Vw t25 camper [email protected]

Following on from the 'Santander' attempted fraud I have this very second just heard on BBC about an attempted fraud against Barclays (some irony) about a similar fraud against them that was successful and got away with over £1m, though I believe the money has been recovered.

From what I heard I believe that the criminals got access to a router on the premises of a branch and accessed customer accounts to perform the fraud.

I hate to say it but I did foresee this and it was bewilderingly stupid to believe this wouldn't happen as a direct consequence of UK banks being so lax in providing accounts for criminals to launder fraudulently obtained funds. Once they have that facility it's an open invitation to perform fraud, and the most lucrative option is the bank itself, and frankly you don't need to be overly bright to do it. If you are bright and/or have inside help, banks are exceedingly vulnerable and the potential rewards are too tempting.

The main fundamental flaw in the banking system is the existence of so many fraudulent bank accounts in the UK which aren't even acknowledged by banks or law enforcement.

For most of my banking life I didn't work in frontline services but any muggins bank employee would know where banks are most vulnerable.

It's interesting to note the different reaction of the police when banks face taking the loss, against the reaction when the ordinary person in the street faces a loss from the same situation.

This annoys me - perhaps you can tell.

It's difficult to talk about bank security without providing help to criminals but in general terms the problem has always been how to dispose of funds you can acquire within the banking system. Now that there is clearly an established network of bank accounts, potentially in their thousands, bank security is turned on its head. Once the criminal gangs get better intelligence on banking systems, and they will, then this will become a major problem for banks, of their own making.

Apparently the Barclays account that I paid into has now been frozen, but they can't tell me if there is any money in the account or if I am actually going to get this money back! I expect the account has been cleared and there's no money left in it.

I'm not sure what my rights are as to whether I am able to obtain this money back through the bank. I don't honestly hold out my hope at getting this back.

I just feel pretty fed up and helpless that I can't do anything more to stop these criminals.

How did you find out that they were a Romanian Crime Gang? Surely the police should act more to catch these criminals.

The link they orginally gave me for the camper van now goes to the actual home page of eBay now, which is the genuine site as I can log on...but who knows. I don't trust them one bit!

How did you find out that they were a Romanian Crime Gang ?

Basically it's common knowledge. I have provided links previously to security sites evidencing this and their mode of operation is well-established and predictable. It's run like a business and those opening the accounts are known as 'arrows'. I can't say that any particular scammer is Romanian and this type of scammer is operating in the UK with impunity and little risk of being apprehended, so it's obvious that any nationality could be involved, even UK citizens. It would be remarkable if British criminals weren't attracted by such easy pickings.

In the same way that the banks or police could profile them if they wanted to, I can do it even as a private citizen. Unfortunately the one thing I can't do is connect any one person to any specific crime. However, if the police raided the properties in which they stayed, which the police did once I note last year, they'd find everything they need. One raid a year doesn't even scratch the surface. Every few months the gangs rotate personnel. and they'll never act quickly enough.

Surely the police should act more to catch these criminals.

You'd think ?

I wonder if the bank who lost over a million had to report it to Action fraud first. If not, why not ? It seems that banks determine what types of bank fraud the police can investigate. There's something seriously wrong when that happens. I hope that the police hand the bank a bill. This crime is being stimulated by recklessly lax security.

I even have a photo the 'arrows' have taken inside a UK bank. Any banking branch that allows that to happen might as well hand over the branch keys too.

i now have a link to go with the Barclays Bank computer theft report I mentioned earlier today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24172305

Alex Grant from Barclays said: "Barclays has no higher priority than the protection and security of our customers against the actions of would-be fraudsters.

Really ?

Someone pretending to be a computer technician was given access to a bank's back office and allowed to fit attachments to machines giving them access to the mainframe ? I can't describe to anyone without knowledge of banking systems and procedures quite how appalling that is. Presumably he wasn't wearing a red nose and clown outfit at the time.

