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Hi, I am new to the forum, so I hope this is in the right place and hopefully somebody will be able to provide some advice.
I'll try to be as concise as possible without rambling, but as a little bit of back story, I am 27 and for the past 5 or so years have been on a downwards spiral struggling with a gambling problem, the usual financial and debt troubles that come with it and the consequential mental health/depression issues. Whilst this has been going on my professional/work life/career was actually going very well and I was moving up the career ladder and at 25 was in a relatively well paid account management position. However with the problems I had going on outside of work and the drinking and drug taking I was doing to try and alleviate the mental health issues, I eventually ended up leaving my job. This was Sept 2016 and in the following months I went day to day just existing, getting drunk or high most days typically on borrowed money from family/friends with no income and thus no prospects of paying back any time soon. It was end of 2016/beginning of 2017, at which point I am 26 when I begin to notice on social media these accounts which purported to be able to 'make you money' and all you needed to do was give them your details and they would make a payment into your account to withdraw, for which you would be compensated. Now of course the whole thing seemed rather dubious, however given my circumstances, desperation and impaired judgement due to the alcohol/drugs and mental health state I proceeded to hand over my card and online banking details to one of these accounts. I had asked them if this was legitimate and whether there would be any ramifications to which they of course said no don't worry and being in the mind state I was at the time, I thought that's all I needed to hear and proceeded on the basis of ignorance is bliss and real naivety not truly understanding or researching the seriousness of what was actually going to happen and the consequences of it (had I have been in a more sound state of mind I would not have even considered doing something such as this and had never been in trouble in any way shape or form so this is extremely out of character however this is what gambling problems and debt problems do to people). Anyway this account does very little over the course of maybe a month or so at which point I just assume nothing is happening with it and I said to them just forget it I no longer wish to do it and I end up cancelling the debit card anyway. Fast forward a little to Feb/March 2017 and I receive a letter from Halifax stating they have highlighted my account as the recieving account for a fraudulent transaction of £1900 and that they have suspended my accounts and that I need to make alternative arrangements for my banking and that I should go into branch to close my accounts. now between Feb 2017 to now, my mental health took even more of a dip to the point my depression has kept my pretty much house bound, not wanting to see anyone or speak to anyone, not returning to work and just pretty much spending day to day alone in my room (still live with parents). As such I have kept my head buried in the sand regarding most of my financial matters and as I have not left the house (possible agoraphobia) I have not been in to close the accounts nor really considered the situation. It is only recently which I suddenly thought to check my credit file to see if CIFAS had placed a mark on there, but then after a little research realised if there was not one on my credit as a protective registration then it was possible that they had placed it directly with CIFAS as a cat 6. I've received my SAR from CIFAS yesterday and sure enough there is a CAT 6 first party fraud marker on there from Halifax.
now my question is although I am in the wrong, albeit stupidly naivley and not in my sane mind, is there any chance that I can have this removed. I plan to write to Halifax to try to appeal it, but I am just wondering what the best way to word it is? Is there any way in which I could explain the above in which they would seriously consider removing it or am I better off trying to word it cleverly in a way which doesn't necessarily omit certain details but so as to shift the perspective to make my case for removal more viable?
I completely understand the facts of the matter are that I have done wrong, regardless of my position at the time, however going into the new year I am looking to be fully back on my feet mentally and financially, however I am concerned that this marker could be a setback. At present I still have a Santander current account which I have had for 12+ years and this has been unaffected, however I am extremely anxious that one day they are going to send a letter telling me they're closing my account - however am I right in thinking this is only likely to happen if I was to apply for credit with them or an account upgrade or something like that whereby they do a credit & CIFAS check? I have no intention of doing something like that, but I just pray that they don't close the account as it is the only bank account I have and the marker was only placed in March 2017 so I still have 5+ years with potentially no banking facility etc
Apologies for such a long post but I wanted to provide as much info as possible so as responses can be as relevant as possible.
