Ellee Seymour

It seems I have been a victim of online banking fraud. We are quick enough to criticise banks, but I would like to praise Barclays online for the excellent way they picked up on what happened to me so quickly.

I had a scam email purporting to be from Barclays last Friday which I thought was genuine, followed by a call from the bank the next day asking me to contact their fraud office urgently, which really was genuine.

This thief had accessed £840 from my online account, and is suspected to have done the same with other account holders too. I have just had a call from the bank informing me that all the money has been repaid into my account.

I have been with Barclays since I left school, taking out loans for my first car with them, as well as others, and my mortgage. I can honestly say I have not had any problems with them.

This BBC story says that online banking fraud has increased by a staggering 8,000%. Has it happened to you? Can I be confident that the police will catch the fraudsters?

Banks have to be very competitive today and consumers need to see them demonstrate their honesty and transparency. I met a Barclays executive at a blogging breakfast in London last year, but was unsuccessful in persuading him that they should start writing a blog. They could do this without disclosing confidential information. Would you welcome this?

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I missed Radio 4’s highly acclaimed Passion Play last weekend, a tale of middle-aged boredom and and unmet desires, where flattery and attraction leads to a flurry of of lies and exhilarating thrills, to love, as well as the inevitable broken heart, I imagine.

The play is based on James and Eleanor who are happily married, or so they think. Kate, the young widow of one of their oldest friends, makes it clear to James that she finds him very attractive. It is an offer he finds very difficult to resist.

It reminded me of a gullible friend who once found herself in a similar situation and ended up being told by her lover with brutal frankness: “You are obviously no good at having an illicit affair”, when she became upset. I wonder if she heard it, and what she thought of it.

If you want to hear the play, then this is the link. But it is only active up until Friday.

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My son David came home early from school yesterday covered  from head to toe in bumpy rashes, they are all over his body, as well as his face. The doctor instantly diagnosed them as Urticaria caused by an allergic reaction. They look very much like a heat rash.

David had been having a pretty normal day at school and we have no idea how he became infected. He is a very healthy 17-year-old, and this has never happened before, it came totally out of the blue. He also looks very pale and drawn. What could he be allergic too? How will we find out?

It reminded me of when my younger son James fancied a day off school, he was only about seven at the time. I had always told him he could only be off sick if he had a high temperature or diarrhoea. One morning he asked me to feel his forehead, which was burning, and I used a Feverscan thermometer to confirm he was indeed poorly.

But it seems Dr Seymour had been conned. A few weeks later, James admitted he had put his forehead on the radiator to make it hot so it appeared he had a high temperature! It worries me that he is such a good actor, he certainly had me convinced.

He can’t be the only one to fake it, so what sickee scams have you done, and did you get found out?

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