A schoolteacher who lives in Newcastle has been getting a barrage of abuse from angry banking customers because her Twitter name is @natwest.
Natalie Westerman says in her Twitter profile: "I'm a 22 year old woman and I'm not a bank."
But with NatWest bank's IT problems causing chaos for customers nationwide, Natalie has been bearing the brunt of people's frustrations.
The English and Media teacher said: "I joined Twitter about five years ago, when it wasn't such a huge thing and was only really big in America at the time.
"I chose the username NatWest because that has been my nickname since school.
"It wasn't until about six months later that I started to get a few comments from people mistaking me for the bank.
"I would just re-direct them and tell them they had made a mistake.
"You have to remember that at this time companies such as NatWest had not actually started using Twitter yet.
"It is only in the last few years that the mistakes have become more frequent. I find it quite amusing to be honest.
"I am a teacher and when I recently told the children about what had happened they found it very funny.
"I don't think that I am going to change my username because I have got friends on Twitter from New Zealand and I don't want to lose them."
A Twitter user called 'DAZER' asked her: "Oi @Natwest can I have my money please :("
And Hannah Gangoon told the young teacher: "NATWEST NEED TO SORT IT OUT" - while a user called 'Mercedes' branded her a 'dunce'
Now that Natalie's true identity is becoming known, abusive Tweeters are backtracking and sending their apologies.
Twitter user Bethany Black said: "Can I just apologise now for all the abuse you've had off me over the last year thinking you were the bank."
NatWest has been forced to further extend its opening hours as it battles the backlog of transactions.
1,200 main NatWest and RBS branches will be open from 8am to 6pm for the rest of the week after opening on a Sunday for the first time on June 24.
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