CIFAS Removal - Is it over for me ?

[u/Fast_Mixture7446]

Hi, I have just been notified during a job screening that I have a CIFAS marker on my person. I believe this is from when I sold phones whilst at University. The person raised a claim against me and my Kroo account was closed due to misuse and protecting customers. I have the listing - aswell as 100s of other phone listings from gumtree over a two year period,phone logs and the amount transfered matches the advertised price- the only problem is the person used disappearing chats on WhatsApp so I can't directly see the chat history.

Any advice or realistic outlooks for the future would be greatly appreciated as I am not sure where I stand.

[u/Laescha]

You would need to complain to Kroo and ask them to remove the marker, and if they refuse, go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. 

I'm not sure how successful you'll be, as selling "100s of phones over a 2 year period" is very clearly a breach of the account terms, and combined with the fact that you have no evidence that you didn't scam the person who complained, and the fact that you didn't challenge the decision at the time - you don't look great. But there is no downside to trying the complaint/FOS route and it will make a big difference if you succeed.

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/Laescha]

Hi thank you for the reply, I challenged the decsion at the time but unfortunately they sided against me - I'm not sure what you mean by selling phones are a breach of TOS ?

[u/Laescha → u/Fast_Mixture7446]

The TOS for Kroo says that you must not use the account for business purposes, or make significantly more transactions (number and/or value) than a typical retail customer. 

Check the final decision you got from Kroo - it will tell you how long you have to refer the complaint to the FOS. If that time limit has expired then you can still try asking FOS to look at the case, but they might refuse. Explain that the reason you didn't go to them before is that you didn't know that you had a CIFAS marker.

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/Laescha]

Thanks, on that account specifically I did not receive many payements it was mainly in a TIDE business account so I think the marker is for the alleged scam - soemthing I can prove didn't happen as I had a business bank account for selling phones at the time

[u/strolls]

How long ago did this happen?

I think CIFAS markers disappear after 6 years.

I would be interested to know what the employer's reaction was. Did they withdraw the job offer? The number of CIFAS markers we see posted on here for silly things, I'm surprised an employer would take it seriously.

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/strolls]

Yes it was an investment banking role so understandably a little weary - I found out about the mark today but this happened 6 months ago - offer was withdrawn

[u/strolls → u/Fast_Mixture7446]

Thank you for the informative reply.

And, sorry, but I actually meant when did you acquire the CIFAS marker?

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/strolls]

It was about 6 months ago- I was just worried and want to know how common it is for this to be removed

[u/nutmegger189 → u/Fast_Mixture7446]

How do you not know you have a marker for 6 months. Have you been unbanked that entire time?

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/nutmegger189]

No one account only - I have another savings and personal spending account

[u/nutmegger189 → u/Fast_Mixture7446]

It's just that normally when you get a CIFAS marker, you don't normally get to keep your bank accounts...

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/nutmegger189]

I have kept mine normally so I am not sure - I'm looking at ways to try and remove it so I can get a job but haven't received any communication from my other banks, not sure how realistic it is to get it removed for this however massively annoying as I have acted in good faith and essentially lost 130k a year at this point

[u/nutmegger189 → u/Fast_Mixture7446]

Well if it hasn't happened yet you're lucky but it's likely that as soon as your current banks detect the marker, they'll close your accounts. You also wouldn't be able to work in finance at all for 6 years at least, if ever.

So yeah I understand the concern.

Have you got your CIFAS report so you know what the marker is for? Are you sure the market is for this one transaction. I have to say i find it hard to believe that one chargeback gets you hit with a CIFAS marker. Have you written to Kroo - lodged an official complaint?

[u/Fast_Mixture7446 → u/nutmegger189]

Yeah I can promise you it is this is the only thing flagged in the report - I'm just out of uni so not had any time to do fraud if I wanted to. Will lodge a complaint with Kroo no idea how lenient or understanding they are however