I only mention this fraud because it appears that victims of 'ad frauds' have to accept the word of the bank, through whom funds were laundered using fraudulently opened accounts, that the accounts were opened following proper procedures which are not only laid down by the bank but are also part of UK money laundering legislation. It seems that not only do victims have to accept the word of the bank but neither the police nor the bank ombudsman look any deeper in to the matter in spite of the problem becoming an epidemic.

It's easy enough to find examples where the bank haven't followed proper procedures, indeed where staff themselves have been actively involved in fraud to an extent that makes it worrisome that anyone should take their word. The only time the police appear to take the matter seriously is when the bank themselves are going to face a loss. The police are meant to act for all the people, not just some.

These are just a few recent examples.

http://www.kilburntimes.co.uk/news/crime-court/retrial_for_barclays_bank_cashier_from_wembley_accused_of_87k_fraud_1_2718610

http://www.ftadviser.com/2013/07/10/regulation/former-barclays-workers-in-dock-over-fraud-charges-gUqMK9qegZE7rb5YSEUGvO/article.html

http://www.thisiscroydontoday.co.uk/Purley-bank-worker-laundered-money-drug/story-16376175-detail/story.html#axzz2fXrUJY9K

Isolated instances are inevitable, but when the same things happen repeatedly there is a problem and, if the bank won't investigate, the police and/or the authorities should.

They're at it again on gumtree. Another VW T5 transporter. obviously copied a geniune ad. £3,450. Too good to be true. I've text them for details..waiting on a reply.

I'm going to catch them out an report them them, hopefully before someone else falls for this scam.

The police will be informed of this. We'll see if this one can be bring some response from them and bring these criminals to justice.

Has anyone on here who has been scammed by these fraudsters had any positive outcome from the police or banks?

Can anyone give me some advice on what to do now that i've found more adverts from them? I just feel I'm in on this alone without any police help!

http://m.gumtree.com/p/campervans-motor ... 1032951743

Here's the link if it's still active now that I've shown a bit of interest.. They're getting geared up to set up the fake eBay link now I imagine!

I believe that there have been rare and isolated instances of money being recovered but I regret that it's not the most likely outcome I'm sorry to say theresa1983.

You may be surprised to hear that local government and the NHs are being similarly defrauded on a large scale through these fraudulently opened bank accounts, and it appears little is being done to address the problem or make the public aware of the risks. Of course the downside is that if people realise that they can't trust that money paid to bank accounts can be relied on to be going to the individual or company named, it is quite likely it will act to depress the economy.

The thing that irks me is that the bank ends up as sole arbiter as to what happens, as if the police have sub-contracted their responsibilities. This is surprising considering the scale of fraud being committed, and it is then all the more galling when the police response is so different when the loss is likely to be taken by the bank.

The fraudsters have barely scratched the surface of what can be achieved using these bank accounts and I would suspect that fraudulently opened bank accounts have become a valuable commodity that can be bought and sold among criminals. There's a lot less risk than dealing in drugs.

I notice that the scammer you pointed out has also been advertising for a property to rent and this may be to get people to send him photos and details for him to recycle in other scam ads. Considering that these people must be using cards to purchase the ads, either their own or stolen, it wouldn't be difficult to trace them and block the cards, but the will to do snything about them just doesn't appear to exist.

Hi. We have last week been another victim to Evelyn this time it was an Elddis Autostratus Campervan with the same MO couldn't view it either, and directed to a fake ebay site. They used a different Barclays account no. Robert Koc acc no. 60686522 sort code 20-53-04. We have contacted action fraud and also sent Barclays a letter claiming my money back (at their suggestion) but we are not holding our breath for it.
We, my wife and I feel not enough is being done to combat this type of fraud.
We would urge all who have been scammed by evelyn to contact Barclays with the details of the fraud, and try and claim your money back. will keep posting updates on how we get on.

Thanks for posting your original post Amber 1970

Concession 21

Hi, I fell victim to the same scam using the exact account details for this Robert Koc. I've done the same- reported it to action Fraud and also Barclays. The bank has replied with an automated message saying the account will be subject to closure if it is found that fraudulent activity has been taken place. They say they cannot provide financial compensation though. I am determined to fight for this and to get some action as obviously the same criminals are conning many people out of thousands of pounds.

