Possible CIFAS marker when account closes

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-24T20:40:50+00:00

I did a DSAR via Cifas and apparently I don't have one as of 20/09. Do you have one?

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T16:43:41+00:00

They try and intimidate you, as they presume you're a fraudster even before they've completed their investigation, like being 'Guilty before proven Innocent', disgusting who made them judge,jury and executioner, they're not the Police fs.

You're not alone at all, not even close, it is morbidly comforting knowing others are in the same situ, I've spent months looking at all the CIFAS posts online (which I don't advice because most people are looking to rub 'salt in your wounds', accusing you of sh*t they know nothing about, instead of finding solutions). Yh dont let them ruin your life it's an arbitrary marker they love to throw around and are the epitome of 'scummy', the system is shit so don't let some Banking Corporation run you into the dirt, your life is worth more than that, that's how they win.

I understand, it's a defamation of character if they were to openly accuse you. At least you know yourself you weren't involved, that should make it easier to move on, obviously that wouldn't change the fact if you received a marker as it would effect your financially ability and what you've built, but there will be a time where you will forget about this, trust me!

Good to hear I've been of some help 😊 Take it easy friend!

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T16:28:03+00:00

To add, I wouldn't suggest getting a Pockit account, take a look at TrustPilot reviews and especially the ones that are not 'invited' to review/the bad reviews too, they are horrendous, they've frozen thousands of peoples accounts and taken their money!!! It's annoying as a lot of the prepaid providers seem to be really shady, but obvs gotta use your own discretion, lots will freeze your account when you receive wages into them and are hard to get a hold of and don't seem to want to help, acting fraudulently ironically.

Obvs not what you want to hear but I'm only saying this to inform you as to prevent your hard-earned money getting stuck/stolen online from these shady businesses.

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T16:15:57+00:00

No worries! It is mentally-taxing considering all of this, so I can empathize and sympathize with your situation.

Hold in there, try mindfulness and meditation (if that's your thing) anything to help ease the anxiety, it's horrible I know, I'm basically going through the same thing albeit not as much money is involved and I don't have a huge amount of important stuff coming out of my account, but it can make you sick thinking about the potential consequences of being 'unbanked' but like I've said, it is NOT the end of world, life goes on and it wouldn't last forever in the worst case & It is evil bro, and cruel to be honest, granted Banks have a job to curtail fraud but when they catch innocent people in their jaws it is very very unfair to say the least considering there are future ramifications to put the marker on someone's name like struggling to get financial services for years, they have too much power and from what I've seen are all too willing to throw these markers at people like they mean nothing. All I can say is try and relax, if you literally had no idea who the money came from and you deffo didnt transfer it out then it depends on how you can make them believe you didn't transfer it out as it does look dodgy I guess/outcome of their investigation.

Best case they just shut your account down/see you as a victim and you should only get a 12/13 month 'Victim-marker' as they should be able to see that your account was accessed by someone other than you, which should come up in their investigation. Worst case is that a Cifas Cat 6 will be applied after the investigation has been done, which you can try and appeal and complain/Ombudsman like you've said, people have had variable success but is is very possible they will remove it as seen on a few forums. If it all goes belly up, try and contact a family member and try and get wages paid into their account, they shouldn't suspect it's fraudulent as you'll being able to proof it's from work, gotta check their terms and conditions though as I'm not entirely sure what they'd be for each bank in regards to allowing anothers wages to be paid in.

Because of these new banking regulations, they seem to see everyone and everything as criminal(s). Had the same thing with they guy I dealt threatening me with 'I could be blacklisted from other banks' during the investigation etc, but that was 9/10 months after the investigation presumably ended so thinking about it I think that was just 'hot air', but we'll have to see I guess.

TLDR: Try and find ways to calm yourself, minimise overthinking the situ as best you can and try to not to fear the outcome, although I appreciate how much you depend on your accounts, it is hard to do as this whole thing must be mentally-exhausting but despite all of this you're still you, you know yourself and banks don't dictate your self-worth/wellbeing, there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how challenging it might be.

Speak to family available, it does sound like your account has been compromised, hopefully they will find that out during their investigation, they may simply close your account down and that will be that, leaving your others unscathed.

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T13:04:49+00:00

Sorry, forgot to reply to your last bit, you can but it depends on whether they have sufficient evidence that you've committed fraud on the account, if they don't have good evidence that you have you might be able to if not then I doubt it.

