— Competitions and Consumer Affairs Commission steps forward to help
SEVERAL persons in Guyana have complained of unauthorised deductions being made from their bank accounts, and they are not happy with how the matter is being dealt with by a prominent city bank.
All the reports so far are being reported as having occurred at only one bank; and several of the persons say when they make reports at the bank, they were told that money was deducted for Online payments to Netflix accounts, or Online shopping that was made on the account.
Efforts to contact the identified bank on Tuesday proved futile. However, an overseas-based customer service representative of the bank noted that the issue is one that would need to be addressed by the bank’s local branch.
According to Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission, Communications Officer, Allison Parker, affected persons can file a report of such incidents with them, and they will investigate the matters.
The CCAC has confirmed that at least one case was recently reported to the agency, and they were able to help the consumer get back the missing money.
The issue of money disappearing from accounts may have been going on for some time now. One customer said she experienced the problem more than once at the well-known city bank.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said the first time she realised suspicious activity on her account was when $8000 disappeared from her account. By the time she reported the matter, another $4000 disappeared.
She said the first time she experienced the problem, she had never used her card to conduct any Online shopping. In this first case, she informed that the bank could give no reason for the deduction from her account; not even suspicious Online shopping, and eventually refunded her some 70 per cent of the money. She said the bank said it was a “system error”.
VERY UPSET
“I was very upset that first time, and I got paranoid. I was checking my account more than twice daily via telebanking, just to make sure my money is in my account,” she said.
The woman added: “When I went into the bank, they ask me if anyone else had access to my card, or if anyone knew my PIN. They pushed me around for about a few weeks, but I got 70 per cent of my money, and I was told it was a system error.”
She withdrew all of her money from the bank and closed the account. However, she subsequently opened another account with the bank last year when she began shopping Online. However, she soon noticed suspicious purchases on her bank statements yet again. She once again closed the account, and moved to another bank.
Another customer said she has been waiting almost one year for the bank to resolve a matter where money vanished from her account. She said suspicious activities on her account began after she got back her ATM card from the bank, after the card was stuck in a malfunctioning ATM for a period of time.
“I noticed over $20,000 missing, so I went into the bank and asked for a printout of my bank statement, and there I noticed payments to a website which I did not make. I went to the queries section; they destroyed my card and issued me another one and opened a claim saying it would take six months, ‘cause they have to investigate. And I never hear back from them,” she said.
In a more recent case, another customer, who requested anonymity, complained of a similar problem to this newspaper.
BEWILDERING
“It seems that an Online transaction was done on May 7. When I went to do a transaction on May 9, some of my money was on hold, so I called the bank to say I don’t understand why the money was on hold, I didn’t do any transaction and they said you did an Online transaction and you have to come into the bank. I never did an Online transaction,” she said.
The woman added: “They said the money is on hold; it hasn’t been released to the vendor as yet, so I said can’t you cancel it [the transaction] and they said no they can’t but that I have to wait a month until the money leaves my account before I can file a dispute.”
As it pertains to these other cases, the CCAC noted that it would encourage affected consumers to report the incidents so that they can be investigated and addressed.
“We’ve dealt with customer issues with the bank and we’re opened to dealing with any issue. We will investigate once they come. I wouldn’t want to comment and be prejudice without any facts or information, but as our mandate says, we’re opened for them to come, as with any other service, so they can come and we can investigate,” related Parker.
The issue came to the fore on Tuesday when a popular social media personality posted a testimony of someone who claims that their bank account was emptied after someone used his bank card’s information to pay on a Netflix account and make clothing purchases at an online site.
Several other persons came forward attesting to having similar experiences at the bank. In most cases, when they report the issue to the bank, they were told online payments were made using their Visa debit card.
Some banks in Guyana provide Visa Debit Card services with their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards which allow the owner to easily make payments and shop online.
Once someone has a Visa Debit Card attached to their account, online shopping can easily be done as Online payment simply requires the 16 digit debit card number, the card’s expiration date, the name on the account holder and the three digit card verification value (the three-digit number at the back of the card).
