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Legal Loan Shark Stealing from Bank Accounts (allegedly of course)?

This has been reported and raised on BBC Watch Dog. Now it has also been raised in the Metro - a reported had a debit from his bank account to Wxxxxx and he is NOT even a customer.

As is well known Wxxxxx has been advertising heavily on t.v. Indeed it sponsored the CSI and Law and Order programmes for at least the last year. However whilst we *were* avid followers of all of the CSIs and L&Os we stopped watching Channel 5 (and other channels) solely due to the extreme irritation caused by the patronising Wxxxxx adverts. We complained to the t.v. companies but never got any replies.

Now the adverts seem to have stopped - thank G*d.

However Wxxxxx have been accused of being legal loan sharks in that

1/ their payback interest rates were sky high, and 2/ almost as an automatic reaction they'd send the bailiffs round if anyone defaulted repayment even by a day

Now Wxxxxx have been accused on more than one occasion of debiting bank accounts that do not even belong to customers. That is: NON-CUSTOMERS have had their bank account raided by this despicable firm.

This from today's Metro:

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Richard Herring reveals how a recent case of bank fraud turned out to have unexpectedly embarrassing consequences.

I have been the victim of identity theft. I know what you?re thinking, ?C?mon Rich, you?re too famous. No one could ever get away with pretending to be you.? Well, somehow they managed to pull it off. I checked my bank account the other night to find £513 was missing. I know what you?re thinking, ?C?mon Rich, you?re too loaded to notice the loss of such a paltry sum.? But I am afraid you have an inflated sense of my fame and wealth. Almost like you?re being sarcastic. I did notice. Because that?s lots of money. Also the payment was to wonga.com, a company I would never use. Not because I think they?re horrible loan sharks, preying on the poor and desperate, like diabolic cash vultures (what kind of a monster would think that of such a morally impeccable firm?), just because I?d rather sell both my kidneys than give them custom.

I rang the bank and another similar payment to wonga was about to go through. Surely wonga.com wouldn?t allow a debt to be paid off by a card unconnected to the person loaning the cash? They?d do something to stop that, wouldn?t they? I?m not going to say that wonga don?t care where the money comes from as long as they get it, because there must be some other explanation. You have probably thought of it yourself, so no need for me to make a suggestion.

Luckily, as I was blameless, the bank immediately refunded me the dosh ...

Reply to
CJB
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So they made a mistake with the account number

It happens. It doesn't make them a bad company. (Though that's not to say that they aren't for other reasons)

tim

Reply to
tim.....

CJB wrote: : This has been reported and raised on BBC Watch Dog. Now it has also : been raised in the Metro - a reported had a debit from his bank : account to Wxxxxx and he is NOT even a customer. : : As is well known Wxxxxx has been advertising heavily on t.v. Indeed : it : sponsored the CSI and Law and Order programmes for at least the last : year. However whilst we *were* avid followers of all of the CSIs and : L&Os we stopped watching Channel 5 (and other channels) solely due to : the extreme irritation caused by the patronising Wxxxxx adverts. We : complained to the t.v. companies but never got any replies. :

Have you ever been to their website? You wont see a simpler and more transparent lender. There is nothing hidden there is a slider. You slide how much you want to borrow, and you slide how long you want to borrow it for, and there is a price.

I dont need to use wonga, but i have purchased a number of financial products, from mortgage, personal loan to car loan. I can tell you without a doubt that this was the clearest and easiest to understand.

There is a lesson that other lenders can learn.

Reply to
Tired

What kind of mistake might you suggest? Wrong or transposed digit errors would create an invalid account number and sort code modulus check.

Reply to
Anthony R. Gold

I've no idea.

Happened with me once when I got someone else's credit card purchase billed to my account (back in the days when they collected the details on paper).

You would think that wouldn't you

I guess that if the check fails they just guess what the correction should be:-(. After all, they need to bill someone for the money!

tim

Reply to
tim.....

CJB set the following eddies spiralling through the space-time continuum:

It might not be w***a.com. If you read the article in full you will find what his last "legitimate" purchase was. I reckon it was that site that was a bit dodgy.

Reply to
Curlytop

And it is clearly stated - APR 4,214%... !!

Reply to
Zapp Brannigan

I know, crazy why someone would want to use it. But it is all clear and honest. I remember when I bought a new car a few years ago. The slippery nature of the salesman, the reams of small print on the finance document (I ended up not taking their credit because of their claims that it wasnt possible to conver their 'flat rate interest' to apr).

It is simple, transparent and honest.

Reply to
Tired

But the adverts are incredibly annoying. We stopped watching the CSI franchise progs on Ch. 5 due to those bl**dy old patronising puppets. CJB.

Reply to
CJB

But the adverts are incredibly annoying. We stopped watching the CSI franchise progs on Ch. 5 due to those bl**dy old patronising puppets. CJB.

I stopped watching adverts long ago, in fact as soon as tivo became available. watching a programme live almost never happens now, everything is recorded and the adverts are blipped through in seconds, even if you start to watch 15 minutes after the programme starts.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Much more likely to be fraud by one of their customers - I know someone who's been a victim (or rather, whose bank ended up the victim).

Article explaining it here:

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udulent-repayments

Reply to
David McNeish

David McNeish wrote: : On Dec 7, 6:52 pm, "tim....." wrote: : :: So they made a mistake with the account number :: :: It happens. It doesn't make them a bad company. (Though that's not :: to say that they aren't for other reasons) : : Much more likely to be fraud by one of their customers - I know : someone who's been a victim (or rather, whose bank ended up the : victim). : : Article explaining it here: : :

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which is one of the factors that contribute to the high interest rate. The section of society they are aiming at regularly run up bills and dont pay them. I doubt that wonga take much action against their customer for non payment, other than, of course no longer being able to borrow.

Even a succesful court case will result in CCJ and token payments.

Reply to
Tired

APR is meaningless for a short-term loan. If you were to borrow money from most commercial institutions for only a month, the various arrangement and admin fees would mean that the loan will have cost you far more.

Reply to
Cynic

And I wonder what the APR would be on the overnight loans that banks make amongst themselves?

Reply to
Graham Murray

If I were to exceed my overdraft limit by just 1 for a day, my bank will charge me around 25. Work out the APR on *that* "loan!

Reply to
Cynic

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