My phone was stolen in Benidorm and I ended up with a £23k BANK LOAN bill… Lloyd asked why I didn’t call them sooner

A HOLIDAYMAKER claims he received a £23,000 note after thieves who stole his phone got him approved for a loan at his bank.

Craig Gilmour, 38, from Rowley Regis, West Midlands, was the victim of a street robbery in Benidorm on May 14, with thugs stealing his phone as he walked along the beach on his way home after a night out.

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The worker was on the phone when the incident occurred, meaning the thieves were able to take his iPhone 15 Pro while it was unlocked.

This gave them access to the Lloyds banking app and allowed the huge loan to be approved without their knowledge.

But when he told his bank, he was told he would still be responsible for the money – despite the loan request being made after the ID logins on his device were changed.

Trying their luck, the thieves even contacted Craig through his friends and offered him his phone back for €3,000 (£2,563).

Craig told The Sun: “I called the bank and discovered I had a bank balance of £16,400. Lloyd’s Bank essentially allowed the person to take out a £23,000 loan and transfer money to random Spanish bank accounts.

He added that he feels “emotionally drained” from the “stress” caused by the experience and said: “Everything has been unbearable and has ruined my holiday.

“I loved Benidorm, but I’ll never go there again.”

Lloyd’s opened an investigation after Craig reported the incident to the fraud team, with two officers investigating the scam, but he was told he was still responsible for refunds.

He said: “The bank said biometric access to my account means I have to pay the money back, [The thieves] I used £6,800 of the loan and £900 of my own money. Lloyd’s came to me for the money and told me I need to make repayments of £520.”

Craig frantically contacted customer service to explain what happened, but said staff rudely dismissed him.

He said: “They asked me why I didn’t call earlier, even though I didn’t have a phone, and said ‘are there no public phones in Benidorm?’

“There were still outstanding payments on my account despite being instructed to cancel them.”

The father of three said his banking app was likely accessed through FaceID using photos stored on his phone, and the loan was approved without any additional checks.

“I can’t imagine a £23,000 loan being taken out without seeing an ID or a passport. I don’t have the money to pay that money, I physically can’t pay it – it’s a lot of money.”

Craig says he was forced to borrow money from family and friends because his account was blocked, with the bank refusing to allow him to transfer his direct debits to another bank account, and was left begging to borrow money from family and friends .

He added: “This completely ruined my holiday – Lloyds didn’t offer me any [affordable] loan repayment plan and said I need to start monthly payments of £520 from 23rd June.

I shouldn’t have to pay this.

Everything has been unbearable and ruined my vacation

Craig Gilmour

Craig received little support from Spanish police when he reported the incident to officers after his phone was stolen.

He said: “I told the Spanish police and they just didn’t want to know, incidents like this happen all the time and if they investigated every single one they wouldn’t have time for anything else.”

The UK police told him that they were unable to open an investigation because the crime took place in a foreign country and they have not received any support for victims after the crime.

Craig said: “The bank is not interested even though everyone’s names are on the account as beneficiaries – at least eight people are named on my account.

“I haven’t slept since this happened – the payments are bigger than my mortgage. I also have to worry about my phone bill, council tax, British Gas – I can’t afford that.”

As a result, Craig asked to close his bank account following the incident and criticized its lax security measures.

“I would advise anyone not to use Lloyds Bank and my friends and family have also closed their accounts,” he said.

Craig claims he has lost £23,000, but Lloyds says his total loss is “currently around £6,500”.

A Lloyds spokesperson told The Sun: “Helping to keep our customers’ money safe is our priority and we carefully consider the individual circumstances of each case of fraud reported to us.

“We agreed to analysis details of Mr Gilmour’s fraud claim again and we will be in touch with him shortly.”

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