Bank account compromised

[Jako]

Hi All ,

 

HELP!

 

Just found out my SA bank account 'blocked' has been defrauded while still in SA, a consolidation of  my pensions, house sale proceeds, RA's

vehicle sale etc. What do I do now, have reported it to the bank and there is an internal investigation. 

 

Are there any advise from the forum on what I can do to recover all of my money maybe someone from banking or legal background. Do I have to get an attorney here in Australia

in the meantime??????? 

 

My family does not know of this and I am still shock.

[CyberJoe]

Not much you can do on your side at present except try to find out how the fraud occurred and attempt to stop the criminals from accessing your accounts in a similar manner in future. The bank will perform a forensic investigation on their end to ensure that none of the bank systems are at fault and will notify you of the outcome. On your end, you need to find as much evidence as possible that you did everything in your power to protect your account.

 

1. Ensure that all the devices you use to connect to the internet is clean from malware / spyware etc and store the logs of this verification

2. Change your passwords for all accounts, AUS banking included

3. Report the crime to SAPS (I really am unsure how to do this from AUS but you need to report this should there ever be a conviction)

4. Turn on 2-factor authentication on as many of your accounts as possible

5. Construct a time-line of events to find out exactly when the fraud events occurred. Include details such as when the money was paid over, when you received SMS or email notification etc

6. Stay in contact with your bank for regular follow ups and if they do not take it seriously, report them to the banking ombudsman

 

I feel deeply for you since it is a horrible experience at a particular time in your life that it is going to affect you severely if it is not sorted out speedily. All the best and hope it gets sorted out soon.

 

Ps: If you are unsure of how to choose a good password, customise some of these examples for yourself:

• WIw7,mstmsritt... = When I was seven, my sister threw my stuffed rabbit in the toilet.
• Wow...doestcst = Wow, does that couch smell terrible.

• Ltime@go-inag~faaa! = Long time ago in a galaxy not far away at all.

• uTVM,TPw55:utvm,tpwstillsecure = Until this very moment, these passwords were still secure

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/03/choosing_secure_1.html

 

[Jako]

Thank you Cyber Joe,

 

This is a wack of useful information, these were my initial assumptions now I can safely deduce it was an inside job, as I applied all the critical safety measures to ensure my email account was safe to use. My thoughts are now on the bank's procedures which were flawed and not followed by rules with staff being negligent or a part of a syndication network .

 

Best Regards

 

[CyberJoe]

Hey @Jako. Have you heard anything from the bank yet?

[Jako]

I did call them last week and and answer i got was they are working on the leads they have and will come back to me. 

 

Hope to get an answer by this week.

[CyberJoe]

Holding thumbs for you and your family! I am sure you are nervous as heck over this whole thing!

[Alchemist]

Do you have anyone in SA you trust to help? Some family maybe?

This definately may need local assistance.....

[RedPanda]

Two weeks later, no news???

[Riekie]

I worked in Banking in South Africa for 10 years.  If it was an inside job, they can see exactly where a transaction was done, who logged in to do it and even which computer was used. Demand answers. 

[Nallan]

I had my SA credit card duplicated or some similar scam but credit cards have an insurance. My friend who had his acc hacked and he lost like 50k on his cheque ac - bank didnt reimburse him - his fault . Check your PC for spyware, did someone use a gmail link - one of those change your acc details scam emails. They would need your logon details and also created a beneficiary, they need to increase your transfer limits and mobile phone details to get codes. I hope u get positive news, sorry mate.

[Rosa1035]

Hi @Jako have you had an resolution on this? Which bank was it? 

 

 

[Jako]

The bank has confirmed liability of all funds but now I am claiming past conversion rate and interest for the period otherwise I go legal and expose them for not complying with banking rules. It was Standard Bank, a bank who has been taken lately in Japan. 

Would reporting this to a news reporter be good to warn others of such inside jobs that can be pulled on one's money in the bank?

[Rosa1035]

That's great news that they have accepted liability, which in effect should mean that you shouldn't have too many issues getting what is due interest wise. However, I am sure they will not make the process easy.

 

You can try and contact a reporter, but in all honesty they will most likely not pick up on the story. There are so many instances of fraudulent activities happening with all the banks that unless there is something that sets it apart from the others, they won't bite. However, should there be evidence of a deliberate cover-up, or proof of criminal activity by a bank employee, then it would be worth trying. Nevertheless, if you are struggling to get the interest and past conversion rate paid out by them, then I would do my utmost to start a social media campaign against them before resorting to litigation. No matter how 'right' you are, it is a *very* expensive process, and drags on indefinitely. I know this from experience! 10 years and hundreds of thousands of R's down, we won at court at every turn, but the "giant" kept appealing the judgement (not banking related). It eventually broke us emotionally and financially, until we could no longer fight their appeals. Despite "winning" we lost big time. 

 

Best of luck, and let us know how it pans out!