OTP FRAUD
So this happened months ago, in January 2021, and has dragged on long enough to wear us out.
At this point, we are helpless and have no idea how to move forward. It seems the last resort is to refer the case for adjudication and risk DBS retracting their offer of waiving 30% of the amount (and having to pay a 5-figure sum).
Here’s what happened:
Sometime in early January 2021, I tried using my supplementary credit card to make a purchase online but the transaction could not go through. I thought there was a glitch and simply used another card to make the purchase. A few days later, I tried using the same card and was told that my card was declined. Curious, I called DBS to find out why I hadn’t been able to use my card. It was then that I found out that I had almost exceeded the credit limit. Baffled, I asked for details of the transactions charged to my card since I only recalled using it for some items we needed for our new home. To my horror, I learnt that a total of SEVEN consecutive transactions were charged to my card, each amounting to approximately $1,400. The total damage was $10,150. Note that we had not received the hard copy of our credit card statement then. I informed the staff that I most definitely did not carry out these transactions and requested that they look into the case. Unfortunately, the bank told us that there is no way they are able to refund the money because these were secure transactions, made with OTP.
But guess what? I did NOT receive any OTP for these seven transactions at all. The bank claimed I could have keyed in the OTP by mistake. But seven times?! Did the bank seriously think I would be tricked into giving the OTP to a stranger seven times? Long story short, we are liable for the charges.
We were advised to lodge a police report so the police could investigate the matter, and were told that an investigation could help with our request for a refund. Imagine being told that there’s nothing you can do but to pay $10,150. I was heavily pregnant then, and was sooo flustered We rushed to the nearest police station to lodge a police report.
So these seven transactions were made to TransferWise (now Wise), a website for monetary transfers abroad. Neither of us knew of TransferWise until this incident. The following morning, I called TransferWise to see if there was anything they could do. The transactions had gone through and there was no way they could reverse the transactions. By the time I called, they had suspended the account used to process these transactions. I was told that the bank had brought to their attention that the account could possibly have been used in a case of fraud, so they acted on the bank’s suspicion and suspended the account. A check showed that the transactions were wired to a Malaysian company, CWP Global Enterprise. The transactions were transferred and processed in ringgit. I then called the police officer assigned to our case and told her of what I had learnt and was asked if I could make a trip down to the station to add these details to my statement.
The police has since concluded the case with no favourable outcome. We were told that there were no more leads so her superior advised her to conclude the case. She interviewed the TransferWise account user and found that it was a case of identity theft. Someone had used this person’s personal details to create an account on TransferWise. The transactions were not carried out by this person.
A lot more at https://tinyurI.com/5347bdbd
So this happened months ago, in January 2021, and has dragged on long enough to wear us out.
At this point, we are helpless and have no idea how to move forward. It seems the last resort is to refer the case for adjudication and risk DBS retracting their offer of waiving 30% of the amount (and having to pay a 5-figure sum).
Here’s what happened:
Sometime in early January 2021, I tried using my supplementary credit card to make a purchase online but the transaction could not go through. I thought there was a glitch and simply used another card to make the purchase. A few days later, I tried using the same card and was told that my card was declined. Curious, I called DBS to find out why I hadn’t been able to use my card. It was then that I found out that I had almost exceeded the credit limit. Baffled, I asked for details of the transactions charged to my card since I only recalled using it for some items we needed for our new home. To my horror, I learnt that a total of SEVEN consecutive transactions were charged to my card, each amounting to approximately $1,400. The total damage was $10,150. Note that we had not received the hard copy of our credit card statement then. I informed the staff that I most definitely did not carry out these transactions and requested that they look into the case. Unfortunately, the bank told us that there is no way they are able to refund the money because these were secure transactions, made with OTP.
But guess what? I did NOT receive any OTP for these seven transactions at all. The bank claimed I could have keyed in the OTP by mistake. But seven times?! Did the bank seriously think I would be tricked into giving the OTP to a stranger seven times? Long story short, we are liable for the charges.
We were advised to lodge a police report so the police could investigate the matter, and were told that an investigation could help with our request for a refund. Imagine being told that there’s nothing you can do but to pay $10,150. I was heavily pregnant then, and was sooo flustered We rushed to the nearest police station to lodge a police report.
So these seven transactions were made to TransferWise (now Wise), a website for monetary transfers abroad. Neither of us knew of TransferWise until this incident. The following morning, I called TransferWise to see if there was anything they could do. The transactions had gone through and there was no way they could reverse the transactions. By the time I called, they had suspended the account used to process these transactions. I was told that the bank had brought to their attention that the account could possibly have been used in a case of fraud, so they acted on the bank’s suspicion and suspended the account. A check showed that the transactions were wired to a Malaysian company, CWP Global Enterprise. The transactions were transferred and processed in ringgit. I then called the police officer assigned to our case and told her of what I had learnt and was asked if I could make a trip down to the station to add these details to my statement.
The police has since concluded the case with no favourable outcome. We were told that there were no more leads so her superior advised her to conclude the case. She interviewed the TransferWise account user and found that it was a case of identity theft. Someone had used this person’s personal details to create an account on TransferWise. The transactions were not carried out by this person.
A lot more at https://tinyurI.com/5347bdbd
