Not sure this surprises me. Monzo is the #1 bank used in attempts to commit fraud and phishing schemes where I’ve worked. Not that there were many, they just all used monzo as the receiving bank for scams
Bizarrely monzo doesn’t have a dedicated contact for reporting this type of crime
As you’ve specifically mentioned Monzo here, whether it is relevant or not, I’ve read enough accounts on the Monzo forum whereby allegedly Monzo are quite happy to let someone have an account even if they don’t live in the U.K, as long as they have access to a U.K address so a card can be sent there? If this is true, surely this cannot help with proper identification of individuals? Are there other banks that allow this? If this portrayal is just plain wrong, then more than happy for someone to set the record straight, I’m just going on stuff I’ve read over there.
You’d think that any bank would carry out due diligence on identity checks, though seemingly it is apparently relatively easy to get an account using fake ID?
When I applied for and was accepted for my mortgage last year, I and my Wife were subject to a raft of ID checks. Banks probably really should be doing the same.
I think that’s a little simplistic. Monzo uses a raft of measures to check ID. They may well be inadequate, but sending the card to the applicant’s address is just one of the checks.
Surely, if the applicant isn’t a resident of the U.K and isn’t registered at the address in any official form but is merely using the address just to get an account and card, then clearly checks must be very basic? Sending a card to a friend’s address just so the ‘friend’ can then send the card onto someone who generally resides halfway across the world, that doesn’t sit right with me. But then I clearly no nothing of how banks conduct their checks nor do I know exactly what their criteria is.
The point I am making is that it is more than that.
Like you, I have no idea whether or not the checks any particular bank makes are adequate or not, but it isn’t simply a case of an applicant supplying an address and Monzo sending a card.
The Monzo forum often has people complaining that they can’t open an account; at least some of those are likely to be genuine.
Keep in mind it’s just anecdotal.
I did have a quick check and they still don’t have a dedicated way to report scams. You have to go via their general email which isn’t obvious.
They may have a improved things. But it might also not be about how easy it is to setup accounts abroad, they could be using mules or taking advantage of people
Can confirm Monzo is very popular, knew a guy who knew a guy that did phishing etc and they’d use Monzo users as mules for the cash / get fake accounts made using the details of homeless folk/fake accounts etc