A PrivatBank client lost 28,891 hryvnias to fraudsters—did the court order the funds to be returned?

The woman received a call from someone claiming to be an employee of PrivatBank and performed certain actions. Later, she discovered a loss from her credit card amounting to 28,891 hryvnias. This was reported in the decision of the Saksagansky District Court of Kryvyi Rih, published on October 15, 2024.

On February 24, 2024, the woman received a call that appeared to be from a security service employee of JSC CB "PrivatBank," who informed her that unauthorized transactions resembling fraudulent activities had been detected on her account, aimed at securing a consumer loan for purchasing equipment. To prevent the withdrawal of funds from her account by fraudsters, she was advised to immediately call the customer service number of JSC CB "PrivatBank" at 3700 and report this. She called the number 3700 for JSC CB "PrivatBank." An operator, who seemed to be from JSC CB "PrivatBank," later called her back from a mobile phone, confirming the occurrence of suspicious transactions on her account that resembled fraudulent ones. He assured her that the funds would be returned to a new card account after blocking the previous credit card. For this to happen, she only needed to express her consent and proceed with the operation, as the bank operator assured her. Becoming increasingly anxious, the woman agreed, stating that if this operation could prevent illegal withdrawals, she had no objections. Immediately after this, without any explanation, the call was abruptly terminated by the bank operator. Not understanding what had happened, she tried to call back at 3700 multiple times, but her calls were either cut off or there was no signal at all. When she soon began receiving messages about money transfers, she realized she had fallen victim to fraud. Funds totaling 28,050 hryvnias were unlawfully withdrawn from her credit account, along with a transfer fee of 841 hryvnias.

Regarding these events, on February 25, 2024, the woman filed a report about the commission of a criminal offense with the police. The information was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations, and a pre-trial investigation was initiated under Part 4 of Article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

"On February 24, 2024, the claimant independently transferred funds from her account through the Privat-24 app to another account at the direction of a third unidentified person, believing that this transfer was made fraudulently and was the bank's fault. She voluntarily and personally, using the Privat-24 app, transferred from her account to an account that was unknown to her, notified by a person also unknown to her, and decided to recover these funds from the bank. The funds amounting to 28,891 hryvnias, which were transferred by the claimant to a third party, are not the personal funds of the client, but are funds provided by the bank as a result of a credit limit," - stated PrivatBank.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the woman's claim. The withdrawal of funds occurred at her initiative, and not as a result of errors by the payment service provider or due to unlawful actions or inactions by the bank's employees.