A Newham woman was “gobsmacked” after claiming three of her Barclays bank accounts suddenly became a total of £1.5 million overdrawn.

Kulsom Jan discovered the issue on April 23 when two of her Barclays accounts and an account that she shared with her father were each £500,000 overdrawn.

Kulsom said she was "gobsmacked" at discovering what had happened and was “disgusted” by the bank’s response for the following two-and-a-half weeks.

The Forest Gate resident said she visited her Barclays branch but claims she was originally told there was nothing she could do.

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She said: “[The staff] were confused, they didn’t know what was happening – there were no notes on the system when they opened the accounts.”

Kulsom then claimed that someone in a different department said it looked like there was a review into her accounts.

She said she became frustrated when she was given what she alleges was “misinformation” about the system, including being told she would be contacted within 24 hours and then hearing nothing.

She claimed she was originally told she could not put a high-risk complaint in and then was corrected and told she could.

According to Kulsom, once she put in the complaint on April 26, it took nine days for it to be assigned to a complaints manager.

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She said: “I was disgusted by the service they provided me and it looked like they were confused about what was going on - there were no notes on the system, there was incorrect information that they were giving me…

“I didn’t have a problem with [having a review done] but it’s the fact they can’t provide an explanation and also that on the system there were errors that would happen – for example, being told I can’t put a high-risk complaint in but I actually can or saying they will call back in 24 hours but don’t…

“I told them it was unacceptable because as a customer, if your funds are on hold and you’re not given a reason or an explanation and you’re just sat there waiting for them to do something about it but you can see that nothing’s being done, it’s quite frustrating.”

On May 10, Kulsom said the funds were returned to the three accounts.

She claimed, after a follow-up phone call, it was agreed she would be given some compensation although the time-scale for this and the exact amount are undecided.

When approached for comment by the Recorder, Barclays said: “Barclays has been complying with its legal and regulatory obligations. We are unable to share any further information.”

Referencing a similar incident affecting a father-of-two in Bolton, Kulsom added: “It’s crazy to see that this has happened to me, and it’s happened to other people as well.”