Security

Security is an increasing problem for those of us who do not have identity documents available. That I suppose is considered an "old persons" problem - but I am not that old.

The main ID asked for is a passport. I do not have one. I gave up going abroad a long time ago - hated it as a child . I used one year visa passport obtained easily from the Post Office when I did go and when that was stopped I didnt bother. So I have never had a proper passport. Neither does my husband have one or anyone else in my family for that matter . Maybe its a culture thing, but it does mean I cannot fulfil the rules for ID that are now in place.

In fact it is worse than that because to get a passport I would have to present myself at some god forsaken office over fifty miles away to prove who I am! I cant even just apply for one and pay my dosh.

This means that I have a number of savings accounts I cannot move or change because I do not have the security type documents or access to the offices to get them moved.

No, it has not been thought through.

My son said he would show me how to transfer money online from one of my accounts to the other. He suggested I practice by sending £1 from my Natwest account to Nationwide.

The £1 duly arrived in my Nationwide account so I felt confident to send another £1,600. I waited and waited but it didn't appear in my account and I started to panic. My son phoned NatWest and their fraud department said it had red flagged up to them as fraudsters often use the £1 trick before taking larger amounts. They then duly moved my £1,600 across. Phew!

There as been a step up with security just recently I have noticed that.
I'm quite happy to comply although have to say it can be a little irritating when you just want to transfer funds quickly.
I want to bank online because it's so convenient and I like to manage my own money.
Different banks use many forms of security but that's the age we are living in because of the fraud and scams which are a major problem in the the financial industry.

I've been asked what it's for many times when I'm withdrawing..............I also get asked where it cam from when making a deposit.

Sadly, in today's world, tight security is imperative. My problem is trying to remember all the passwords and blimmin pin numbers needed to spend tour own money,

I'm afraid I have. twice recently by a very reputable bank and in person whilst I was in the branch. It didn't bother me. They were just trying to ascertain that we weren't facing a scam.

Something similar happened to me on Christmas Day sazzl I got a call from my CC company to ask about some questionable purchases that took my card to the limit . Someone had bought £600 worth of goods from an online sex shop in the early hours of Christmas morning ! The call was absolutely genuine too. I eventually got refunded and my card was stopped . How on earth do they get your details ?

I think that some are missing my point that security is so complex that access is not always possible. I am sure that a scammer would have it all sussed!

London is the centre for money laundering apparently. Germany has the manufacturing and skills sets, and France the ag & fisheries markets. Yes, the UK banks do ask where the money is coming from, and what it is to be used for. The very reason the Post Office want to know what you are sending in the post - nothing to do with things that might go bang. UK is also the only country that uses contactless card payments. Other EU members shun it. Must check out to see what US does.

Yes they do ask what you want money for. I had to draw a sum from the bank recently to pay a builder and was asked why I needed the money. Was happy to tell them.

I had a phone call on my house phone about 5 yrs ago from the fraud dept of my credit card about unusual activity. Convinced it was a scam I told him I would ring him back when he asked for security details. Rang back the number on my credit card from my mobile phone and he answered and said can we go through your security details. Was so shocked it was genuine. Someone had purchased from Next 3 items worth over £800 at 8am that morning. My card was in my hand. Told him to stop the transactions as it wasn't me. I don't shop at Next. He told me there's usually a gang involved including corriers and often people abroad. So delivery address was hard to trace. Rang police but they were not interested. Fraud dept. also stopped my card, refunded me and sent a new card. Dont know how they did it.

I had my bank card frozen when in New Zealand about 12 years ago which necessitated an expensive call to the UK to sort it out. My account was in credit to a very healthy amount and I had been using it in NZ for about 9 months.
I asked the reason for freezing my account and was told my card had been used in a liquor store. Well yes, I had bought a bottle of lovely local wine to go with a special dinner I was cooking, cost about £8!

When my husband lived abroad quite a few years ago he was in a well known store buying the furniture for his flat - the credit card company rang him while he was still in the shop to check it was a legitimate purchase so it's not a new thing. I agree that the security can now seem OTT but knowing some of the scams which have taken place to people we know it is necessary.

