Theft of money from a bank account – what to do?
You probably also received an SMS informing you that a package will not reach the recipient without paying a small additional fee. You may have also received a call and heard that there was an attempt to hack into your account, but it was prevented, and due to this situation, additional security measures need to be implemented, which requires you to download an application indicated by the caller and provide access data to your account. These are typical actions of scammers. In recent years, thefts of money from bank accounts have significantly increased. Criminals are coming up with newer and more creative ways to obtain access data to the victim’s bank account and then take the funds stored there.
How to avoid being scammed?
First of all, we should remain vigilant and not share access data to our online banking with anyone. It is also important to ensure that we do not log into our bank account using links from suspicious messages. Special caution is required for calls from alleged bank employees. It is very important that scammers use the method of spoofing the bank’s number. This means that a real number of the financial institution is displayed on the phone, but our interlocutor is not a real bank employee.
How to recover stolen money?
If you have fallen victim to a crime, you should first report the matter to the police or the prosecutor’s office. These authorities should take appropriate action to detect the perpetrators and hold them accountable. Unfortunately, such proceedings are difficult and lengthy.
Recovering stolen money from the account does not have to depend on detecting the perpetrators of the crime. According to the Payment Services Act, the customer should immediately report the occurrence of an unauthorized payment transaction to the bank, and the bank should return the funds withdrawn without authorization by the end of the next business day.
An exception to the bank’s liability is the situation in which the customer caused the unauthorized transaction intentionally or through gross negligence. It should be noted that after reporting an unauthorized transaction, the bank is obliged to return the funds by the end of the next business day regardless of whether the bank believes that the customer caused the unauthorized transaction due to intentional fault or gross negligence. Only after returning the funds can the bank claim the return of those funds from the customer, arguing that the customer is responsible for the unauthorized transaction. If the customer denies this, the matter may be referred to a common court for resolution. This is confirmed by the position of the President of UOKiK dated November 16, 2022.
From the analysis of court rulings, it can be concluded that individuals from whom access data to the bank account was fraudulently obtained cannot be attributed gross negligence, and consequently, the bank is responsible for returning the funds withdrawn without authorization. For example, one can refer to the judgment of the District Court in Warsaw dated August 11, 2021, issued in case file: XXVII Ca 1352/21. In this judgment, the court stated that a bank customer who provided scammers with access data to their account by clicking on a link from a message directed to them by the scammers is not responsible for unauthorized withdrawals, because even if a lack of diligence can be attributed to them, it is certainly not to a gross degree. However, it should be noted that each case is different and requires an individual assessment by the court.
Our law firm provides legal assistance to individuals harmed by the theft of funds from their bank accounts. We are happy to answer any questions related to such cases.
