Woman who lost over £5,000 after belongings stolen at gym says bank accused her of being negligent
A woman who lost over £5,000 of her savings after her gym bag was swiped claims her bank has accused her of being 'negligent'.
Charlotte Morgan says she's been left 'broken' by the incident, which started when she went to her local Virgin Active in London last Wednesday (24 August).
In a lengthy Twitter thread, she explained that she noticed the security barriers weren't working that day, but she went ahead and stored her belongings in a locker before starting her workout.
During this time, someone managed to break into the gym, steal her rucksack containing her phone, bank card and keys and reset her device alongside her online Santander app and Apple Pay security details.
On Wednesday evening (August 24), I entered my local gym - @VirginActiveUK.
— Charlotte Morgan (@MorganBroadcast) August 29, 2022
On arrival, the security barriers which are normally activated by members scanning their passes were not working.
No one was ensuring that those entering the premises were genuine members.
"They then went shopping," she said, which started off with the thief spending over £3,000 at an Apple store in White City Westfield.
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They moved on to another Apple store where they rinsed through £1,000 before sinking £700 at Selfridges.
Charlotte continued: "It's around this time I return to my locker and the nightmare ensues. And I'm not alone.
"At least two other @VirginActiveUK members have also had their lockers broken into and belongings stolen. We are all without phones, money, keys to our flats."
At this point Charlotte rang her bank to try and get some help, but she said the call handler had 'no sense of urgency' while freezing her account.
What's more, they reportedly failed to follow her instruction not to call her phone as this too had been stolen and they ended up calling the number again.
And things only get worse from here.
As said by Charlotte: "Each transaction I'm told about hits me like a bullet.
"But it's ok, because the card is connected to the current account, while most funds are safely stored in my savings account.
"But no. Somehow, they've transferred from one to the other, £2,500 at a time.
"I almost drop the borrowed phone. I'm speechless. How have they managed to bypass so much security and accomplish such financial destruction in so little time?"
Because the thief has everything, the Londoner was unable to even access the contacts for her friends and family.
When she finally got a new sim card up and running, she immediately called Santander, only to find out that she wasn't going to get her money back. Why? Because the culprit had used her pin number.
Santander, she claimed, accused her of being negligent by either writing her pin number on the bank card itself, keeping the code inside the stolen bag or sharing it with other people, all of which she denies.
"For them to have known or guessed my pin is impossible, yet @santanderuk refuses to entertain any other explanation," she continued.
There is clearly a huge security loophole that they know about and until we crack it this will keep on happening.
— Charlotte Morgan (@MorganBroadcast) August 29, 2022
We're talking seriously organized, sophisticated and calculated fraud on a scale and speed like never before. Ignoring it by blaming the victim cannot be the answer.
Her thread has since gone viral, with hundreds of people commenting on the situation in a bid to try and offer some insights into how this all happened.
Some said that the incident raises 'serious questions about bank security', while others questioned why the gym's security barriers weren't working that day.
A spokesperson for Virgin Active told LADbible: "We’re working closely with the Metropolitan Police regarding an isolated incident that took place at Virgin Active Chiswick Park last week.
"We cannot confirm any further details at this moment in time."
LADbible has contacted the Met Police and Santander for comment.
Daisy Phillipson