Fraud victim's shock as other clients' details given to him

Published on Tuesday 18 March 2008 09:22

FRAUD victim Andrew Jarvie got more than he bargained for when his bank sent him tips on how to avoid future scams.

In the same envelope that the information was sent, NatWest gave him all the details he needed to become a fraudster himself.

The bank provided him with confidential letters for two other customers who had also been the victims of fraud

The information included their names, addresses, account details and even mobile phone numbers – all the things Mr Jarvie had been told to protect.

The assistant planner for a city architect firm today said he was not surprised card fraud was on the rise. Mr Jarvie, 25, says he has completely lost faith in NatWest to deal with his money safely, and is now planning to close his account. He was due to meet his bank manager today to complain about the security breach.

He said: "It's not acceptable for them to send me out all this information asking me to make sure I protect my details, when they are obviously not doing everything they can to protect the details of their customers. I asked for a meeting with the manager because I'm not happy that this has happened."

Mr Jarvie's card details were used by fraudsters in Romania last month for two transactions totalling just under 500.

He went straight into his local branch on George Street to complain when he failed to recognise details of the purchases, but a month later he is still in talks with his bank about being reimbursed with the cash.

Mr Jarvie, from Meadowbank, said: "I wasn't guaranteed by any means that I would get the money back. The onus was on me being able to prove that I didn't spend the money, so it helped that I wasn't in Romania at the time.

"Most people I speak to either have been the victim of fraud or know someone it has happened to, and with banks giving out this sort of information then it's not a surprise really.

"I'm going to close my account with NatWest and go somewhere else. I don't feel like the process was dealt with to my satisfaction, and the final straw was getting these two letters sent to me.

"It really makes me wonder whether my bank is looking after my details."

A spokeswoman for NatWest said: "NatWest takes the issue of data protection extremely seriously and has very strict procedures in place to ensure the security of customer information at all times.

"Any breach of these procedures is totally unacceptable and is investigated as a matter of urgency."