Repaying a wages over payment, Northern Rail and TUPE.

[w124bob]

Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong forum , but it's not directly related to trains. My son has received a letter from Abellio regarding just over £2k in over payed wages for period in September of this year, oddly he has never worked for them and does not work for the current TOC either. He applied for a temp job(bus replacement, man in yellow vest on station approach) in the summer of 2016 but never took up the offer, so clearly there is a c*** *p. The letter has an incorrect email for the head of HR but other details, persons name, an address in London SE5 which tallies with the Abellio London bus headquarters are correct. It also states a TUPE date of the 11th Sept as the tranfer to Arriva. So any Northern empployees had similar letters.

[Moxy]

I don't work for Northern, but reading what you describe, that sounds to me like some sort of scam.

 

Head office address (and possibly even HR manager's name) would be on public record, but an incorrect e-mail address on an official letter?  More like fake e-mail address designed to get recipient to possibly disclose sensitive personal information.

 

Either ignore it, or refer it to his union rep.  If he hasn't worked for them then he can't be asked to repay wages he hasn't had.  It could be an error, but my gut feeling tells me it's a phishing scam of some sort.

 

Another thought occurs, if your wages are wrong, don't HMRC usually write to you to adjust your tax code?

 

HTH

 

Moxy

Edited October 7, 2017 by Moxy

[New Haven Neil]

Oh god, TUPE....what a nightmare that was.  One of the reasons I left HR.

[stewartingram]

A long while ago, but when I was working for Pye in Cambridge they overpaid me one week. When I queried it with the wages dept., I was told to keep it, saying that it was illegal for them to claim it back. I don't know if that is actually true however!

 

Stewart

[Judge Dread]

A number of years ago now, my employer paid my wages directly into my bank account. In the bank statement sent to me at the end of the following quarter it showed a double wages payment. I called in at the bank and inquired why and was told my employer had indeed paid me twice. The following day, at work I rang the finance department and was told they would get back to me. After three weeks I received no reply and so I tried the bank again. They advised me to open a new account and park the excess money there for six months. After this time I was told I could claim the money.  This I did and heard no more.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Judge Dread

[TheSignalEngineer]

Rule 1- Don't contact anyone asking for money. It sounds like a scam where if you reply to the email address they have a way into your personal details.

 

Personally I would do nothing unless there is a second attempt to make contact. If there was I would contact them via a Signed For letter to the M.D. by name, asking him what is going on.

[Horsetan]

Rule 1- Don't contact anyone asking for money. It sounds like a scam where if you reply to the email address they have a way into your personal details....

 

Rule 2: if in doubt, refer to Rule 1.

[Mark Saunders]

The one thing never to ignore is a court summons as it means if you ignore it the balifs can call as you have been found guilty in absence! It is a scam several companies have fallen for as they know there is no debt but the court does not know that!

 

Mark Saunders

[jjb1970]

Is there any reporting mechanism to send stuff like this to so authorities are alerted?

[Horsetan]

Is there any reporting mechanism to send stuff like this to so authorities are alerted?

 

I suppose you could try Inaction Fraud.....

[kevinlms]

Is there any reporting mechanism to send stuff like this to so authorities are alerted?

I believe it to be a total waste of time. Just keep rubbish for a short time & see if anything further comes of it - most unlikely.

[BoD]

I believe it to be a total waste of time. Just keep rubbish for a short time & see if anything further comes of it - most unlikely.

But the firms involved should be informed. The scammers obviously got his e-mail address from somewhere and I can't imagine them randomly selecting people for a scam such as this.

[royaloak]

I would ignore it at first (why waste any effort on what is probably a scam), then if contacted again I would contact the TOC involved by using a proper email and not using one of the emails in the letter.

Edited October 8, 2017 by royaloak

[kevinlms]

But the firms involved should be informed. The scammers obviously got his e-mail address from somewhere and I can't imagine them randomly selecting people for a scam such as this.

It could be from anyone's infected computer, perhaps a friend's or family member. In that sense it isn't random but from an address book.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Alternatively the scam could be internal fraud at Abellio, someone generating wage payments on a 'ghost employee' created on the basis of real interview information.

 

As BoD suggests, either directly or via the union contact Abellio to obtain a statement that he has never been an employee.

[w124bob]

Having spent time on the phone at Abellio HQ I have established that the letter is real but has been sent to the wrong person. Same intial and surname, the wheels are in motion to remove my sons name from their records. Thank fully it would appear to affect less than 10 people so is easy to track back, HR person knew as soon as I confirmed my sons christian name that they have a crossed wire.

[chris p bacon]

Having spent time on the phone at Abellio HQ I have established that the letter is real but has been sent to the wrong person. Same intial and surname, the wheels are in motion to remove my sons name from their records. Thank fully it would appear to affect less than 10 people so is easy to track back, HR person knew as soon as I confirmed my sons christian name that they have a crossed wire.

 

They have also ignored the data protection act as well.

 

Whilst he was an applicant for employment, he never took up the offer, as such he should not be on their records as an 'active' employee able to receive income. I would question them further as to what information they hold on him as he has already been confused with another. 

[96701]

They have also ignored the data protection act as well.

 

Whilst he was an applicant for employment, he never took up the offer, as such he should not be on their records as an 'active' employee able to receive income. I would question them further as to what information they hold on him as he has already been confused with another. 

Symptomatic of behaviours by people who are not trained and know nothing. Unbelievable level of incompetence where somebody cannot tell the difference between an applicant and employee.