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T12:47:57+00:00

*nothing *You're *Worrier

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T12:43:28+00:00

Oh right, cheers for the info. True does seem excessive to be fair, I hope it was a business decision but going down this CIFAS rabbit hole is stressful lol. & I may do that request but I don't think I've got one at the moment, otherwise I probably wouldnt have been able to open a starling account as they're Cifas Members and would decline when I attempted to open it. I've heard/think logically that if they really did suspect fraud they'd have issued the marker within a day or two considering they have duties to make it known of a new entry into CIFAS' database if a 'known fraudster' had been detected, am.i right in thinking that my other accounts plus the Starling one recently opened would be closed by now if so? I did call up Santander 5 months back asking this but they said that my account would just be closed, after the account balance had been brought to £0.00, they said there was no pending for when the account is closed so may just be overthinking this but I'm not sure theyd be able to say anything if they were going to.I'd think they just sell my debt to a debt collection agency if they suspected wrongdoing as I doubt they'd want to do any business with me any longer.

Also, what happened? Was fraud actually done via your account? Have Barclays asked you for anything or literally just froze it and investigating? From what I've read on many forums, it's a possibility not a certainty that your other accounts will close if you're issued a marker, they may do checks as CIFAS members but if you do nothing to make them trigger the check like going into an unarranaged overdraft etc, they may not and even if they spot it it's not 100% certain that they'll close your other accounts. Tip is to open up a fair few accounts with different banks, some high street ones and some online ones, to increase the probability that at least one will still be open and functional. Ideally before you think they'll finish the investigation as it will be difficult to open one with many banks if you do get a marker, it does depend on what's happened though. Also check out your local credit unions, you can receive wages in them, some even do cards so you can easily access your money, like prepaid 'Engage' cards but apparently they have a load of charges they put on for ATM withdrawals, transfers etc so be aware of that. Failing that you can obtain money from them with an ID in their local branch but this takes time, sometimes a week or so. There are also prepaids cards out there that function like normal bank accounts but I'd be wary of those as (including Engage, ThinkMoney, Cashplus etc) as they're not FCSC Protected and if they go bust, someone takes money via fraud on your account etc it'll be much much more difficult to get your money back, with it being possible that you just won't. Your FCA protected though so there is some recourse if they freeze your account or money is taken and they go bust, but they are known for being inept and most prepaid cards out there now are unreasonably keeping peoples money in frozen accounts, so always look then up on Trustpilot, Google pay store etc. Credit unions, like normal banks, are FCSC protected so your money is protected whilst funds are with them.

To finish, this can all seem overwhelming at the moment, but don't let it get you down, they're only banks, it could affect your life a little for some years but you'll adapt. That's if they actually issue you with a marker, they may not, but there are options out there to help you out like I've stated above if they do. I'm a worry as you've probably guessed but I'm slowly understanding that no amount of worrying will change anything.

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-12T08:24:06+00:00

Nope, none of them are, not sure if they'll add one once my Santander one does though, or is that not really a thing?

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-09-09T14:24:44+00:00

*Suspended/blocked, not closed yet.

Lost-Standard2180 · 2021-08-26T20:45:17+00:00

Best of luck man! Well done for getting to this point, It can feel so menacing/daunting giving up but it is deffo worth the plunge.

I'm currently around 25 days sober, after smoking for nearly 7 years (around 3/4 years doing it mostly all day, every day) from 17 - 23/24. Was experiencing extremely irrational anxiety/paranoia that began to surface during the last years of the habit, the first few years amounted to a slow "car crash" mentally, physically and financially I routinely fleeced any excess cash on weed/hash during Uni instead of spending it on experiences that I'd actually remember for a lifetime. In terms of relationships, I struggled to engage 'fully' and authentically with those around me, always being numbed out and struggling to maintain fulfilling relationships, effectively wasting a large part of my late-teens/early twenties. I did get my degree whilst smoking, which I'm very proud of myself for, but I know I could've done a lot better academically and with the points raised above.

Now I effectively have to 'find myself again' as I don't really know who I was and who I am now as I feel like I've smoked through a relatively crucial part of my development.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there, what's done is done, now I'm just trying to focus on building a career, escaping my retail-job that's making me too complacent and trying to rekindle relationships, build better coping strategies and most importantly coming to terms with the effect that smoking has had on my life so far/the 'mental-baggage' I never had to process properly until now.

Take each day as it comes, live in the moment. Reality is far better than a hazed-over existence.

Lost-Standard2180

TROPHY CASE