§ MR. WEIRTo ask the Postmaster-General if he will state the number of cases of attempted fraudulent withdrawal of money from the Post Office Savings Bank under the systems of withdrawal by telegraph and by telegraph notice of withdrawal; will he state in how many cases these efforts have succeeded; and of what sum the Department and depositors have been respectively defrauded.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) The statistics asked for by the hon. Member could not be compiled without the expenditure of considerable time and labour in searching the records of the Savings Bank since 1893. I may say, however, that the total loss falling on Savings Bank funds during 1004, as the result of fraudulent withdrawals by telegraph and return of post, was £103 12s. 8d. When it is remembered that the total withdrawals during that year amounted to nearly £42,000,000, while the amount withdrawn by the two methods in question was £901,984, I think it must be admitted that the precautions taken against fraud work very satisfactorily. No loss falls upon depositors in the case of fraudulent withdrawals, except when they voluntarily elect to give a discharge for the amount.