Jockeys advised to avoid high street banks after frauds

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/oct/05/jockeys-high-street-banks-frauds

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Jockeys have been urged to move their money out of high street banks after a string of frauds.

Around 30 jockeys and trainers have been targeted by the “fairly rudimentary scam”, according to the Professional Jockeys Association (PJA), which issued the warning in its October newsletter.

The body said that a “significant six-figure sum” was thought to have been lost so far and that “given the ineptitude of the major high street banks in preventing the fraud and their lack of interest in prosecuting it”, the only way to prevent more was to bank away from the high street.

The PJA said the scams were first reported in early 2014 and were continuing, “with the banks seemingly both unwilling and incapable of preventing or investigating them, and the police and Action Fraud of no use whatsoever”.

The association said money had been withdrawn over the counter, possibly using fake documents, although in some cases fraudsters had simply used publicly available information such as addresses and dates of birth to access accounts.

The newsletter said: “What is most scandalous is that on almost every occasion the banks admit to not following their own procedures, handing significant sums of cash over – in some cases several thousands of pounds – despite signatures that didn’t match those held by the bank and/or warning flags on the account not to issue cash withdrawals following previous frauds.”

It added that the PJA and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) had come to the conclusion that the only way to prevent the frauds from continuing was for members to move their current-account banking off the high street.

“We cannot recommend a particular bank but there are numerous options (eg Weatherbys, Marks & Spencer, First Direct, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, etc) we strongly urge our members to consider that option.

“Those that are and chose to remain on the high street, please continue to keep a close and regular eye on your transactions and report any suspicious activity immediately to your bank.”

Paul Struthers, chief executive of the PJA, told the BBC: “The question we are struggling to understand is how they know where each of the jockeys bank and how they are getting access to the account. That is what is perplexing us.

“It has just got to the stage now where between us and the BHA we have realised that a combination of the incompetence or the unwillingness of the banks to deal with it means the only advice we can give jockeys is to get off the high street.”