The banks themselves are not foolproof though. A couple of years ago my husband queried 3 direct debits on the account - I thought it was something he'd forgotten about but on further checking it seems the Halifax had put the wrong bank details on a customers mortgage account which somehow ended up being taken from our account! It took some sorting out and time on the phone with both our bank who couldn't do anything at their end other than tell us who had set up the dd and the Halifax before we were refunded. They did give us £150 for the error and refunded the phone costs but it did make us wonder how long it would have been before the other person realised they were not paying their mortgage.

I have an internet only account and recently forgot my log in details. Boy!!! Was there a problem in getting me back in! It took a couple of phone ins at an hour each time and then another to give the techies a kick up the b*m to get me an answer as to what was happening. The complaints dept were very helpful and added a £50 for my troubles once fixed. I had threatened to withdraw all my money first though.

Over the last week i have had the experience of attempted fraud involving my husband’s mobile phone and his credit card. Still don’t know how they got hold of all the information but we were very grateful for the high level of security from the credit card company

Where we live,in another country, Banks dont have cash any more its all internet banking, or cash machines however with living abroad I sometimes have to send money to the UK and do this by visiting the Bank, they always want to know why I am sending money to the UK, I suppose its because of money laundering, even though my sums of money are nothing really.Its all for security of course.

With Barclays I can use my cards anywhere without telling them I am out of the country . I am not sure if this is a good or a bad thing.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Whilst I do think increased security can only be a good thing, the Banking Industry has not thought this through fully.
As an example, if I travel (outside of Europe), and I use my credit card on the internet (I've been told it doesn't happen when one makes a purchase in a shop - we will have to see!) , I can only complete the purchase by receiving a text authentication code which I have to input.
A) banks and building societies are all working on the assumption that everyone has a mobile phone and
B) there is the significant cost (£1.50 minimum) to receive text message.
Why haven't they considered the generation that do not have mobile phones or the costs involved with receiving texts or making a phone call. There has to be a cost effective way to do this.
I have just spoken to Nationwide about this - their answer - call them (with all the costs of international calls?
How can this be progress?

Having had both mine and my late husband’s cards cloned more than once, I am only too glad that the security is there. On all occasions, the transactions were blocked because they were unusual ones.

It is rather like those who complain about security at airports. Maybe they would prefer to have their aircraft blown up.

I always make a small payment first when transferring money online to a new payee, and check they’ve got it before paying the main amount, so I can make sure I haven’t got the details wrong. Once when I did this I got a call from Barclays asking me to confirm it was me and saying it was a well-known scam technique. I told them it was recommended by Which? Magazine and in any case the scam was related to card payments, not online transfers.

They did say they had rung me because of my age. I told them that despite my age I knew enough about security to know that your mother’s maiden name (the ‘security’ question that asked) is not considered sufficiently secure these days, but apparently they can’t change it!

I can’t understand why people “get on their high horse” about being asked what they plan to do with large cash withdrawals.
Obviously bank staff aren’t doing it for fun or being nosey. They are obliged to ask the proper questions in order to guard against fraud, money laundering and tax evasion.

I think that asking someone what they are doing with the money doesn’t need to be like an interrogation. It can be asked in a friendly, just passing kind of way , as it was when I gave a statement to the police .

The teller just casually said something like “ oh that’s an awful lot of money to walk home with Mr X, may I ask are you doing something nice with it ?” and it all went on from there . I never got the call I was promised from the police to tell me the outcome even though I worried about it for weeks . Typical .

I trid at age 59 to get a passport for ID purposes, gave up after being told I had to drive 150 miles to have an interview so that I could be assessed to be british and a resident. this was despite being a former pollice officer and working for the prison service. I have a photo driving licence but that wasn't good enough.

sorry to disagree but yes i have been asked this question and politely said mind your own business and was told to give any answer even if no true, it is ridiculous

Not only criminals have caused this . Much of the suspicion is around things like drawing out a large amount of cash to pay a tradesman “ cash in hand” . He does not bank the cash and pays no tax or VAT on the transaction. Of course people don’t see it as tax fraud “ it was a friend of a friend” but it absolutely is .