Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.
D.L. writes: I have an account with Suits Me, an internet bank authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
But my account has been hacked – someone called the bank and transferred £4,200 to themselves, leaving me very little to live on and pay my bills.
Tony Hetherington replies: You spent more than six hours on the phone to Suits Me, and when you finally reached the 'disputes team' you were told because you did not transfer the £4,200 the transaction required an investigation, which might take months.
Suits Me said your money went to an account at Revolut, as instructed by the mystery caller. This left you with barely any money to support yourself and your 11-year-old child.
You called the police, but they referred you to Action Fraud – which means it is unlikely there will be any police enquiries.
I contacted Suits Me, which is based in a modernised cattle shed at a farm in Knutsford, Cheshire, and I supplied your signed authority to discuss the loss of your money.
The company's boss Matthew Sanders refused to honour this. He said: 'Unfortunately, we cannot comment on individual accounts or disputes as I am sure you would expect.' He said his firm has 'rigorous' security procedures, adding: 'At Suits Me, we pride ourselves on our customer service and security.'
You may disagree, of course. You assured me: 'I have two-factor authentication on my phone app and emails, and my phone has not been out of my sight.' You have not shared the account details with anyone, and they are not even written down.
I tried again with Mr Sanders, but got a brief response that 'it is our strict policy not to debate individual customers' circumstances in the media'.
So while every big bank is happy to respond when the customer allows it, Suits Me regards an invitation to comment as a 'debate'! But it did send you a lengthy letter. Banks operate a voluntary scam-victim refund scheme called the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code, they said – but Suits Me has not signed up to it.
There is a separate scheme operated by the UK Payment Systems Regulator – but guess what, Suits Me works in partnership with a Gibraltar business so falls outside this refund programme, too.
The company rejected your complaint, but offered you £35 for the time wasted on hold when you rang. It said if you were not happy, you could complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
This puzzled me because I was pretty sure that Suits Me was not covered by the FOS, so I questioned Mr Sanders and he admitted: 'The letter sent to Mr L contained an error in that it said he can raise a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. This is not correct.'
If you were unhappy, you should complain to a company called IDT Financial Services in Gibraltar.
I did, and IDT explained it is a regulated issuer of Visa and Mastercard cards, and Suits Me is its distributor. You could file a complaint in Gibraltar, it said.
Then two days ago, and without issuing any comment, Suits Me put the missing £4,200 back into your account. You were stunned, but delighted and relieved!
The big question remains: how it is possible to operate a quasi-bank which sidesteps the ombudsman, is outside the compensation scheme and dismisses questions as a mere 'debate'. Why does the Government allow it?
If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 9 Derry Street, London W8 5HY or email [email protected]. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.
