Fraudulant
withdrawal of cash through automated
teller machines
How
to represent to the bank, when the amount has been withdrawn from the account through
automated teller machines fraudulently using fake debit cards?
What is known as skimming?
Skimming is the process of
preparing duplicate cards known as cloned cards for the original debit and
credit cards either with the knowledge of the cardholder or without the
knowledge of the cardholder.
Nowadays frauds on account of
usage of skimmed fake debit cards and credit cards are on the rise. Many banks
including SBI started issuing chip based cards and those cards are found to be more
secure and safe compared to the present debit cards fitted with magnetic black
colored strips on the back portion of the cards.
Please note the following:
Skimming business has the
following stages:
= One group is engaged in
stealing the details of the debit and credit cards. They are fitting the
devices in the card slots of automated teller machines and during late night hours
without knowledge of the public and other customers, they remove the device and
through software they decode the details of the cards which were used during
the period and store the details in files. They sell such details to another
group for some consideration. They also capture the PIN numbers using pinhole
cameras fitted into the ATM kiosk.
= The second group purchases
the details of cards and for accounts with reasonable balance, they prepare cloned
cards and they do not bother about the details of the remaining cards.
= The third group uses such cards for withdrawing money through the
machines and purchases items through POS terminals. These people work for
others for some wages or commission and normally there will be a leader who
will be monitoring the activities.
It will be very difficult to
find out these gangs by the police since they may be either roaming or residing
in remote places and moreover, nowadays, a large number of groups are functioning
throughout the world since money is easily available for them without
manhandling anybody and without working hard for getting the money.
When the bank returns the
money to the cardholder, the bank is at a loss till such time, they are reimbursed
the amount recovered from the culprits and they cannot recover the money so
easily. As such commercial banks are afraid to accept the responsibility and
except very few banks, many banks evince less interest in finding out the lost
money for their own depositors on
account of cumbersome procedures which require close follow up for each case
and after a long battle, the depositors lose hope and leave the matter as it is.
Some cardholders try their
level best and they get the money finally after some struggles; some lose
interest in the middle and some give up even at the early stage itself.
Do not lose hope - It is your hard earned money - You had deposited
the amount with the bank -The bank has the responsibility to protect your money
–It may be system failure, faulty machine or insecure software available with
the bank and the bank is responsible for the above – Please note that you are
not at fault under any circumstances.
The bank has to get back the
money and anyhow they have to return the money to you
“Now you have every right to claim the amount
from your bank”
How to make a claim?
I produce herebelow the
guidelines:
Follow the guidelines step by
step. Do not be hasty in getting the amount the next day itself. It may take
one month, two months or three months. However, at any one stage, you will be
getting back your amount. While majority bank employees come forward to help
you, some evince less interest in your case. Some bank employees even misguide
you and demotivate you as if you may not get back your money.
Since you are not at fault you
can get your money and you have to get your money since you have every right to
get back your money and for this purpose you should have a vigorous follow up
at every stage
Follow the procedure as per
the steps mentioned below::
Step: 01
Once you know the fraud in your account, contact your
branch immediately either through helpline or email or in person and block your
card for further use. The fraudster is having one duplicate card/cloned card and
he also knows your PIN number by some means and he has full control over the
duplicate card now and it is nothing but a parallel card for your original card.
The only way to protect the fraudster from using the fake card is to delink the
original card from your bank account.. Once the original card is delinked from
the system/server, the fake cards have no value. Delinking can be done by you since
you have the authority to represent to your banker as the accountholder and not
by the fraudster. You can block the card using toll free number/contacting the
branch. Get the confirmation from the bank that your card had been blocked for
further use.
Once the entire issue is settled you can get another
card or you can get another card in the meantime by payment of fees/without
fees under the discretion of the branch manager.
In the meantime, keep the following intact till the
matter is settled:
a)
The transaction slips generated from the automated
teller machine
b)
The message/s received through your mobile device.
Take screenshots and generate print outs without fail.
c)
Do not erase the messages from your mobile devices in
regard to the SMS messages received from the bank for the disputed withdrawals
from your account
d)
These records are more important for future use and
without these records, you cannot establish your stand in case you are willing
to proceed legally.
e)
You have to attach the copies of the above with each
claim you will be submitting to the bank branch/customer service section of the
bank/banking ombudsman or any other authority.
Step: 02
Prepare one letter in duplicate (as per Annexure 01);
fill the required details in the letter correctly and check the details before
signing the letter; sign the letter and submit the same to the branch and get the acknowledgment of the branch in
the duplicate copy of the letter without fail and this is more important for
further correspondence. Please note that in the case of any oral complaint, the
branch may deny in future that you had not taken up the matter at the right
time and they may also dispute that you had not submitted any complaint in this
connection. Documentary proof is a must for these types of serious issues. You
can also submit the complaint to the bank branch nearer to you in case your
branch is far away from your place and simultaneously you can send the copy of
the complaint to your home bank branch by registered post. You can also send
the letter through email and the email correspondence will establish your intimation
to the bank.
