I took a telephone contract out in 2015 and had issues with the provider from the onset and entered into a dispute which lasted several years before finally taking my case to the ombudsman which I won and the provider was deemed to have mis-sold the contract. All adverse on my credit file was wiped clean. The provider also accused me of face to face category six fraud and entered my details onto the National Fraud Database which has caused me untold grief and countless sleepless nights amongst other hardships. This is not dealt with by the Ombudsman services and was made clear by the Ombudsman that this is a criminal offence/accusation outside their jurisdiction. I believe that I can now take legal action for false accusations of fraud as this has not been included in the Ombudsman rulings and the contract that I was accused of fraudulent activity on has now been deemed mis-sold and void. Does anyone have any views or experience on this type of case and is it the type of case that should take the small claims court route or maybe high court. Constructive comments would be most appreciated.

CIFAS handled ny complaint against an application fraud warning in a reckless manner. I decided to take CIFAS to Court. I would like some insights as whether or not CIFAS is subject to Consumer Rights Act 2015 for service provisions? My second question is: are there precedents of consumers taking CIFAS to Court?

Hello everyone I’m looking to get some help if possible please my partner recently applied to open a new HSBC bank account for the cash incentive via the online system. The account she applied for some reason was declined but then instantly offered a standard basic account instead which she accepted and the card and pin arrived a few days later. The following week another letter arrived in a large envelope again from hsbc this time stating they had now closed the account without warning or notice due to not meeting the banks criteria. Strange but ok fair enough she’s not wanted as a customer until she noticed it was hand signed by someone from the fraud analyst department Becoming very worried she contacted the bank who refused to tell her anything and was then advised to send a SAR request to HSBC bank and also CIFAS. Friday she received a letter from CIFAS with a Single CIFAS FRAUD listing from HSBC BANK under the heading APPLICATION FRAUD that she did not list a previous address with adverse history APPLICATION GRANTED This is absolutely disgusting she’s done nothing wrong currently been living in the same house since June 2014 so we’ll over 4 years now. HSBC application page clearly asks for 3 years address history which she’s obviously listed her current address so nothing makes sense at all. She’s sent the HSBC ceo a email who’s replied today with this ( I can understand your frustration in that we ask for any addresses in the last three years and you moved four years ago, so shouldn't have to supply another address. However, we had information there was adverse credit data accrued in your name at a different address within the last three years. I'm very sorry for any confusion caused but we have correctly followed our process. We also correctly reported the instance to CIFAS, as we have an obligation to do. I'm understand this may not be the outcome you were looking for but I hope this has helped to explain our position. If you feel the information we had was incorrect, you may want to check with the Credit Reference Agencies. We use three agencies, Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. ) We are both extremely upset and worried about this issue as she’s done absolutely nothing wrong and is now obviously petrified that all her other financial dealings with other banks etc will see this and close everything down. What do you suggest we now do and has anyone else had issues like this previously that could advise we would be very grateful

