Thieves raid gymgoer’s locker and use her bank cards to go on £8,000 spending spree in two Apple stores and Selfridges in 90 minutes while she is still exercising
- Charlotte said thieves broke into her locker at the Virgin Active gym in Chiswick
- They transferred £10,000 worth of life savings into her current account
- She believes the thieves accessed her card PIN through Santander’s phone app
- However Santander argued that she must have disclosed her PIN number
A woman has revealed how thieves raided her locker at the gym and used her bank cards to spend thousands of pounds.
Charlotte, from west London, who did not want her full name published, said that thieves broke into her locker at the Virgin Active gym in Chiswick on August 24.
Despite her locker being padlocked, they stole her wallet and phone before going on a £8,000 spending spree.
Two other gym-goers also had their belongings stolen.
Charlotte believes the thieves accessed her card PIN through Santander’s phone app, however the bank argued that she must have disclosed her number.
The thieves reset her Apple Pay security and went on a ‘whistle-stop spree’ at the Apple Store in White City, spending more than £3,000, followed by purchases at the Regent Street branch.
Charlotte, from west London, who did not want her full name published, said that thieves broke into her locker at the Virgin Active gym in Chiswick on August 24
They also spent over £700 at Selfridges, making about £8,000 worth of purchases in total within 90 minutes.
They transferred £10,000 worth of life savings into her current account.
She told BBC Radio 4: ‘I was very rudely and bluntly told “you will not be getting your money back. It’s your fault because they’ve used your Pin”.
‘I was also accused of writing my Pin down and keeping it on a bit of paper in my bag.
‘I was just left absolutely broken because all that hope that I had, that I was clinging onto just suddenly melted away. It was heartbreaking.’
Santander has since apologised, refunded her money and paid her £750 in compensation.
Despite her locker being padlocked, they stole her wallet and phone before going on a £8,000 spending spree (stock image)
A Santander spokesperson said: ‘We take protecting our customers’ accounts extremely seriously and have comprehensive fraud prevention systems in place.
‘We are investigating the details outlined by our customer on social media as a matter of urgency and contacted them as soon as we were alerted to the case to discuss the issue further.’
Virgin Active said they are ‘fully investigating all of the circumstances around the brief failure of the access gates’ and helping police with inquiries.
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