PrivatBank demands a Kyiv resident to repay a debt of 34,058 hryvnias, but the funds were misappropriated by scammers. Here’s the court's decision.

PrivatBank has charged a woman a debt of 34,058 hryvnias for credit usage. However, the client claims that she was a victim of fraud. This is stated in the decision of the Desnyansky District Court of Kyiv, published on July 18, 2024.

On June 22, 2015, the woman received a loan, which was later increased to 42,000 hryvnias in the form of a set credit limit on her card account with interest payments for credit usage. She violated the terms of the loan agreement and failed to fulfill her obligations, leading to the accumulation of a debt amounting to 34,058 hryvnias as of December 7, 2022. However, the citizen contests the claims, stating that she is indeed a client of JSC CB "PrivatBank" and was robbed by fraudsters who stole money from her bank accounts. She is recognized as a victim in a criminal case initiated on December 4, 2021, under Article 190 (fraud) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The funds were stolen by the fraudsters on October 6, 2021. The client promptly reported this to the bank's "hotline" and also contacted the cyber police. During the prolonged investigation, the bank accrued 10,301 hryvnias in interest on the stolen funds and automatically deducted 2,060 hryvnias on December 29, 2021, and 3,091 hryvnias on October 24, 2022, to settle the debt.

What was the court's decision?

The court partially upheld the claim. The woman is to pay JSC CB PrivatBank a debt of 32,440 hryvnias under the loan agreement.

"The bank has attached audio recordings of the defendant's conversations with the operator to the examination materials, confirming the circumstances outlined in the results of the internal investigation. Indeed, she communicated twice with the bank operators, explaining that she was expecting funds from a friend abroad and needed a QR code for this purpose. The operators clarified multiple times that a QR code is not needed for transfers and that the bank does not have the capability to process such transfers using a QR code at all. However, the defendant, acting at her own discretion, scanned a QR code, entered her card details, and confirmed the transactions, which led to the withdrawal of funds by unauthorized individuals. Considering this, the court concludes that JSC CB 'PrivatBank' has confirmed with proper and admissible evidence the circumstances that indisputably prove that the woman, as a credit card user, through her actions or inactions, facilitated access to information regarding her credit card, her account, or the 'Privat-24' application, resulting in the illegal use of her PIN code or other information allowing the initiation of payment operations on October 6, 2021, for the transfer of funds from her card account in the amounts of 29,237 hryvnias and 2,600 hryvnias. Therefore, the claims of JSC CB 'PrivatBank' for the recovery of the loan principal should be satisfied," the court emphasized.