Hello All, I have Banked with Barclays as a personal customer for several years. Recently I opened a Barclays Business account and 2 weeks later following our first transaction received funds of approx 20k followed by several additional purchases from the same Business client totalling some 80k. The money was used to pay the overseas supplier, (supplier A) and balance used as down payment for additional import stock. The following month approx 40k was received from a customer for building supplies, we had secured 30 days credit terms with the supplier, (supplier B). The same day the money was put to use by making a payment to supplier A with whom we had already placed a deposit. The next day the account was locked pending a review. Initially we thought money in and out same day likely triggered the review, and had ready relevant invoices and purchase orders. Barclays did not ask for any information, so we waited for the review to complete. After the review period, Barclays closed both Personal and Business accounts with the following letter: We phoned Barclays wanting answers and they simply advised there was nothing they could do and we should submit proof of funds to barclayspof#barclayscorp.com which we did. We had to wait 10 working days for a response. So far the timeline goes like this: Dec 2017 Business Account opened Feb 13, 2018 Money received for building supply customer - 40k made up of 4 x 10k payments Feb 13, 2018 Request made in Branch to have 38k transferred to overseas Escrow platform, awaited supplier invoice, then payment was released. Feb 14, Payment via Swift leaves Barclays and they locks accounts. Feb 15, I enquire in branch about accessing funds, they release some wages from my current account. I enquire about review, they say very little, go around the back make phone calls etc. I enquire about Swift payment, and manager quietly tells cashier to 'place a marker on the notes', they explain swift is en-route and should arrive within 3-5 working days. Feb 22 Letter above received. I send supporting docs to my local business manager via email, and request they release funds as per their instructions: "Make alternative arrangements for your banking services immediately and withdraw any outstanding credit balance from your account(s)." Response received is they can't help and email the docs to Pof@barclays. 5 March, Comprehensive email sent to POF and in the meantime, we approached another Bank with a view to moving our Business banking needs. They replied, 'no' and referred us to CIFAS. 12 March, whilst waiting for SAR result to CIFAS I emailed pof@barclays: Dear Sir(s) Whilst I await your response to the unfreezing of the accounts and access to my funds, I have requested a full disclousure of data held on me from Barclays Bank via a Subject Access Request submitted 8 March 2018. Could you ensure I receive the note put on the system at the local branch Manager's request, dated 15 February 2018, where I was informed the transaction was suspicious. I didn't know what that meant at the time, and it was received by the beneficiary a day or two later without issue. I would like to see what exactly was suspicious, and if it relates to the customer who paid the invoice, myself as the account holder or the beneficiary receiving the swift payment. Cifas report received 16 March: My knee jerk reaction, having skimmed over the letter was to write the following complaint and hand deliver it into my local branch: 16 March, phoned Barc fraud department, passed through security and was told they still assessing documentation I supplied. I explained I'm phoning about the Cifas marker. Call Lady explained there was a specific department for that and she would put me through. 20 mins on hold and back to customer services, I phone again and this time the young man answering explains 'that department' have now gone home and asks how he might be of help? I explain I want to know what 'False instrument(s) paid in' on the Cifas report refers to? He explains he would enquire and ring me Monday 19th March. 17 March I re-read the Cifas report carefully and realise the 4 payments of 10k must have been fraud and Barclays believe me to be involved. Email received today from POF@Barclays: BARCLAYS CLASSIFICATION: Restricted - External "Hello, Thank you for recently contacting us in regards to your remaining balance. We’ve completed your account review and are now in a position to return funds. What this means for you. Please make arrangements to visit your local branch with two forms of I.D I have left relevant notes on your account to authorise you to withdraw your funds." I believe this refers to my personal account, and have no intention of pursuing the remaining funds from the 40k payment. My response today to their email: 17th March 2018 Thank you for your earlier response. I have been told by Barclays Customer Services Fraud Team that Barclays closed my account of 3 years for 'commercial' reasons and this would not impact my ability to open Business account elsewhere. However, I applied to another High Street lender and they refused to accommodate my needs and referred me to CIFAS. I have contacted CIFAS, received a SAR response and filed a complaint with Barclays 16/03/2018, (copy attached) for accusing me of being a money launderer. I have since shown the Cifas report and Bank Statements to a friend in the Legal Profession. I have been advised Barclays are actually accusing me of allowing my account to be used for fraud and actively receiving 4 x £10,000 of stolen/fraudulently obtained money. This is absolutely not the case, and I want Barclays to clear me of any wrongdoing and update CIFAS entry immediately. Barclays, If the money was unlawfully obtained, why did you allow it to be credited to my account? Why on the same day did you allow me to send Money overseas via a Manager in Branch? Why did you not contact me at any point to raise concerns over these payments? Why did you not warn me when I enquired in Branch 15/03/2018 on the status of the Swift Transfer? I could have recalled the money at anytime in the several days it remained in my Akirix Foreign Exchange account. I could have prevented the customer from collecting the goods they purchased. Many things could have been done to prevent this unfortunate situation. On the face of it, it very much looks like Barclays failed in their duty of customer care to protect these funds from falling into the wrong hands, and are now making me, a innocent business to be the scapegoat. This is totally unacceptable. Please provide me with the crime reference number, so I can liaise with the Police and get to the bottom of this. I await a response from Barclays; I spoke to #### and #### yesterday, 16/03/2018 before getting help from my friend. #### from the Fraud Team promised to ring me Monday 19/03/2018 and explain what Giro Credits on the 13th February mean. The Branch statement shows it as Third Party Transfers, (FIP) see attached copy, yet the Statement received after Account closure reports the transfers as Giro payments. I will be awaiting his response before submitting a Second complaint, now that I am getting clarification on the actual issue to hand. Put this situation right by removing the CIFAS entry against my name. End of timeline I want Barclays to correct the Cifas entry and clear me of any wrongdoing. I had no idea the money was received via Giro payments, (whatever they are). We made clear we do not accept Cheques or Cash and only Bank Transfers are accepted for payments above £5,000. We carried out our due diligence as best we could and should not be expected to Police transactions. I've never put pen to paper to complain before and would appreciate some input from experienced members following the outcome of Barclays phone call due Monday 19th March. Thank you for reading this. I will update on Monday Lee docs1.pdf

