Refund error frustration!

Help
21

I decided to sell my shoes on Depop after seeing an ad. I created an account and listed them, despite never having sold anything online before. I received an offer £10 less than my asking price.

Then I got a message from someone named Holly asking me to email her pictures since she couldn’t see them on the app. I sent them, and she said she loved them and bought them through the app.

Afterward, I received an email claiming to be from Depop, asking me to confirm the sale. As a lot of sites like these send you reminders that your items are still in your basket and so on so I thought this was normal and the scammers email is identically the same as the actual companies. While washing the dishes, I got another email that looked similar, reminding me someone was trying to buy the shoes. With excitement I clicked the link, which took me to a page asking for my bank details which had the customer details the receipt didn’t look suspicious at all, I hadn’t provided my details when I signed up.

A chatbot named Sophia popped up, saying Depop needed to verify my bank account to prevent fraud. She told me I would receive a code and to confirm it. I pressed confirm on a notification with the code 305, which I now realize was a mistake. I then noticed £305 had been withdrawn from my account, leaving me with only £5.

Sophia reassured me that the bank would stop the transaction and refund me once verification was done. She then mentioned that the person before me had entered the wrong digits and I needed to add £400 to my account. At this point, I realized I had been scammed.

I contacted Depop’s official support, which confirmed they never send such emails or use chatbots. I reported the fraud to Monzo and Action Fraud. Now, I’m receiving messages suggesting I go to a food bank and wait for the investigation, but I haven’t heard back. I’ve contacted Monzo multiple times, asking for reassurance about the investigation, but my anxiety is increasing since I’m unemployed right now.

Scammers are getting smarter, and I never thought I would fall for this. Please be careful, everyone. ;(

1 Like
22

I’m continuously trying to get any sort of update, no luck yet.

23

Your case is likely in a long queue. There is nothing that can be done except for waiting longer until Monzo have an update for you.

Sadly, these things can take time and patience is required.

24

It sounds like an APP scam. You should get a refund within five business days if that’s the case, but you will likely have to pay the first £100 and be refunded the only other £205 (if the payment was made after October 7th).

25

Bank details as in sortcode and account number? Or card details?

I’m unsure how anyone can take money from your bank account details, but your card details alongside providing them with the OTP (code) to validate the transaction.

This wouldn’t be an APP scam if it’s a card transaction.

26

I think “should” is the key word there. Is there a penalty if banks miss this deadline? If not, then the deadline might as well not exist.

Some banks already routinely breach the deadlines for complaints handling (this is mentioned in quite a few FOS decision notices).

Rules without consequences for breaking them are entirely meaningless.

1 Like
27

Given this was posted 8 days ago, that 5 day deadline would have lapsed on Friday.

Edit: ignore me. It’s two different people with similar coloured S avatars!

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28

If the deadline is breached you could make a complaint and it should be upheld. If it’s routinely missed this could certainly lead to a regulatory fine for the bank.

But yes, it’s still a ‘should’, these deadlines do get missed pretty often

29

I think that is the issue. They might be held to account, they might be fined, they might have a complaint upheld against them.

The only thing that will make them actually comply consistently, will be fixed penalties per breach, 100% of the time (via mandatory self reporting).

We don’t have a regulator harsh enough to consider that though.

1 Like
30

That’s a good point, not a great start from Monzo on the new push payment regs then…

Unless there was a valid reason for them to ‘stop the clock’, but those situations are limited, sounds more like they might just be behind

31

Wait, this one was reported 2 days ago here… it’s a different case to the OP one

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32

I edited my post! Seems to be a different person reporting a different thing. :see_no_evil:

Has someone been randomly merging a bunch of I’ve been scammed threads into this one?

3 Likes
33

No, a newbie finally searched.

3 Likes
34

I received it yesterday after continuous following up.

35

It was probably due to that, as they’re usually quite late. Their policy states fraud refunds should be processed by the next day, but I only received mine yesterday full amount, four days later. I made sure to follow up regularly to ensure it wasn’t just ignored.

36

No clue why someone would start mixing up the forums gosh. Listen mate, whether its scam or not its still a refund frustration… Monzo told me to join this.

37

I imagine it’s the next working day so you had to wait over the weekend.

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38

Where did you see that, out of interest?

That’s likely for unauthorised transactions, whereas this was an authorised transaction.

Glad you got your money back!

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39

It’s what the FCA say. But yes, only for unauthorised transactions.

This refund should be in your account by the end of the next business day, along with any charges and interest you paid because of the transaction.

When you make your claim, your bank may ask you some questions and get you to fill out a form stating what happened. But it can’t delay your refund while it waits for you to return the form.

1 Like
40

Exactly, the regulatory timeline for APP fraud (which this sounds like it was) is 5 working days.

I’d be astonished if Monzo committed to a shorter timeframe than they were absolutely required to, to be honest :smile:

2 Likes