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Woman Finds Bank Account Hacked, With $27k Extra

by Lee Bains on October 5, 2009 at 01:29 PM

In a strange twist on a now familiar story, an English woman last May found that her bank account had been accessed by criminals and that the money therein had increased. Amanda Fothergill, 40, of Darlington, received a phone call from a stranger who claimed to have deposited a substantial amount of money in her account. Shocked, Fothergill checked her balance only to discover a brand new deposit of £17,200 (around $27,500). The crook, who would call in ensuing weeks as frequently as once a day, tried to convince Fothergill to transfer £14,000 to another account, leaving her with £3,000 for her trouble. For her part, Fothergill wasted no time in notifying both the police and her bank, Abbey. Sadly enough, her prompt honesty was not exactly rewarded.



Immediately, Abbey froze her accounts while its investigators jumped on the case. Friday before last, following months of investigations, the bank closed Fothergill's accounts, labeling her as being at high risk for fraud. Understandably miffed, Fothergill wondered to the Northern Echo how the bank could treat her thusly. "Abbey never lost any money because I stopped it before it started," she said. "I feel like I am being victimized for being a victim." Last Monday, the bank claimed Fothergill's accounts had been closed mistakenly, and promised to apologize and reinstate them.

It's funny how, following press coverage of the account closures, the bank grew a conscience all of a sudden. Let's hear it for the press sticking it to the Man. [From: The Northern Echo, via Mirror]
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Tags: banks, hack, identity theft, IdentityTheft, security, top

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