Barclays accused my partner of stealing £10,000 using my debit card – and then refused to give me the money back

When Roger Wall went to the shops for bread, milk and other essentials in October, as expected, £7.89 was deducted from his account.

Roger, 80, a retired facilities manager, was visiting the nearest Tesco supermarket, a ten-minute walk from his home in Orpington, south-east London, on October 25.

But when the bank statement arrived in the post a week later, it was revealed that in addition to Roger’s purchase, two payments (£5,000 each) had been deducted that day to a recipient he did not know: ‘SQ \*Admin Skill LI’.

Roger had no idea what the payments were and immediately called Barclays, which provided his current account, to report them.

However, Barclays did not compensate him. He also does not apologize for failing to prevent the making of two large payments that were completely out of character for Roger.

Instead, to Roger’s dismay, he was asked repeatedly whether his partner of 26 years had access to his bank cards.

‘I was shaking with rage when I called the bank to tell them I had been the victim of fraud,’ says Roger. ‘But I was asked if my partner had access to my bank cards.

‘It was understandable to be asked once, but I was asked this question on three separate occasions.

‘I felt like they were questioning the nature of our relationship and whether I could truly trust my partner of 26 years or share my PIN. I didn’t.”

His partner, Jacqueline Foale, 77, a retired office manager who lives six miles away in Bexley, south-east London, was hurt by the questioning.

Jacqueline says: ‘Roger is not in the best of health and it was hurtful and rude to constantly ask if I could access his PIN.

‘The bank gave Roger many sleepless nights. We are both independent in our own bank accounts.’

Barclays sent Roger a form with details of all the items in his purchase, which he filled out immediately.

However, he received no news from the bank for ten days; During this time he still had £10,000 in his pocket.

Roger says: ‘I was struggling with insomnia. No one seemed willing to help or make a decision. Even when I called without hearing anything, they were able to tell me that my case would be discussed at a committee meeting soon.

‘All the staff can say is that my bank account is encrypted, has not been hacked and there is no evidence that my Visa debit card has been cloned by any criminal.’

Money Mail saw the bank statement. It states that on 25 October a ‘Card Payment to SQ \*Admin Skill LI’ was made in two separate transactions of £5,000, indicating that payments were made at a terminal using a debit card.

SQ stands for Square, a payment processing company used by small businesses.

An internet search for Admin Skill LI showed a potential payment for a learning program offered on the online business networking platform LinkedIn.

But a spokesperson for LinkedIn said: ‘We do not offer any so-called Admin Skills services, so this does not appear to be LinkedIn related.’

Roger had no idea who Admin Skill LI might be and hoped his bank would investigate.

He recorded the theft on cybercrime reporting service Action Fraud. Roger also hoped Barclays would contact Tesco to ask if CCTV surveillance had detected any suspicious activity.

Contempt: Barclays makes no apology for failing to stop two huge payments that were clearly completely out of character for Roger

He says: ‘I can’t help but think someone might have stolen my details in the supermarket; Maybe they can shoulder surf, stand nearby or behind and spy while I shop.’ Barclays did not comment on whether it had contacted Tesco.

It wasn’t until Money Mail spoke to Barclays that the bank suddenly agreed to refund Roger’s money, explaining that it was merely a ‘goodwill gesture’.

On the day that Barclays finally agreed to give Roger back the £10,000 – 28 November – an official letter from the bank arrived at Roger’s home by post.

The headline was designed to leave Roger in no doubt: ‘We have completed our investigation’.

The letter said: ‘You recently told us about some payments you did not know about.

‘We have reviewed them and found no evidence of fraud, which means we cannot offer you a refund… which means we cannot refund you for the £10,000 amount in dispute.’

Roger says: ‘The empty-mouthed response without any real apology seems to indicate that they do not believe the money was stolen.

‘I had no explanation as to why they thought my PIN had been shared with someone else or why the CCTV footage did not appear worth viewing.’

Barclays did not explain how the fraudulent payments were made and refused to say whether Roger’s PIN had been used, although he was asked if he had shared it with his partner.

A Barclays spokesman said: ‘We are sorry to hear of the distress caused to Mr Wall by the loss of this money as the protection of our customers’ funds is our highest priority and we take every precaution to ensure they are safe.

‘Following a thorough review, the evidence currently available does not indicate fraud in this case. However, it is unlikely that Mr Wall personally benefited from these payments.

‘As a goodwill gesture we have refunded Mr Wall the full £10,000, whilst our inquiries with the seller continue to identify the root cause.

‘We acknowledge the stress this situation has caused and have offered Mr Wall an additional £100 as an extension of our apologies.’

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