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Find out more'Scammers intercepted the money from selling our Greek holiday home'
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In 2022, my wife and I sold our home in Greece. It took almost six months of sending documents back and forth to our lawyer.
Finally, in April 2023, our lawyer forwarded a receipt from the bank stating that the €225,000 had been sent to our UK bank account.
However, the money never arrived.
Can you tell me what happened?
A Which? Money member
'Fraudsters ran off with your cash and tried to cover their tracks'
Mike Croxford, Which? Money expert, says...
This was a very intricate and devious scam. Fraudsters intercepted your documents and changed the details of the receiving bank to an account at Metro Bank and not your ABN AMRO account.
Furthermore, the receipt had also been intercepted and the details changed back to ABN AMRO, thus neither you nor your lawyer had any idea that a scam had occurred.
After several days of waiting for the money you contacted all parties and it soon became clear that it was Metro Bank that had received the money.
The Financial Ombudsman Service took the view that Metro Bank hadn't done enough to stop the fraudsters
Metro Bank rejected your case, insisting it was blameless.
You turned to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). After a long investigation, it upheld your case, taking the view that Metro Bank hadn’t done enough to stop the fraudsters.
Your 18-month battle was eventually rewarded with a refund of the €225,000 plus some interest.
Other readers making very large bank transfers should make some phone calls to trusted numbers, to verify written information before going ahead.
- Find out more: Scammers steal home deposits in callous conveyancing scams
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