Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Thanks for this, I will take time to read things through and respond. As an aside, one of the security questions from his bank regards the date and time of a transaction so we know they can tell us. We already know the rough area it was as it's on his on-line statement.

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Okay, thanks for this.

I see today we have to write two letters and send them by registered post tomorrow:

Letter 1 - To the the Halifax regarding refusing any payments to Wonga (as mentioned by SnV) and asking for details of the time and ATM used to withdraw the money (there is no money in his account anyway and it has no overdraft but we want to avoid those non-payment charges)
Letter 2 - A formal complaint to Wonga and a request for the information used in the application (we believe at the very least neither of his personal emails or his mobile number were used). The money is apparently due to be paid back to Wonga by the 24th April.

I assume I send both letters to Customer Services at the Head Offices?

How long should I give Wonga to respond to this original letter - 14 days as per the CCA template (which I've found now)?

Thanks again - I am prepared for a fight SnV, having had problems before and after BR I am fine once I know what needs to be done.

LATE

[jj19]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Have you asked for the IP address as well, maybe some use.

If worst comes to worst a cca request should get details of the application, at worst you might need a SAR

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Just two points and I may be entirely wrong
1) I have never heard of a five digit pin for a debit card,

Regarding the 5 digit PIN - apparently the space for changing your PIN is larger than 4 digits so he tried putting in 5 and it accepted it. I know from reading some stuff on line, some cards come with longer PINs (think I read of a 6 digit one).

[jj19]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Thank you I stand corrected.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

I see today we have to write two letters and send them by registered post tomorrow:The money is apparently due to be paid back to Wonga by the 24th April.

Hi Late

Ok, if the money is due to be taken on the 24th you need to ensure that Wonga do not clear your sons bank account. You need to ensure that your son goes into his local branch tomorrow with that letter and makes it clear that any continuous payment authority with Wonga is cancelled immediately. Its too late to leave this to the postal service now.

If he is met with an uneducated member of counter staff (likely), and they inform him they cannot do that, then he needs to insist on speaking to someone in the branch who understands the Payments Services Regulations with regard to CPA's which came into force in 2009. He then needs to hand them the letter also so that there can be no doubt as to his instructions.

He MUST do this at his branch tomorrow. If Wonga are then successful in taking any money then with his card details the bank are then liable for refunding the money.

With regards to Wonga - yes send to head office, but make sure you send via recorded delivery so they cannot claim they did not receive it.

Best
SnV

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Thanks SnV - just got my son to read the post and have printed it out. Unfortunately I won't be able to go with him tomorrow as I have work but armed with the information you have provided I'm sure he will be fine.

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Thanks SnV - just got my son to read the post and have printed it out. Unfortunately I won't be able to go with him tomorrow as I have work but armed with the information you have provided I'm sure he will be fine.

Fab - if he encounters difficult counter staff then printing off the following pages from the Financial Conduct Authority should help him:

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/continuou...nt-authorities
http://www.fca.org.uk/news/continuou...ight-to-cancel

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Thanks again, do I need to mention the card theft etc as he has a case number from the Halifax? Also, should he get confirmation of acceptance of the letter in branch? Sorry with all these questions but want to try to get it right first time - and I'm a bit of a perfectionist

[SaltnVinegar]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Thanks again, do I need to mention the card theft etc as he has a case number from the Halifax? Also, should he get confirmation of acceptance of the letter in branch? Sorry with all these questions but want to try to get it right first time - and I'm a bit of a perfectionist

The card theft is irrelevant for this task - you're asking them to cancel any CPA's, direct debit or any other payment method that may have been set up for Wonga. The reason for this is should they fail in this task then you should be able to get your money back from them.

If the card has been stolen then in theory Wonga shouldn't be able to take a payment from it anyway, but I've seen it happen too many times to be complacent.

If you want to get the branch to acknowledge that it has been done, ask the counter staff to stamp the letter and return it. There should be no reason for them to refuse to do so.

Once this has all been done, and we're happy Wonga cannot take any money from your sons account we can move to the next step. One thing at a time

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Okay thanks, need to learn to walk before I can run

[Riz]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Think there is a post somewhere on here giving full details on how to cancel CPAs, but in lieu of finding that this is a helpful read.

http://paullewismoney.blogspot.co.uk...ts-racket.html

[LATE]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

An update on the saga.

