Starling bank refused a £10,000 scam refund for my grieving, ill husband

Starling bank describes itself as ‘the best’ but it ruled a father whose daughter had been murdered was not ‘vulnerable’. Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy

In February 2023 my husband, two days before major heart surgery, fell victim to telephone scammers who convinced him they were the NatWest fraud team and stole more than £130,000 from our personal and business accounts with NatWest, PayPal and Starling bank.

At the time, we were in the middle of a coronial process for our beloved daughter, who had been murdered while working overseas. My husband went into the operating theatre believing us to be financially ruined, and became deeply depressed.