enough credit ratings so they have to resort to getting loans with appalling rates of interest. Whereas the banks would be worried that they'd never see their money again, Wonga have such incredibly high rates of interest that they're willing to gamble that enough of their customers will at least pay off the interest each month to cover any losses they make from people doing a runner. Also, with the high rates of interest, most customers will only be able to pay that off each month and subsequently remain permanently in debt to them- the gift that keeps on giving.

The banks have done some dumb things in the past so I doubt they'd dare doing anything as risky, or at least that could be perceived as exploitative, as that.

I'm no financial expert though so i may very well be wrong.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Lawrence » Sep 20th, '12, 13:45

A J Irving wrote:
Mandrake wrote:As our wunnerful Government is keen to see banks lending more, how come the big banks haven't cottoned on to these short term higher interest loans? I would have thought that NatWest etc offering up to 30 day loans and undercutting Wonga etc would be a sure-fire money magnet for them.


My suspicion is that the people who get loans from Wonga etc have usually already been turned down for loans by the banks as they don't have good enough credit ratings so they have to resort to getting loans with appalling rates of interest. Whereas the banks would be worried that they'd never see their money again, Wonga have such incredibly high rates of interest that they're willing to gamble that enough of their customers will at least pay off the interest each month to cover any losses they make from people doing a runner. Also, with the high rates of interest, most customers will only be able to pay that off each month and subsequently remain permanently in debt to them- the gift that keeps on giving.

The banks have done some dumb things in the past so I doubt they'd dare doing anything as risky, or at least that could be perceived as exploitative, as that.

I'm no financial expert though so i may very well be wrong.


Oh, if only this were true!
What it comes down to is advertising... and laziness.
When it comes to short term loans the best thing you can do is arrange an overdraft.

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Re: Worrying....

Postby Robmonster » Oct 10th, '12, 14:54

kevmundo wrote:If you sign up to equifax or experian (the two major credit reference agencies) you can keep track of your credit file. You can also query inaccurate entries and get them removed. They're usually pretty good and it's well worth doing it.

:D


You can even get paid for checking your credit history. If you go to top cash back website you can get a months free trial of one of the above agencies. Check your credit record then cancel before the month is up. Plus , top cashback give you money for signing up. It was a tenner when I did it.

I haven't posted my referral link to top cashback, but if sone one wants to use it then please pm me. It just means I get a payment for sending a new user.

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