A letter from O2 arrived late last week regarding insurance for a phone, my son assumed it was for the phone he currently has but a further letter arrived today which showed it was for a brand new I Phone5!! He has been into O2 and reported it, they looked and saw it had been activated and used and it has been passed to their fraud department. The phone he currently has is an O2 contract, but taken out and paid for by his father, and is for a Samsung S4 so he has no need of a new phone (and hates I Phones). We have now cancelled his Halifax account, and started a new one, as we don't know how many more things there might be. We have also handed in the letter mentioned by SnV regarding the old account, just in case and to stop them transferring it to the new account (which they have assured us they wouldn't do anyway). In branch the Halifax staff have been wonderful, as have the O2 staff - its just been a struggle getting acknowledgement on the phone!

Letter for Wonga hasn't been sent yet, as we wanted to deal with one thing at a time, but will go tomorrow by recorded delivery.

[TibetanMonk]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

Also; I don't know if this helps, Wonga use Text Verification, so a mobile would have been used as a pin, if you request what mobile number they have for the account it should help narrow it down.

[TibetanMonk]

Re: Advice please - Card stolen, used to obtain Wonga Loan and money withdrawn!

An update on the saga.

A letter from O2 arrived late last week regarding insurance for a phone, my son assumed it was for the phone he currently has but a further letter arrived today which showed it was for a brand new I Phone5!! He has been into O2 and reported it, they looked and saw it had been activated and used and it has been passed to their fraud department. The phone he currently has is an O2 contract, but taken out and paid for by his father, and is for a Samsung S4 so he has no need of a new phone (and hates I Phones). We have now cancelled his Halifax account, and started a new one, as we don't know how many more things there might be. We have also handed in the letter mentioned by SnV regarding the old account, just in case and to stop them transferring it to the new account (which they have assured us they wouldn't do anyway). In branch the Halifax staff have been wonderful, as have the O2 staff - its just been a struggle getting acknowledgement on the phone!

Letter for Wonga hasn't been sent yet, as we wanted to deal with one thing at a time, but will go tomorrow by recorded delivery.

Also; O2 have one of the highest credit check levels in the telecoms sector, so its abnormal for an 18 year old to get a contract through them..

With telecoms they're required by law to do a one proof verification or two proof.

One proof uses a visa debit card, registered to the applicants address, and £1 is removed, the replaced into the account to confirm the account holder is present. Alternatively, they can request further identification, which, from experience, normally do when the applicant is under 21. Not because of any challenge 21, just down to consultants preference.

Credit checks also fail if any details are false, asin, DoB, False Address etc etc. So again, as Niddy suggested, this would have to have been either your son, or someone that knew everything about him.

Alternatively, most telecom retailers have CCTV, so you could SAR that if you strongly believe it wasn't your son. Also; the insurance document normal gives you the IMEI of the new handset, so you could ask the network to blacklist the handset, and then report this to the police as theft/fraud, Police can track as soon as the device is turned on, via IMEI, normally to within a few metres of where the handset is located.

Samsung S4 so he has no need of a new phone (and hates I Phones).

Although you say he hates iPhones, I know again it's not what you want to hear, and I certainly appreciate you wouldn't like to think people would do this, but people do take out contracts, continue to pay them on a low rate and sell the handset, as iPhones retain their value, they're worth considerably more to the likes of CEX etc.

If indeed the handset was sold, the person who sold the handset would have needed two forms of identification, proof of address and photo ID, so atleast we can be sure the phone wont have been sold, unless this guy not only knows how to defraud your son, but also is a prolific fake ID creator.

I used to work in the telecoms sector, so anything you need to know, just ask.

I don't know much about debt, but preventing fraud in the telecoms sector was definitely one of my most favourite hobbies.

Again, please dont feel asif we're not on your side, because we are, we want to get this sorted for you, and help you in the correct way. But of course, we have to make you aware of all possible outcomes.

Anywho, any questions regarding contracts on mobiles, just ask