A woman had her Kyivstar SIM card reissued, leading to over 100,000 hryvnias drained from her bank accounts. What was the court's ruling?

A woman lost over 100,000 hryvnias from her bank accounts. She also had several "Installment Payment" agreements registered in her name. She believes that fraudsters are involved, as they reissued her Kyivstar SIM card. This is stated in the decision of the Ruzhyn District Court of the Zhytomyr region, published on December 12, 2024.

On September 4, 2023, the woman contacted the branch of AT KB "PrivatBank" with a written statement regarding fraudulent actions committed against her, specifically: the unauthorized restart of her Kyivstar SIM card, the alteration of PIN codes for two bank cards, activation via "Privat-24", changes to the financial numbers of the bank cards, payments and transfers made through the IVR menu and "Privat-24", and the conclusion of an "Installment Payment" agreement for the amount of 89,128 hryvnias based on a credit contract dated September 28, 2015. This led to her incurring a debt of 98,450 hryvnias on her credit card and 89,128 hryvnias on the "Installment Payment" agreements, totaling 187,579 hryvnias. The police initiated a criminal investigation, recognizing her as a victim, with the actions of unidentified individuals classified under part 5 of article 190 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and the pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

"It is possible that the plaintiff herself participated in the disputed transactions or provided third parties with the information necessary to carry out these transactions, therefore there are no grounds for granting the claim," said PrivatBank.

What did the court decide?

The court granted the woman's claim. The joint-stock company commercial bank "PrivatBank" was ordered to return the funds amounting to 102,032 hryvnias by restoring them to her "Universal" card and to cancel the interest and penalties charged on transactions from September 2, 2023. The bank is also required to cease the collection of funds related to the transactions from September 2, 2023, for "Installment Payment" agreements amounting to 15,865 hryvnias, 22,735 hryvnias, and 50,526 hryvnias.

"The plaintiff, as a card user, did not contribute to the loss or unlawful use of her personal identification number (code) or other information that would allow initiating payment operations; the withdrawal of funds from her card accounts occurred without her instruction, and she should not bear responsibility for such operations; upon discovering the unauthorized withdrawal (transfers, withdrawals) of funds, she immediately reported this fact to the bank and contacted law enforcement authorities.