Security

If you are phoned by "The Fraud Section" it is almost always a scam. They usually know something about you and your account, and ask for something like your password so they can get into your account and take your money.

I, too, understand that security is necessary, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to launder money! I’ve been asked where money has come from and what I want it for. It sometimes seems intrusive. I am a big girl and it is my money. That said, I’m all for banks doing all they can to protect vulnerable customers.

Rosina - I have been informed the same as you....only problem I live in the USA and have my UK pension paid into the account. From time to time I transfer money to my US account. My bank are aware of this and send correspondence to my US address.

However, they are unable to text my US mobile! I have informed them of this and they say I can use a card reader to access my account - so now I have to carry my debit card and card reader which to me seems less secure than leaving it all at home and remembering my 'memorable data' to access by mobile phone if I am away because all you need to access the card reader is your PIN number which has historically been proven to be not the most secure method. If I get frozen out of my account there will be no way I can travel to my branch. They don't appear to be able to make any plans for overseas customers.

When I transfer money, or make a payment to someone, using online banking, the system does ask me the purpose of the transfer. It offers various options including ‘gift to family’, transfer to another account of my own’ and ‘pay for a service’. I am always pleased to see such measures in place. I don’t need them, but many people are vulnerable to being scammed and it’s good to see banks doing what they can to protect them, by making them stop and think. I would be happy to be contacted and questioned by the fraud department. I’d certainly prefer it to having money fraudulently taken from my account!

Thanks Pamela. Think I had heard of this before but forgotten completely. Mm Hm. Happily on this occasion my transaction was legitimate. A memory prompt is always appreciated by me.

I think banks are damned if they do and damned if they don't!

I suspect that if you are making an unusual payment or if you have made a simple mistake in the transaction an algorithm triggers a check. I wouldn't want to answer questions on the phone and would say I would call the fraud department myself to deal with it.

These days the banks are expected to give us back any money which we have allowed a fraudster to take unless they can prove we didn't know about the security we should take. My online bank regularly tells me what to do about security and won't let me proceed to online banking unless I tick the box which says I have read it. I can understand why they do that.

FC61 I had the same problem! In Hong Kong they wouldn't let me take money out but let DH from the same account. I called them and they asked what the last transaction on the account was and I pointed out it was HK$! They didn't get why I laughed! We then moved on to India and the same thing happened. When we got home I wrote and complained and said they were sexist. They gave me compensation!

Jusnoneed why not get a passport so that you have a valid ID?

It is surely counterproductive to close small branches then insist that people travel to branches miles away to do business. Most unhelpful!

I was witness to a bank asking an elderly gentleman what he was going to spend the money on Daisyamae . It turned out after much questioning he was going to give it to a Big Issue seller . The police were called and I was asked to give a statement as witnessing the long conversation between the bank teller and the gentleman.

Do you know what they accept if you didn't have a passport 25Avalon, this is my query - I (and others I know) have no form of photo ID having never driven or been abroad.
I wonder will someone have to provide a service to make ID cards soon.

I purchase a great deal for my business on the web using a particular credit card (never ever use debit cards on the net.) Fairly regularly the transaction fails on the first occasion, immediately followed by a message on my phone asking me to confirm the legitimacy of the transaction. Inconvenient, yes; but I bless it every time

A great deal of the questioning of the source/intended use of funds is attempts to frustrate organised crime gangs etc and although it's a pain in the neck, I personally welcome it.

Kim19- very often fraudsters use your details for a small amount just to see if it works.

I guess if one was to be a victim of fraud I would be very glad to be asked and be reminded to think twice

I had problems when I wanted to send money to my son. Although I've been with the same bank for many years, I changed my name when I got divorced. However, as I pointed out to the clerk, I must be genuine because otherwise, I wouldn't have known what my previous name was.
What annoyed me though, was that while I was standing there, conducting my affairs, there was another customer standing right beside me in the queue, and watching everything I was doing.