In case the branch manager is not willing to provide
you the acknowledgment in the duplicate copy of the letter or in their own
format for having received the complaint from you, send the letter as above with
full details to the branch by registered post acknowledgment due (not by speed
post or courier). This will serve the purpose of submitting the complaint to
the branch and retain the copy of the letter and post office receipt intact for
future correspondence.
Wait for 15 to 20 days and now it is the responsibility
of the bank branch to provide you a suitable reply. During this period, the
branch should have taken necessary action in finding out the missing amount
from your account and they should have sent to you any reply refusing your case
or they might have made arrangements in refunding the amount to the credit of your
account.
Step: 03
In case of non receipt of the disputed amount in your
account or non receipt of any letter thereby disputing over the transactions
from your branch, now send a letter to the customer service section of the bank
and their addresses are available from the bank website and the letter has to
be sent by registered post acknowledgment due (not by courier or speed post). For
this purpose use Annexure 02. The customer service section on receipt of your
representation will instruct the branch to act immediately and settle the
dispute.
Wait for 15 to 20 days and in case the bank (both bank
branch and customer service section of the bank) had not taken any steps to
recredit the amount to your account or sent any reply to your representation, you
have to send a letter to banking ombudsman.
Step:
04
Banking Ombudsman is an authority established by
Reserve Bank of India to deal with the complaints received from the customers
of the bank in regard to various issues and they settle the complaints as early
as possible.
As of now you have not
received any letter from the customer service section of the bank or you have
received the reply and it is not helpful to you and the bank denies their
responsibility in refunding the amount to you and now you can send a letter to
Banking Ombudsman as per the jurisdiction of your bank branch (Use Annexure 3 for this
purpose)
Please
note that you can submit your claim to banking ombudsman only after thirty days
of submitting your claim to the bank branch/customer service centre of the bank
or both. In case you submit your claim before completion of thirty days’ time,
the banking ombudsman will summarily reject your claim
Nowadays, there is a specific format available in the
website relating to banking ombudsman and the particulars are to be sent as per
the format and it has to be ensured that no single detail is missing from the
format.
You can get the address of the
banking ombudsman using the following link through google search engine and you
have to furnish the details of transactions and the details of complaints sent
to the bank branch and the customer service section of the bank.
You have to enclose the copies
of all earlier correspondence with the bank branch and customer service section
in this connection.
Step:
05
You had already sent a letter to banking ombudsman and
now they had sent you a favourable reply stating that the amount will be
recredited to your account by the bank. Now the matter is settled and within a
couple of days as per the instructions from Banking Ombudsman, you will be
getting the amount from the bank.
Unfortunately, the banking ombudsman may reject your
claim stating some reasons and they will treat the complaint as closed at their
end.
Now you have to represent to Deputy Governor, Reserve
Bank of India at your jurisdiction/state and you have to find his address
through website pertaining to RBI through google search engine. You can send
the letter to him as per Annexure 04
Important:
You have to send your complaint as per the steps
mentioned as above only and you should not skip the steps and this is as per
the procedure laid down by the banks for the customers to send their claims to
the concerned authorities.
01. The
first claim to the bank branch
02. The
second claim to the customer service section of the bank
03. The
third claim to the banking ombudsman
04. The
final claim to RBI Deputy Governor
You have to follow up the matter vigorously with the
branch officials and it is your money and you have every right to fight for
your money and the amount can be as little as Rupee one. Do not leave your struggle in between.
Keep the copies of all correspondence safely till the
issue is settled and you may require them at a later stage for making further
complaints to the next authorities.
Warning:
·
You
should be genuine and honest and you should not raise a false complaint and in
such cases you will end up in trouble and there are definite chances of
imprisonment for such false complaints
Last
remedy:
·
In
case you are not able to get any reply from the branch/customer service
section/banking ombudsman or
·
You
had received the reply from the branch/customer service section/banking
ombudsman; however, you are not able to get your money back,
·
Now
you have to take up the matter with Deputy Governor, RBI and in case you are
not getting any help from him,
·
Now
you have to take up the matter with District Consumer Forum at your area and
this will cost you since you have to employ one lawyer
·
Even
you can send a representation to the Finance Ministry; The Prime Minister’s
Cell and The President of India (you as a citizen of India has the right to
submit your representation to these authorities )however, after exhausting all
your efforts as mentioned in the abovementioned steps
Wishing you good
luck in getting back your money at the earliest,
A. Gauri sankar
Annexure-
01
(Debit
card with the customer – Cash purported to have been withdrawn from the account
using fake debit cards through automated teller machine)
From: Place:
Dated:
Name
…………………………………………...
Address
………………………………………..
……………………………............................
…………………………………………………..
…
Contact
Mobile No:
To:
The
Branch Manager,
..........................................................Bank
Address.......................................................
Sir,
Sub:
My savings bank account
Number:........................................... with your
branch/Your……………………………………………………….branch.