Thank you in advance for any responses.
I'll try to be as concise as possible without rambling, but as a little bit of back story, I am 27 and for the past 5 or so years have been on a downwards spiral struggling with a gambling problem, the usual financial and debt troubles that come with it and the consequential mental health/depression issues. Whilst this has been going on my professional/work life/career was actually going very well and I was moving up the career ladder and at 25 was in a relatively well paid account management position. However with the problems I had going on outside of work and the drinking and drug taking I was doing to try and alleviate the mental health issues, I eventually ended up leaving my job. This was Sept 2016 and in the following months I went day to day just existing, getting drunk or high most days typically on borrowed money from family/friends with no income and thus no prospects of paying back any time soon. It was end of 2016/beginning of 2017, at which point I am 26 when I begin to notice on social media these accounts which purported to be able to 'make you money' and all you needed to do was give them your details and they would make a payment into your account to withdraw, for which you would be compensated. Now of course the whole thing seemed rather dubious, however given my circumstances, desperation and impaired judgement due to the alcohol/drugs and mental health state I proceeded to hand over my card and online banking details to one of these accounts. I had asked them if this was legitimate and whether there would be any ramifications to which they of course said no don't worry and being in the mind state I was at the time, I thought that's all I needed to hear and proceeded on the basis of ignorance is bliss and real naivety not truly understanding or researching the seriousness of what was actually going to happen and the consequences of it (had I have been in a more sound state of mind I would not have even considered doing something such as this and had never been in trouble in any way shape or form so this is extremely out of character however this is what gambling problems and debt problems do to people). Anyway this account does very little over the course of maybe a month or so at which point I just assume nothing is happening with it and I said to them just forget it I no longer wish to do it and I end up cancelling the debit card anyway. Fast forward a little to Feb/March 2017 and I receive a letter from Halifax stating they have highlighted my account as the recieving account for a fraudulent transaction of £1900 and that they have suspended my accounts and that I need to make alternative arrangements for my banking and that I should go into branch to close my accounts. now between Feb 2017 to now, my mental health took even more of a dip to the point my depression has kept my pretty much house bound, not wanting to see anyone or speak to anyone, not returning to work and just pretty much spending day to day alone in my room (still live with parents). As such I have kept my head buried in the sand regarding most of my financial matters and as I have not left the house (possible agoraphobia) I have not been in to close the accounts nor really considered the situation. It is only recently which I suddenly thought to check my credit file to see if CIFAS had placed a mark on there, but then after a little research realised if there was not one on my credit as a protective registration then it was possible that they had placed it directly with CIFAS as a cat 6. I've received my SAR from CIFAS yesterday and sure enough there is a CAT 6 first party fraud marker on there from Halifax.
now my question is although I am in the wrong, albeit stupidly naivley and not in my sane mind, is there any chance that I can have this removed. I plan to write to Halifax to try to appeal it, but I am just wondering what the best way to word it is? Is there any way in which I could explain the above in which they would seriously consider removing it or am I better off trying to word it cleverly in a way which doesn't necessarily omit certain details but so as to shift the perspective to make my case for removal more viable?
I completely understand the facts of the matter are that I have done wrong, regardless of my position at the time, however going into the new year I am looking to be fully back on my feet mentally and financially, however I am concerned that this marker could be a setback. At present I still have a Santander current account which I have had for 12+ years and this has been unaffected, however I am extremely anxious that one day they are going to send a letter telling me they're closing my account - however am I right in thinking this is only likely to happen if I was to apply for credit with them or an account upgrade or something like that whereby they do a credit & CIFAS check? I have no intention of doing something like that, but I just pray that they don't close the account as it is the only bank account I have and the marker was only placed in March 2017 so I still have 5+ years with potentially no banking facility etc
Apologies for such a long post but I wanted to provide as much info as possible so as responses can be as relevant as possible.
Thank you in advance for any responses.