My granddaughter was the victim of a scam in July, losing nearly £2,000. Please could you help as her bank, Chase, doesn’t want to know. She is 21 and graduated from Bristol University this year and is working hard to get a bit of money behind her. She is distraught.
J. P., Devon.
Sally Hamilton replies: In your email, you attached a note from your granddaughter outlining what happened. My heart sank when I read the opening paragraph: ‘On July 20, I received an email from the gov.uk website stating I was owed a tax refund of approximately £480.’
There is a ‘tax refund’ scam going around, designed to dupe those legitimately expecting money back from the taxman. Victims receive an email or text that looks official and includes a link to click to apply for a tax refund.
However, it links to a webpage set up by fraudsters. When victims fill in their details – believing it is to apply for a tax refund – they are handing them straight to fraudsters, who can then raid their bank accounts.
Your granddaughter believed she had clicked on to the official gov.uk website. She tapped in her details and received confirmation her details had been submitted correctly that looked genuine.
She was further convinced when the scammers allocated her a ten-digit ID for future reference – just as she would expect from an official service. All seemed in order, and she thought her tax refund would soon be on its way.
Two days later the horror story began to unfold. She received a call claiming to be from the fraud department of Chase, her bank.
The caller said someone was trying to buy something on her account at Argos in Aberdeen for £300. They then asked if she had received any emails from either Amazon, eBay or gov.uk.
She took a closer look at the gov.uk email and realised it did not look like one from an official sender. The caller told her to delete it from her inbox to protect herself. He then claimed her savings account wasn’t safe and she should move the balance to her current account.
She immediately transferred £2,099.95. The scammer told her all she needed to do was approve the transfer in the Chase banking app and it could refund any rogue transactions attempted on her account.
She never doubted it was Chase on the line as the caller reassured her constantly that their actions would protect her against fraud.
However, a minute later, £1955.76 left her account to ‘Travel FX’. She expressed concern, but again she was told not to worry and that it would be refunded in the next few days.
The next day doubts took hold. She phoned Chase and, to her dismay, the bank said its last contact with her was in December 2023. Upset, she explained events and the bank opened a fraud case. After two weeks, it said no money would be returned because, in their eyes, she failed to carry out due diligence.
She filed a complaint and stressed how she was now in dire financial straits. The case was reviewed, but with the same result – no refund.
Having seen how upset your granddaughter was, you came to me. Some readers may wonder why I would take on a case where a customer failed to do checks before handing over money. But I could see your granddaughter had been pressurised by a scammer using sophisticated social engineering techniques to scare her into moving her money to a ‘safe’ place. She was a victim of unauthorised fraud, so I decided to chase Chase about the case.
Despite my efforts, the bank remained unmoved and repeated its line that she failed to carry out due diligence and ignored the bank’s warnings.
A Chase spokesman says: ‘We take our commitment to helping customers stay protected from fraud and scams incredibly seriously. When the customer tried to verify the payment, we provided clear warnings about the card transaction, and stated Chase will never call a customer to ask them to move money or approve a payment.
‘Unfortunately, despite those warnings, the customer proceeded to authorise the debit card payment to the fraudster’s account.’
I hit a brick wall, but urge your granddaughter to take her case to the impartial Financial Ombudsman Service in the hope it takes a different view. Meanwhile, if you receive an email or text offering a tax rebate, it does not mean Christmas has come early: delete immediately to avoid your life savings becoming a gift to a scammer.
And be wary of calls from your bank that come out of the blue.
Giles Mason, of the UK Finance-backed Take Five anti-scammer campaign, says: ‘Criminals will manipulate customers into divulging personal details to steal money. Be cautious with personal information and never share one-time passcodes.’ More at takefive-stopfraud.org.uk.
I have twice been turned down for a claim for costs against Aldi after breaking my dentures on its pitted green olives. It said it was sorry, but would not help with the repairs – totalling £187.99 – because there was a warning on the container. I am nearly 75, diabetic, suffer glaucoma and have had seven eye operations so such small print is very hard to spot. Please help.
A. M., Shrewsbury.
Sally Hamilton replies: Aldi was exceedingly polite in rejecting your claim. It said finding a stone in a pitted olive was ‘rare’ but not unheard of and this is stated on the packaging. You sent me the label, and I agree the print is minuscule and the warning is a challenge to read.
You told me you spend £100 a week in Aldi so I thought it was the least it could do to contribute towards your new gnashers.
On my intervention, Aldi acted speedily and sent you a store voucher for £188 – the full cost of your dentures. You said you were happy with this and could now smile again.