I'm the same Daisymae, I have a Santander account and another first direct and am always forgetting the log in details. They then make me take in photo id to the local branch. Once I did this and was behind someone in the queue, she was talking to head office down the phone & they were asking her the usual security questions down the phone and her being right in the main foyer, everyone could hear her replies!! I'm not a criminal, but it would have been so easy to record this or remember it.

What annoys me is Natwest who say we need to know exactly when you are leaving UK and exactly when you are coming back or we block your card. So I tell them and they block it at random times anyway !! Wednesday card worked in Croatia, Friday it didn’t. Nothing to do with funds available. Never happens with Metro or Barclays. I have learnt to keep five cards on me lol! God knows what happens with Brexit ! Husband working in Germany, house in Croatia, me in London. Brexit has ruined my life just with stress of not knowing what’s happening !

Just this week I had a telephone call from my cc company querying a transaction on my account. It was for £2:50. I was amazed and considered it OTT but nonetheless grateful to have it physically confirmed that checks of some sort are sometimes carried out.

The withdrawal of an unusual amount from an account can trigger security systems to query why. No matter where the money is going. Ut is a way to help spot if money is being laundered, a person is being forced to make the transaction or just out and out theft. We shoukd be grateful, how many reports have we heard about old folk being taken to cash machines or banks to make withdrawals by criminals coming them..

EllanV, I have been asked by my Bank, Santander. what I wanted the money for. It was for an investment. I told the Bank, "You wont like it if I tell you." She insisted so I told her it was for an investment. She said, "The Bank won't mind you making an investment." You have to go through a lot of security these days including the use of codes.

It is infuriating but once again it is the crooks and criminals who are driving this level of security. When we were buying a house the bank refused to transfer money from our joint account across to our solicitor without our producing passports etc. We had been with the bank for about fifteen years! I now read that my current bank is no longer allowing internet banking to be accessed by using my specifically chosen numbers, words etc - I will have to keep my mobile by my side and obtain a code from that each time I want to log on. As the other option is the potential to have my account emptied I shall sigh, but comply!

I have transferred the small balance on one of my accounts to another at the same bank, so I can close the first one, which is now at zero. The bank says I have to go to a branch to close it, with three items of identity.

The bank branch is a round trip of more than thirty miles away. There are no buses. I can drive there, but if I had no car a taxi would cost a fortune. Great service!

Interesting the different experiences we have with our banks.

I have been helping my son in the US pay the legal fees in a toxic divorce and have transferred two large sums of money online to him recently (£6k at a time). Both of these transactions went through without an issue after I was sent the OTP from the bank via my registered mobile phone.

But I had to complete some money laundering procedures just to pay my solicitor for a new will, even though I was sat in front of him!

I've been in the Halifax when a couple brought in the father who didn't know where he was and were demanding he take out money to pay for their central heating. It was really horrid. I didn't see the outcome but on here you see grandparents sayin they gave this and that and then the grandchildren get withheld . My sons in law are both in internet security and say nothing is unhackable.

This may also be to do with money laundering for which there are now tight regulations. This is why you cannot open a bank account or other financial account without photo id which has to be the original and not a copy. I have found at the bank that if I wish to withdraw more than £5,000 I need to take my passport.

Oh yes they do. My daughter went to Germany for private cancer treatment. I tried to transfer A LOT of money to my son in law’s account to pay the bill when I was transferred to an outside agency of the bank to answer a lot of questions regarding my identity and the purpose of the transfer. This was all done in an accusatory tone by the interviewer and at one point it made me so uncomfortable I had to stop them and ask the purpose of the questioning. The response was that the transfer would not go ahead and I would have to go into the branch to finish the interview.
I made a complaint to the bank and was told that they employ an agency whose employees are ex police. I pointed out that I have a right to spend my own money as I see fit and they only need to have affirmed identity.
It was awful, I was made to feel like a criminal by the tone of the questions.