Hi, I have read quite a few stories on here which has helped me in writing a formal complaint letter to the CEO Les Matheson and also CC'd to Customer Complaints but i have a funny feeling I am going to have to take my case to court. My story is below.. (I can email my letter that i have already sent to the bank to anyone who is willing to give me some advice or post the contents on the board if needed.) Story: In 2014 3 different cheques of £4,000 odd were paid into my NatWest account. They all was sent back to me at my home address where the bank had let me know that the cheques had bounced and were fraudulent. At the time i received the letters i immediately called the bank and let them know i didn't pay these into my account and that they should check the CCTV at the branch the cheques were paid into my account. As per usual, NatWest wasn't any help and closed my account and put a 1st party fraud marker against my name. I have tried on several occasions to contact the bank explain i am a victim of fraud but there has been no success i have been sent automated responses about how they won't be providing me banking facilities when the subject has always been about the CIFAS marker i how i would never want to bank with such a bank again!!! I contacted the FOS which was a long hefty process they upheld the fact that NatWest was right in filing the CIFAS marker what does confuse me is the lack of evidence to show that i was compliant with the fraud on my account. I then took it to the MET Police who couldn't get the CCTV from NatWest as it had magically gone missing . The FOS had made me aware that there was standing orders set up on my account for the money to go into other accounts that weren't mine when investigated by the police, they wrote an official letter stating that they have investigated haven't found any connections between me and the IP address i thought this would be helpful - it turns out the FOS think they're a higher authority then the police!! I have filed a complaint to the CIFAS in regards to the fact that there no evidence that would be upheld within a court of law against me for these cheques being paid into my account as NatWest didn't make sufficient checks. CIFAS has upheld the listing and have told me that there was enough checks for the listing to withstand which really does confused me as there is no way in hell they have any incriminating evidence that shows I have agreed to these cheques being paid into my account neither have I physically gone into the bank myself. What advice i am asking for is after my final formal complaint letter i have sent, would you suggest i wait for a response? I did say that I will wait 10 working days before taking further legal action against the bank. How would i go about the county court process and do you think my complaint will be dismissed within court or is there grounds for me to win this case? I'm so stressed out i have been dealing with this for years upon years and I haven't had any luck and after coming across this board via a google search I was given a sense of hope! I look forward to hearing from someone!

Can anybody advise how long I will remain on the CIFAS register. I have been put on the Cifas register by Barclays bank. The category used was aiding and abetting. I know I can try and fight it but it has caused me so much stress and time that I feel for my own well being I should just wait until it comes off the register. I am not a fraudster but had money paid into my account which I reported to the bank. As a result they closed my accounts and added me to the CIFAS register. Thank you