---------
With
reference to my savings bank account with your bank branch as mentioned above, I regret to inform you that I got a message through my mobile phone/I found
from my pass book that my account had been debited for certain cash
transactions purported to have been done by me using the debit card. In this connection I would like to inform you
that I am having my debit card with me and I was informed that cash had been
delivered through automated teller machine as detailed below. For the
fraudulent transactions in my account as detailed below, I am at no fault since
I had not initiated the transactions using the debit card issued to me by your
bank and as such I request you to kindly refund the amount to the credit of my
account as soon as possible
Name of
the account holder
|
|
Account
Number
|
|
Debit
card number
|
|
Name of
the bank and the branch where the account is maintained
|
|
Date of
transaction
|
|
|
|
|
Transaction
time
|
|
|
|
|
Transaction
amount
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Location
of automated teller machine and identification number, if any
|
|
ATM
machine pertains to which Bank/Service provider
|
|
Details
of my complaint
|
On
the date and time as mentioned above, I was having the debit card with me and
it has been found that cash had been withdrawn through automated teller
machine as per the details as mentioned and I am at no fault for the
abovementioned transactions since the
transactions were not initiated by me.
|
In view of the reasons
and circumstances as mentioned above, I request you to kindly arrange to re
credit the amount to my account at the earliest. I shall cooperate with you in
this connection for providing further details, if any, in this connection.
Thank you sir,
Yours
faithfully
Signature
Enc:
Annexure-
02
(Debit
card with the customer – Cash withdrawn using fake card)
From: Place:
Dated:
Name
…………………………………………...
Address
………………………………………..
……………………………............................
…………………………………………………..
…
Contact
Mobile No:
To:
The
Customer Service Section,
.................Bank
Address.......................................................
Dear
Sir,
Sub:
My savings bank account
Number:........................................... with your____________________branch
---------
With
reference to my savings bank account number with your branch as mentioned above,
I regret to inform you that I got message through my mobile phone/I found
from my pass book that my account had been debited for certain cash
transactions purported to have been done by me using the debit card. In this connection I would inform you that I
am having my debit card with me and I was informed that cash had been delivered
through automated teller machine. For the fraudulent transactions in my
account, I am at no fault and as such I request you to kindly recredit the
amount to my account as soon as possible
Name of
the account holder
|
|
Account
Number
|
|
Debit
card number
|
|
Name of
the bank and branch where the account
is maintained
|
|
Details
of transactions
|
Transaction-1
|
Transaction-2
|
Transaction-3
|
Transaction-4
|
Date of
transaction
|
|
|
|
|
Transaction
time
|
|
|
|
|
Transaction
amount
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Location
of automated teller machine
|
|
ATM
machine pertains to which (Bank/service provider)
|
|
Details
of complaint
|
On
the date and time as mentioned above, I was having the card with me and it
has been found that cash had been withdrawn using automated teller machine as per the details
as mentioned above and I am at no
fault for the abovementioned
transactions since the transactions were not initiated by me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In this connection,
I had already furnished the details to
your abovementioned branch on ___________and
they have neither recredited the amount to my account nor provided me
any reply for my representation. In view
of the circumstances as mentioned above, I request you to kindly arrange to re
credit the amount to my account at the earliest.
Yours
faithfully
Signature
Enc:
Annexure-
03
(Debit
card with the customer – cash withdrawn using fake card)
From: Place:
Dated:
Name
…………………………………………...
Address
………………………………………..
……………………………............................
…………………………………………………..
…
Contact
Mobile No:
To:
The
Banking Ombudsman,
Address.......................................................
Dear
Sir,
Sub: My savings bank account Number:...........................................
with ___________________Bank, ____________________branch
---------
With
reference to my savings bank account number with bank branch as mentioned above,
I regret to inform you that I got message through my mobile phone/I found
from my pass book that my account had been debited for certain cash
transactions purported to have been done by me using the debit card. In this connection I would inform you that I
am having my debit card with me and I was informed that cash had been delivered
through automated teller machine. For the fraudulent transactions in my
account, I am at no fault.
Name of
the account holder
|
|
Account
Number
|
|
Debit
card number
|
|
Name of
the bank and branch where the account
is maintained
|
|
Details
of transactions
|
Transaction-1
|
Transaction-2
|
Transaction-3
|
Transaction-4
|
Date of
transaction
|
|
|
|
|
Transaction
time
|
|
|
|
|
Transaction
amount
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
Rs.
|
|
Location
of automated teller machine
|
|
ATM
machine pertains to which (Bank/service provider)
|
|
Details
of complaint
|
On
the date and time as mentioned above, I was having the card with me and it
has been found that cash had been withdrawn using automated teller machine. I
am at no fault for the abovementioned
transactions since the transactions were not initiated by me.
|
In this connection,
I had already furnished the details to the abovementioned branch on
___________and also to their customer
service section of the bank on ____________ and they have neither recredited the
amount to my account nor provided me any favourable reply for my representation.
In view of the circumstances as mentioned above, I request your goodselves to
kindly look into the matter and advise the concerned bank to arrange to recredit
the amount to my account at the earliest. I enclose herewith the copies of
correspondence for your kind information and perusal.
Yours
faithfully
Signature
Enc:
