HBOS chief executive victim of identity fraud

by Gill Montia

Story link: HBOS chief executive victim of identity fraud

HBOS’s Andy Hornby has become the victim of identity theft.

A fraudster is believed to have obtained one of Mr Hornby’s bank statements and used it to impersonate the chief executive.

Reports suggest that up to £7,000 was stolen from Mr Hornby’s accounts in the course of one day and that there is CCTV footage of the likely offender withdrawing cash from bank branches and from an ATM machine.

If HBOS follows its normal policy its boss will be able to reclaim any losses, although reimbursement can not be guaranteed if there is evidence of negligence.

Nowadays banks expect their customers to shred bank statements that are surplus to requirements and safely store others.

In January of this year, Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, had £10,000 stolen from his account.

On this occasion the fraudster telephoned a Barclays call centre, claiming to be Mr Agius, and convinced one of the bank’s employees to send out a new credit card.

The card was then used to withdraw £10,000 at one of the bank’s branches.