Киевлянка потеряла 49 493 гривны с карты после звонка от ПриватБанка. Вернул ли суд ей средства?

A woman received a call from someone claiming to be an employee of PrivatBank. After following certain instructions, she discovered that 49,493 hryvnias had been withdrawn from her card. She is demanding that the financial institution return the funds. This was reported in a decision by the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv, published on November 6, 2023.

On February 9, 2022, the woman was contacted by a person who introduced themselves as an employee of JSC CB "PrivatBank," provided a serial number, and informed her that third parties were attempting to compromise her data. They stated that her card would be blocked and replaced, with the bank conducting remote card replacements. She was instructed to note down the new card number, which she would be able to collect on February 10, 2022, at the nearest branch of JSC "PrivatBank," download the "Any Desk" program via "Playmarket," and enter the word "Support." When she questioned why this was not happening at the branch, the individual assured her that they were acting according to regulations and posed no threat to her financial security, claiming the situation was a case of insurance.

The woman downloaded the "Any Desk" program, only to later find out that the person posing as a bank employee had gained access to her phone's desktop and made two transfers from her "Universal" card to another card (the details of which were provided by an unidentified individual under the pretext of replacing it with a new card) totaling 49,493 hryvnias. On February 9, 2022, she reported this situation to PrivatBank and contacted the police to file a report of a criminal offense, which was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations.

Additionally, on February 9, 2022, she informed an employee of JSC "Oschadbank" via the hotline that she was a client of JSC CB "PrivatBank" and that an unauthorized recipient, who claimed to be a PrivatBank employee, had unlawfully withdrawn funds from her account. She requested that the responsible parties at JSC "Oschadbank" be notified immediately and that the account holder be prohibited from accessing the funds. Her request was denied on the grounds that client information is confidential, and she was advised to report to the police.

"The plaintiff did not refute the bank representative's claims that she had not disclosed any other personal information, which led to the withdrawal of funds from her accounts. Moreover, during the court session, she herself noted that she had downloaded the 'Any Desk' program, which allowed the person posing as a bank employee to gain access to the plaintiff's desktop, enabling them to initiate payment transactions on her credit card," the case documents state.

What did the court decide?

The court denied the woman's claim. Her actions contributed to the unlawful use of information that allowed payment transactions to be initiated in her name.

"The case materials lack proper and admissible evidence to confirm that the bank violated the rules for conducting settlement operations during the transfer of funds from the plaintiff's card account. Given the absence of evidence supporting the violation of the plaintiff's rights due to the unlawful actions of the defendant, the claim should be denied," the court emphasized.