A Kharkiv resident lost 198,684 UAH from her card after speaking with a PrivatBank manager. Did the court order a refund?

A woman received a call from someone claiming to be a manager at PrivatBank regarding the reissue of her card. Subsequently, she lost 198,684 hryvnias from her bank account. This was stated in the decision of the Dzerzhinsky District Court of Kharkiv, published on December 27, 2024.

On November 29, 2023, an unknown caller contacted the woman, introducing themselves as a manager from JSC CB "PrivatBank" and informing her that she had a large credit limit on her card. They suggested to proceed with the card reissue through the bank's official mobile application. After that, her mobile phone turned off due to a dead battery. When she turned it back on, the manager called again from a different number, identified as the "Privat call center," stating they had sent a message with new credit card details in the "Privat-24" mobile app. She attempted to follow the link, but it didn’t work, prompting her to block her credit card, which had a balance of 200,000 hryvnias. Twenty minutes later, she received a message from the bank indicating that funds had been withdrawn from her account. Through the "Privat-24" mobile app, she saw six transactions, each for 24,840 hryvnias, totaling 198,684 hryvnias.

Despite the woman blocking the card earlier, the fraudsters managed to withdraw funds from her card, meaning the money was deducted from her account without her knowledge or consent. She believes that the bank's services do not meet modern requirements, are not adequately protected, and that the bank's security service is not fulfilling its duties properly. Following her statement to the police, a criminal case was opened under part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and a pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

"It is inappropriate to place the responsibility for executing the funds transfer operation on the bank since these were carried out by the client or another person through her personal actions (or inactions) that facilitated the illegal use of information allowing for the initiation of payment operations (improper transfers). There exists a reliable system to protect the bank's clients' accounts, and without disclosing personal data, it is impossible to access the account. The amount of the withdrawn credit limit does not belong to her by ownership but is provided for use under the terms set forth in the credit agreement. Bank statements indicate that the amount of funds spent from the credit limit of 198,684 hryvnias was returned by the plaintiff on December 22, 2023, based on the terms of the agreement, and therefore the claims regarding the application of the provisions of Article 1212 of the Civil Code of Ukraine to the disputed legal relations are unfounded," - stated representatives of PrivatBank.

What did the court decide?

The court ruled in favor of the woman. The JSC Commercial Bank "PrivatBank" will be required to pay her 198,684 hryvnias, along with a penalty of 11,920 hryvnias.

"The defendant has not proven that the bank took all possible measures to prevent the violation of the plaintiff's rights and their restoration. The deduction of funds from the plaintiff's card account was not made at her direction, and she should not bear responsibility for such operations. The court rejects the bank's assertion that these funds are not the property of the plaintiff, but rather provided to her for use, as the card statement shows that on December 22, 2023, the card was replenished with cash in the amount of 198,684 hryvnias at branch No. 9 of the Kharkiv GUR (Kharkiv). As indicated in the reference from JSC Commercial Bank "PrivatBank" dated December 22, 2023, the citizen, as of December 22, 2023, has no debt to JSC CB "PrivatBank." According to the reference from JSC Commercial Bank "PrivatBank" dated December 22, 2023, the account with a credit limit of 200,000 hryvnias was closed on December 22, 2023," - emphasized the court.