Hi Everyone, I am seeking legal help or guidance here as I am at my wits end with any Ombudsman, Sky and CIFAS. Over a year ago I applied for a Santander personal account as I had an existing business account with them, to my surprise they turned me down so I contacted them and they could not provide me with the exact reason why. I was also contacted by Santander who then stated that they had to remove my name from our Ltd company bank account. I dug into this and eventually the bank manager found out that a fraud mark had been registered against me and that was against they're criteria. I contacted CIFAS and obtained a copy of the information, in January 2016 Sky TV registered a credit card fraud mark against my name. To keep it short after many phone calls with Sky, a credit card belonging to someone else was used to pay a bill at my address. Obviously I explained this was not me nor did I have any knowledge of this and Sky told me they could no longer discuss the matter with me. At the time the payment was made I did not reside at the property and can prove this, it was rented out to my younger brother and had been for about 12 months. I confronted him about this and eventually he admits he found a card and had been using it fraudulently. I wrote to Sky and CIFAS numerous times over the past 1.5 years to try and resolve this matter, CIFAS eventually stopped replying to my letters and Sky did not once contact me. CIFAS contacted Sky who stated they were investigating the matter but again neither company ever came back to me. I contacted The Ombudsman who initially couldn't help me the contacted another and the outcome offered was a £30 payment towards the arrears that were caused with the fraud payment and a letter of apology for the poor customer service! I obviously decided as that outcome had no relevance to the issue I had. Sky recently contacted me and I called them back today to discuss the matter further, hurrah I though finally after nearly 18 months! But no, Sky once again were unhelpful and told me they would not be taking any more action on this matter! I emailed the lady who contacted me and she responded with the following: Dear Mr , Thank you for responding to my previous email and contacting us today. I am sorry if you felt that my colleague was rude and unhelpful during your phone conversation and will certainly feed this back. I can confirm that the information supplied to you by Steven is correct. In order for us to take any further action on your account we need written confirmation in the form of a headed letter from the card holder's issuing bank which was used to make the unauthorised payment stating that the payment(s) previously reported as being unauthorised are no longer being treated as such. Only once we receive this headed letter of confirmation will we be able to take any further action. Kind Regards Jacqualyn Case Investigation Consultant Escalated Complaints To say I am banging my head against a brick wall is an understatement. I have tried everything but no one will take any action. I have told Sky that my brother is actually willing to come clean and admit he was the one who made this payment but they aren't interested, what more can I do? I've asked them to look at the dialogue for the call as it would not have been me who made it! They have no evidence yet I have a guilty plea and I still can't get my name cleared! Can anyone on here help? I even think I should be compensated for this now as every single day it causes me trouble and not one single person can understand how to solve the issue. Basically if you want to ruin someones credit, get they're account number from the mail, off the TV what ever is easiest, ring them up, make payment with a hooky card and job done, ruined! Please help! Kind regards Grant

I have had something simalar happen to me - I was with thinkmoney and decided to move - tied barclays - they accepted me and I moved my pay & DDs to the new account. Yesterday (29/04/206) I finally got a letter in the post I had a text message on the Monday 25th) saying my card was suspended - called them and they said I should have a letter explaining it all. My pay went into the bank on that day and a few DDs have come out. I am trying to get a basic account sorted. (I do have a default on my credit file from about 5 years ago) - I am thinking this might be the cause but if so why did they say yes in the first place.

Hi All, Need some advice, I'm contesting a Cat 6 CIFAS marker on my file by NatWest History In 2012, i was the victim of fraud, which involved fraudulent cheques being paid into my account, then cashed out. I contested this fraud to Natwest, however they rejected my appeal; I escalated this to the Financial Ombudsman, however they sided with Natwest. Now I tried apply for a credit card with my bank (Barclays) but was turned down; this prompted me to investigate (currently have a Credit Expert score of 991 and earn £50k+) as I should have met the criteria. Upon investigating, I found out that NatWest have placed a Cat 6 - Third Party Fraud marker on my file. I've contested this with Natwest, however they believe this marker 'is a true reflection of my credit file'. I'm currently in discussions with the Obudsman regarding this; I either want this marker removed or changed to 'Facility Takeover'. I would love any tips or advice from anyone on how I can deal with this or how I can get the FO to side with me. (p.s. I'm not contesting the fraud as I can't contest this again, this matter wasn't in my original complaint in 2012 as I wasn't aware of it) This marker is casuing me major issues as I'm unable to apply for credit or open new accounts, so the mortgage I wanted to apply for this year is offer the table. Thank you in advance for your help

Hello all! I have been reading this website for awhile and decided to join yesterday! I am extremely interested to get anyone's advise or experiences with having Bank of Ireland put on CIFAS, how to approach it and how it can be resolved. Many Thanks Lisa

Hi, Few months ago I was a victim of fraud, nothing was taken but a fake application was made to Vanquis for a credit card. Now I have a CIFAS marker: Type: ID Fraud (pers credit card) Please can someone let me know how I can get this removed

