I had my phone stolen in Benidorm and ended up with a £23k BANK LOAN bill…Lloyd’s asked why I didn’t CALL them sooner
A HOLIDAYMAKER claims he has been smacked with a £23,000 bill after thieves who stole his phone managed to get approved for a loan through his bank.
Craig Gilmour, 38, from Rowley Regis, West Midlands, fell victim to a street robbery in Benidorm on May 14, with thugs snatching his phone as he was walking on the beach coming home from a night out.
The construction worker was on the phone when the incident took place, meaning thieves were able to grab his iPhone 15 Pro while it was unlocked.
This gave them access to his Lloyds banking app and allowed them to have the huge loan approved without his knowledge.
But when he told his bank he was told he’d still be liable for the money – despite the loan application being made after the ID logins were changed on his device.
Trying their luck the thieves even contacted Craig through his friends and offered him his phone back for €3,000 (£2,563).
Craig told The Sun: “I called the bank and found out I had a £16,400 bank balance. Lloyd’s Bank has basically let the person take out a loan of £23,000 and allowed them to transfer money to random Spanish bank accounts.”
He added that he feels “emotionally drained” by “stress” caused by the experience and said: “It has all been unbearable it’s ruined my holiday.
“I used to love Benidorm but I’ll never go there again.”
Lloyd’s has opened an investigation after Craig reported the incident to the fraud team, with two officers looking into the scam, but have told him that he is still liable for repayments.
He said: “The bank has said the biometrics access to my account means I have to pay the money back, [The thieves] have used £6800 of the loan and £900 of my own money Lloyd’s have pursued me for the money have told me that I need to make repayments of £520.”
Craig contacted customer services frantically to explain what happened, but says staff rudely dismissed him.
He said:“They asked me why I didn’t call earlier even though I had no phone and said ‘are there no payphones in Benidorm?’
“There were still pending payments left on my account even though they were told to cancel them.”
The father-of-three said his banking app was likely to have been accessed through FaceID by using pictures stored on his phone, and the loan was approved without any additional checks.
“I can’t get my head around a £23,000 loan being made without seeing ID or a passport. I can’t afford to pay that money, I physically can’t pay – it’s a lot of money.”
Craig says he was forced to borrow money from family and friends as his account was locked, with the bank refusing to allow him to transfer his direct debits to another bank account, and was left begging to borrow money from family and friends.
He added: “It completely ruined my holiday – Lloyds haven’t offered me any [affordable] payment plan for the loan and have said I need to start monthly repayments of £520 from June 23.
I shouldn’t have to pay that.”
It has all been unbearable it’s ruined my holiday
Craig Gilmour
Craig received little support from Spanish police when he reported the incident to officers following the phone snatching.
He said: “I told Spanish police and they just didn’t wanna know, incidents like this happen all the time and if they investigated every one they wouldn’t have time for anything else.”
He was told by police in the UK that they were unable to open an investigation as the offence took place in a foreign country, and has been receiving no victim support following the crime.
Craig said: “The bank is not interested, even though the names of all the people are actually on the account as payee’s – at least eight people are named on my account.
“I’ve not slept since it happened – the repayments are more than my mortgage. I also have to worry about my phone bill, council tax, British Gas – I can’t afford to pay for this.”
As a result, Craig asked to close his account with the bank following the incident, and criticised its lax security measures.
“I would advise anyone against using Lloyds Bank and my friends and family have been closing their accounts too,” he said.
Craig claims he has lost £23,000 but Lloyds say his total loss is “currently around £6,500”.
A Lloyds spokesperson told The Sun: “Helping keep our customers’ money safe is our priority and we carefully consider the individual circumstances of each fraud case reported to us.
“We have agreed to review the details of Mr Gilmour’s scam claim again and will be in touch with him shortly.”
What to do if you’re scammed on holiday
FALLING victim to fraud is enough to ruin anyone's time on holiday, but, luckily Action Fraud have some helpful guidelines on how you can avoid it and what to do should disaster strike.
- Do your research: Before jetting off on your dream holiday, make sure that you do a thorough online search to ensure the company is trust-worthy.
- Pay safely: Use a credit card when shopping online. Most major credit card providers protect online purchases.
- Look for the logos: Check if a travel company is an ABTA, the Travel Association or an ABTOT, the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust Limited, a member or an ATOL holder. Look for the ABTA logo on the company’s website. If you have any doubts, you can verify their membership of ABTA online on their website. Also, look for the ABTOT logo and financial protection; you can see if a holiday provider is an ABTOT member by visiting their online directory.
- Stay safe online: Use three random words to create a strong password for your email that’s different to all your other passwords. If 2-step verification is available, always enable it.
- Beware of suspicious messages: Be careful of unexpected emails or messages offering unrealistic holiday deals. If you receive a suspicious email, report it by forwarding it to: report@phishing.gov.uk
- Protect personal information: Only fill in the mandatory details on a website when buying something. If possible, don’t create an account for the online store when making your payment.
- Book with confidence: Be sceptical of unrealistic holiday deals. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Exercise caution and research before making a purchase.
TAKING ACTION
If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, contact your bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online at actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040, or call Police Scotland on 101.