Scammers Deplete £3,500 from My Business Monzo Account: Hannah Crawford, a theater producer, was looking forward to an exciting summer. Her company, Thistle and Rose Arts, had a busy schedule planned for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. However, things took a stressful turn when scammers managed to take £3,500 from the company’s bank account.
This unexpected event left her unable to pay her staff before the company’s big event. She had to contact Monzo, her bank, to talk to a banking specialist and sort out the situation.
In early July, Hannah received a phone call from a number she didn’t recognize. The person claimed to be from Monzo and said that someone tried to spend £7,000 and £3,000 at John Lewis and eBay. They said they would send a text to confirm the payment, but they also knew Hannah’s address and email and asked about her recent transactions.
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The scammers said more payments were made on her card and told Hannah to use her Face ID to approve the payments for a refund. Hannah, who wasn’t feeling well and was confused, agreed to the payments. It was only later that she realized what had happened.
The scammers called again, this time asking about Hannah’s overdraft and requesting her to extend it. They still pretended to be from Monzo. They mentioned that Hannah had contacted Monzo’s customer support through the app, which made her believe they had access to her account.
This is a trick scammers use, making people think they have access to the account. That’s why they convinced Hannah to approve the payments. However, Monzo later confirmed that no one else had accessed her account.
Hannah then contacted Monzo’s online support team to report the fraud. They said they would get back to her with updates and promised a phone call within 24 hours.
If you think you’ve been scammed, it’s best to hang up and call your bank directly at 159. Just like you call 101 for the police or 111 for the NHS, this is a trustworthy number for your bank.
Even though she had lost £3,500 of investor money, Hannah urgently wanted to speak to someone at the bank. Unfortunately, her requests were ignored.
In the following weeks, Hannah tried several times to talk to a business banking specialist over the phone, but she didn’t get through. She spoke to different people, from customer services to fraud and wellbeing, but still didn’t get the help she needed.
She was offered a call with the wellbeing team after sharing personal information, but she still didn’t know what was happening with the fraud investigation or when she would hear back.
After four weeks, Monzo hadn’t contacted Hannah about the fraud investigation. In the meantime, she managed to get some money through crowdfunding to cover expenses for another week. But things were getting desperate.
Hannah described the experience as a “nightmare.” It was affecting her work on the theater show. They even thought about canceling the show, which would have damaged their reputation. One of the companies working with them was uncomfortable leaving money with them because of security concerns. The whole situation really hurt Hannah’s confidence as a producer.
Finally, after five weeks and with the help of This Is Money, Monzo admitted that they hadn’t handled Hannah’s situation well. They gave her back the £3,500 and also offered her £345 as compensation.
A spokesperson from Monzo said they were sorry for what happened. They acknowledged that their support and communication should have been better. They promised to improve and spoke to Hannah to make things right.
What does the regulator say about fraud?
When it comes to unauthorized payments, the Financial Conduct Authority states that customers must receive refunds as soon as possible, and at the latest by the end of the business day following the provider’s awareness of the unauthorized transaction.
The Consumer Duty rules explain how companies should help customers. It doesn’t mean companies always have to use each customer’s favorite way of communication, but they should give good support that meets customer needs.
A spokesperson from the FCA told This Is Money: Payment providers must always be reachable so people can report lost or stolen cards or if they need help with a blocked card.
We don’t tell companies which support methods to use, like phone, email, in-person visits, text, letters, webchat, or video calls. But they must make sure their support helps their customers.
When people are victims of fraud, payment providers should quickly address concerns and give back any money owed.