Hello, Last May my partner and I had our joint savings account closed down with santander due to fraudulent activity. I had no idea why this happened until my partner admitted to me that he had cashed a cheque that came through the post and didn't know why it had been sent/who it was from (absolutely stupid of him I know). 6 months later they'd obviously twigged that this was fraudulent and shut the account down. Fair enough. We went to the bank at the time and explained the situation and they said could take months if not years for them to draw a conclusion to their investigation. We have heard nothing further from them since. Our problem now is that he can't open an account with any other bank. Tried with Nationwide and they accepted, sent card out and then immediately sent letter to say they were closing it with notice and no reason given. Obviously it's still Not so much a problem as we still do have existing accounts to use, but we do plan to get a mortgage hopefully in the next couple of years and I'm really worried it will effect that. I've since checked both our credit ratings on Experian (plus partner has checked his on Equifax and Callcredit too) but nothing is showing re. cifas on there. We both just show good/excellent credit ratings. I've recently just made him fill out an SAR directly to cifas to see if anything comes back from that, which I'm assuming it will. I'm aware that my partner was INCREDIBLY stupid in his actions but I really don't want this to haunt us forever. Is there anything we can do? And if not, does anyone know how long it might be before any cifas entry against us is removed? Thanks

Hi, first post - sorry if its in wrong place! I was rejected for a Santander current account and they suggested I ask with CIFAS, Experian, Equifax, Synectics, Callcredit and N Hunter. I applied online for Equifax and Experian and sent postal applications to the other four. Equifax and Experian have come back and there are a few things to clear up, but mostly seems right. HOWEVER, I got a letter from CIFAS addressed to a similar but different name, and one that I certainly haven't given them or given anyone as my own name. Basically, I am Jonathan and the letter was addressed to John. I sent copies of my driving licence and passport, so they definitely have all the right details for me, but they have requested an original proof of address. How can this have happened? Does this mean they have a record at my address for this fictional John (None of my family are called John) or is it an error of some sort? What do I do? Obviously I need to bring it to their attention, but how? I've never been in touch with CIFAS before this week.

Hi, i recently applied for a mortgage with C&G, having never had problems applying for mortgages before. The mortgage was agreed in priciple, although they needed to write to employer to confirm commission earnings after around 3-4 weeks of too and fro. Inbetween the times of applying and them writing to my employer, i was offered a new job and current employer asked me to leave straight away, and hence detailed "No Longer Employed" on the reference form from C&G. They then took that as fraud and and think i was lying about employment details, and placed a CIFAS Cat 4 against me for fraud and forgery (the forgery i dont understand as they wrote directly to employer). I have written a letter to C&G saying i've never had bad credit, never been declined a mortgage and have committed fraud, however i need to re-mortgage the house and am looking at getting car finance around June time this year. Am i stuffed, or will current lender let us move or re-mortgage if we have to (considering we have over 2 years history with Halifax with no payment problems)?! Really need to release some equity from house after doing it up, and am worried that C&G wont do anything, although i have been told that it should only last around a year if nothing else is highlighted? Help appreciated.

Hello All! So I am in the process of dealing with partners debt, liaising to negotiate reduced settlement etc. I had thought them very suspicious but all the paperwork is in order and he owes the money. So today I visited my bank to open a (second) business account (my credit file is now thankfully squeeky clean) only for it to be 'referred'. I was told (and shouldnt have been but he was trying to help and has known me for some time) that it was because my boyfriend is showing as potentially fraudulent as as we live at the same address I am now implicated! He couldnt tell me anything more than that, and thats come as such a shock. Yes we knew he had debts but when I applied for his credit files the CIFAS section was totally empty. I have my boyfriend writing a comprehensive list of all the addresses he has lived at for the last ten years so that I can go back to the CRAs and ask for any and everthing flagging up, I will then also run CCJ checks on every address. My question is why is this happening and where can I go to get help? We have pinged an email to CIFAS themselves, even though his file appears to us empty of warnings. Any ideas who to approach? Do I need full on legal help? Should I put through a notice of disassociation, even though we live together we do not share bills. I'm really very worried, as the bank did say that somtimes if they think I'm also 'up to no good' it may trickle back and affect the currently very good relationship I have with them and the head office may re-evaluate me being a customer of theirs. To be frank, I'm panicking...so anything at all I would be very grateful for...

Need help urgently. Last year someone approached me saying they'd lost their bank card and asked if they could put some money into my account and I withdraw it for them. They let me keep a small amount. £160 was transfered. I thought nothing of it and thought to be helping somebody in trouble but I found out this money was illegal. Recently, a year after this incident, I found out a CIFAS cat 6 has been placed against my name by barclays bank. I want to know how I can correct this as I was only 17 at the time and don't want it to ruin my life! Thank you