Am I caught in a Bank Scam..... by a legit bank?

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Thu May 26, 2005 3:48 am

A bit early to tell but I'll give you the details.

I go to my local bank.... totally honourable bank with good people. Aim: Transfer funds into Creamware account. I'm told it will take 4 days. There is a fee of course but I don't have a credit card anymore so I figure I'll just pay it.

Nothing goes through and I get a bit stressed. jo@creamware.de assures me she'll email me when it comes through. I'm contacted by my bank 2 weeks later and told the account details were incorrect. If I withdraw the transfer there is a 20 Euro fee (which has already been deducted). If I chose to try again, I will have to pay another fee.

Mmmmh..... I'm pissed off. Have Creamware screwed up? A few quick emails back and forth....Nuh... not at all. Prompt response, thanks to jo@creamware.de

I go to the bank, view the photocopies of the original paperwork. All is proper. I'm told, "We use the Bank of America for our international transfers...." Something chews in my gut.

I remember.... many years ago.....a large international bank MAYBE Bank of America, used to pull this stunt. They would hold off on the transfer, use the money in the money market, then tell people they had given incorrect details. Not difficult to get a number wrong. The penalty for withdrawing the transfer is large, so people would just go again. The bank would collect a couple of times on the same transfer.

Very cute.

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Thu May 26, 2005 3:54 am

I'm pretty sure this goes on... I have seen this kind of outcome on bank transfers several times. It is a logical symptom of our aggressively capitalist society

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:57 am

But if you decide to "choose to try again" but don't change any of the details then how can the details be incorrect ?

I would consider the "I'm getting a bit stroppy" approach and suggest that it wasn't your details that were incorrect, but something *they* did which was incorrect.

Post by **garyb** » Thu May 26, 2005 9:09 am

yeah, complain a lot. ask to talk to the bank president's secretary(that's how to get the president's attention).....

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Thu May 26, 2005 5:07 pm

Thanks folks. I went to see them today. I told them I had no issue with them as my bankers. However if the funds weren't through by next week I would have no choice but to ask for a full refund including fees. I also explained my recollection of the Bank Scam. I'm sure Sixty Minutes did a piece on it at the time.

Fortunately in Australia we have an obudsman who can make rulings on matters like these.

My post was partially for the benefit of others. My teller suggested posting a bank draft to Creamware's bank next time. I'd need to clarify that option.

next to nothing · Post by **next to nothing** » Thu May 26, 2005 6:52 pm

had to check in on emzee her,
its actually spelled 'ombudsman' internationally and is one of the VERY few norwegian words (spelled "ombudsmann" in norwegian) which has globalized

.

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Thu May 26, 2005 8:47 pm

Did you mean "her" or "here"?

Edit: I'm being a nonghead

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: emzee on 2005-05-27 03:37 ]</font>

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Thu May 26, 2005 10:40 pm

On 2005-05-26 19:52, piddi wrote:
had to check in on emzee her,
its actually spelled 'ombudsman' internationally and is one of the VERY few norwegian words (spelled "ombudsmann" in norwegian) which has globalized .

How interesting ! Does the word have a literal meaning in Norwegian, like "one who annoys authority"

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Tue May 31, 2005 7:23 pm

For those without credit cards.....I'd suggest NOT using an international bank transfer. The saga continues.

Use a contact in Europe, anything else......

valis · Post by **valis** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 9:46 am

Here most bank accounts allow you the option of a Debit Card (banking card) that has a credit card number attached to it and which simply draws directly off your bank account. I haven't used my interest-bearing credit cards heavily in years now.

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:11 pm

OK. Transfer cancelled. Most of the funds returned. This is the deal .... just for awareness.

Banks will not guarantee an international transfer anymore. (At least here). This means that if a server has a problem somewhere, that the bank server is busy or down, that a satellite is hit with neutron bombardment etc and the transaction is bounced..... you're out of luck and out of pocket. Feel free to try again. Just put your fees on the table ..... again. The bank will not attempt to resend without more $$.

In my case, Creamware's bank bounced the transaction back....for whatever reason..... The bank that performed the transfer automatically took fees out and returned the rest.

Fortunately I've got friends going to Europe in a few weeks. They'll deposit directly. It'll be quicker.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 10:04 pm

So, the old "you pay for our mistakes" policy.

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 5:42 pm

"Now in our product disclosure section, if you read section bla blah... you'll find that......" It's possible that I could have pursued it further but I don't need the extra grief. Enough for me.

Neutron · Post by **Neutron** » Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:34 pm

unfortunately electronic bank transferring is truly bogus.

if there is any error in tracking number or account number the money will be transfered to a different person or company.

the error could happen because:

person wrote it down wrong
person couldnt read other persons number
person is dislexic
person confused branch number with tracking number

probably lots of others as well

this type of electronic transfer could be made 100000 time safer if there was a simple "name of person or business" as well as the account number so it could be verified.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Neutron on 2005-06-22 20:35 ]</font>

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 3:21 am

In the past 50 years banks have gone from being trustworthy to greedy bastards who keep raising fees and adding fees and punishments such as for not maintaining a minimum balance.

Counterparts · Post by **Counterparts** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 4:06 am

I'd try getting my money back out of them - you've paid them for a service which they have completely failed to deliver on.

My bank recently charged me £30 for going £4.10 over my over draft limit. It was a debit card transaction (buying a train ticket to work IIRC), so I wrote to them pointing out that it was their decision to allow the transaction, in full knowledge that this action would incur charges against my account. They refunded the money without any fuss.

Royston

samplaire · Post by **samplaire** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 5:26 am

On 2005-06-22 20:34, Neutron wrote:
if there is any error in tracking number or account number the money will be transfered to a different person or company.

the error could happen because:

person wrote it down wrong
person couldnt read other persons number
person is dislexic
person confused branch number with tracking number

Isn't it that the first 2 digits are something like a contol number that if you make a mistake in the other digits they will point it before sending the money (at least this occurs in my bank).

Lately, I made a different kind of mistake: I wanted to type 37.5 and I typed 377.5 (shame on my keyboard!) for my mobile phone bill. That way next month I got a bill with a -267 to pay. Only then I realized I mistyped the sum. Fortunately my phone provider refunded me it very quickly.

emzee · Post by **emzee** » Thu Jun 23, 2005 10:05 pm

I probably should have pursued it further through the bank ombudsman but I was truly and totally fed up. If anyone else has problems I'd suggest this route.

I've got friends in holidaying in Germany at present. They'll sort out a payment for me.