Net loss as cyber fraudsters strike

9:59am Thursday 19th June 2008

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A WIRRAL woman lost more than £2,000 after her bank details were used fraudulently.

Patricia Preston says she has suffered sleepless nights after unauthorised money was taken from her account.

"I can’t even trust my own bank to look after my account"

Patricia Preston

And to make matters worse, her bank, the NatWest, says she was not insured, even though she was told her account came with a £5,000 identity theft insurance.

Mrs Preston was looking on her computer when she spotted an email saying "thank you for your order" from the online retailer, Amazon.

She attempted to access into her Amazon account as she knew she hadn't ordered any items - but access was denied as the password had been changed.

Becoming suspicious, she immediately cancelled her card through NatWest.

But two days later, another two transactions passed through her account, again via Amazon, adding up to £1,500.

She contacted the bank again and was told that transactions totalling £1,500 were authorised before she cancelled the card.

She said she was also told that she was not insured because the matter came under a "retailer dispute" - and was instead offered an overdraft facility until the money was returned to her account.

When Mrs Preston, who lives in Wallasey, received her statement at the end of March, she found that a further 20 payments had gone in and out of her account in February from online transaction service Paypal.

"I can't even trust my own bank to look after my account," she said.

"It's mid-June now and the last letter I had from the bank was May 15 apologising for the delay and asking me to get in touch with the fraud office - which I had several times before.

"I can't believe that still nothing is happening. I just keep getting fobbed off and in the meantime I am having to pay overdraft charges for a problem that should not be my responsibility.

"I have lost almost £2,300 and can't sleep at night.

"I feel like I am getting nowhere and my husband is having to work weekends to cover the overdraft charges.

"I haven't been able to stop crying. This is money I have worked hard for. When I decided to become a holder of this particular current account, I was led to believe that this sort of issue wouldn't happen.

"One of the benefits of the account is £5,000 identity theft protection."

David Edwards, media relations manager from NatWest, said: "We were very sorry to learn that Mrs Preston is a victim of fraud.

"NatWest takes the matter of customer security and protection very seriously.

"Mrs Preston has been advised to contact our fraud department so that this matter can be investigated.

"Until that contact is made and the investigation is concluded, we cannot comment further on this case.

"We would however urge anyone who notices an unfamiliar trans-action or suspects fraudulent activity to contact their bank immediately.

"Guard your card - never let it out of your sight when making a transaction."