I am contemplating setting up a class act if anyone is willing to join me and fight to get their money back?

Theresa

UK banks have introduced a major flaw in to the payments system that has attracted every criminal on the planet to make use of having multiple accounts with them. The largest number of fraudulent accounts I have seen reported being set up by one criminal is over 750, and this is in a country that boasts the most strict money laundering legislation in the world. Having spent my working life in banking, before retirement, the situation is appalling.

Being able to disguise your identity in receiving payments, which is then protected by the bank under privacy legislation, is outrageous. Criminals have barely exploited the scope of fraud this makes possible. If they send out bills posing as utility companies, DVLC or HMRC, the potential rewards are eye watering. On the same theme there are many other variations that open up the potential to cripple the economy without any risk to the criminal.

As far as I am aware banks don't even record these crimes and I doubt that the police do either, as I have not discovered any official body make any mention of it. The simple reason for this is that under money laundering legislation banks shouldn't be opening accounts for use in fraud.

It's the British way I'm sorry to say - if they can't or won't do anything about it - pretend it isn't happening.

Contact your MP - elections are coming up.

It's absolutely ludicrious that the banks are pretending that nothing is happening.

Barclay's have now written back saying that the account has now been closed but obviously no funds were remaining in there so they are unable to refund any money back to me. No surprises there! If they acted as soon as I'd reported the crime then there might have been a slightly better chance of me actually receiving something back but of course they've prolonged the situation. To antagonise it more, they follow on with a list of pointers to stay clear from falling victim to internet scams- like I don't feel stupid enough!!

I am actually fuming with their reply. THey simply brush it under the carpet and refuse to accept any responsibility that they are actually fuelling the scams in the first place.

I will now be writing to my local MP to persue the issue!

The amazing thing is that the bank is above the law and I mean that in the literal sense.

You have informed them of a crime being committed and you are obliged to take their word that they properly identified and performed KYC on a person who has turned out to be a criminal and used their services to perform fraud. They don't mention whether they have passed the identity and details to the police for action. Of course if they passed details of all the accounts being used to perform fraud I imagine that the police would collapse under the deluge. In the reverse situation the police would kick down your front door. Providing banking facilities to criminals must be unremarkable. it wasn't in my day.

I can't stress enough how this shouldn't be happening. If accounts are being opened improperly, the ability to transfer money using the UK's anonymising bank transfer service attracts criminals worldwide to the UK, as if the one thing our economy lacks is a means to stimulate criminal activity. Any bank that's consistently opening accounts used in fraud should be under investigation, but I'm not sure if the UK has a body that does that any more since the FSA found US authorities having to do its job for it.

Unless banks in the UK only employ idiots it would be simple enough to profile the accounts out of the system, or at least flag them up, or perhaps I have an intellect lost to UK banking. You simply cannot operate a bank that is floating on a sea of accounts used in fraud. Apart from the financial risk to the bank itself, it is actually an appalling reflection on a bank's competence and reputation.

I would imagine that a fraudulently opened bank account could be bought and sold for £500 - £1,000, so without even stealing any money, a person like the one who opened over 750 bank accounts could make themselves a millionaire just through crazily lax and sloppy procedures. Once opened the accounts can be used for benefit fraud, as this scammer did and, if you handle them correctly you can collect the money with no risk of arrest.

A financial system operating this way will blow up as more and more people learn how lax and sloppy it is. It's simply untenable.

I'm researching one group and I've turned up 20 or 30 cars they've advertised so far, though the actual figure is bound to be much larger. Multiply that by £5,000 and two or three as they can sell the same car more than once, and these criminal enterprises are becoming larger than most small businesses in the UK. They should form their own business association.

I have seen it reported that banks don't record these frauds in their crime statistics.

I could certainly do with you Terrance to help fight my case! I'm considering looking into one of these no win, no fee solicitors to try and get my money back out of Barclays. They are simply being negligent as a company and I am determined to fight for this!