A woman lost 8,883 hryvnias from her card while topping up her mobile phone through the "Privat-24" app. Here's the court's decision on the matter.

A woman attempted to top up her mobile phone account through "Privat24," but she was unable to open the application. Subsequently, she received a call from someone claiming to be from PrivatBank, asking her to perform certain actions, which resulted in 8,883 hryvnias being withdrawn from her account. This is stated in the decision of the Mezhyhirya District Court of the Transcarpathian region, published on December 20, 2024.

On August 31, 2023, the woman intended to top up her mobile phone account using the "Privat24" app; however, she could not open it, so she called the operator. A minute later, she received a call from a supposed voice chatbot from "PrivatBank," which informed her that an attempt was being made to withdraw funds from her bank card and that to cancel this operation, she needed to press the number "1." She followed this recommendation. After that, the phone call ended. Immediately after the call, the citizen wanted to check the balance of her card accounts via the "Privat24" mobile app, but the application remained blocked, and she could not unlock it on her own.

The woman approached the staff at the branch of JSC "PrivatBank" to request the unlocking of her "Privat24" app on her mobile phone only on September 11, 2023. The bank employees unlocked the "Privat24" app and informed her that she had an outstanding debt to the bank, with a total amount of 8,883 hryvnias. She filed a report with the police about fraudulent actions committed against her by unknown individuals, which led to the registration of a criminal case in the ERDR. The criminal case is still ongoing, and the investigation continues.

What was the court's decision?

The court granted the woman's claim. The joint-stock company commercial bank "PrivatBank" will be ordered to return the unjustly withdrawn funds from her card account amounting to 8,883 hryvnias, taking into account the inflation index for the period from August 30, 2023, to September 30, 2024, which totals 669 hryvnias.

"The case materials lack proper and admissible evidence to establish that the plaintiff, through her actions or inaction, contributed to the loss or illegal use of her PIN or other information allowing for the initiation of payment operations. Based on the duly evaluated evidence presented by the parties, taking into account the established circumstances, the court, considering the mentioned norms of substantive law, having established the factual circumstances of the case that are significant for its resolution, particularly the unauthorized withdrawal of funds from her accounts, concludes that there are legal grounds for granting the claim in this respect," the court emphasized.

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