$20K Gone in Minutes: This Bank Account Story Will Keep You Vigilant
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The last thing we want is to have our savings hacked and our financial security destroyed in an instant.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to one Melbourne man, Sze Chan, who had almost $20,000 of his savings (that he had worked hard to accumulate over several years) drained from his account in a matter of minutes.
Mr Chan had been a customer of the online bank Ubank for quite some time, but he always felt safe and secure in the knowledge that his money was in good hands.
However, it took just one bad evening for that to all be ripped away from him.
On the evening of December 6, Mr Chan received a notification that a new device had been connected to his Ubank account. Three minutes later, a staggering $19,900 was taken from his savings account.
He said he hadn't requested the device addition so he called the bank right away to confirm the unusual activity.
Mr Chan added that at 9 pm, which was after the customer service line's working hours, he called every number on the website to see if anyone was still working. But sadly, all of his calls went unanswered.
'I tried to contact Ubank on Facebook and Twitter and email them and there was no response,' he recalled, adding that the whole experience was incredibly stressful for him.
'It was surprising that if a crime could happen outside the working hours there was nothing you could do as I had to wait until the next morning and by then, it was too late.'
The following day, Sze called Ubank again and this time he was able to talk to a customer service agent. He was told that the incident would be classified as a disputed transaction and had been sent to the fraud team – but he was still upset by Ubank’s poor customer service.
‘It was quite curt and brief so I was kind of surprised about their response. I was hoping for some sort of sympathy and hoping they could explain how this could happen,’ he explained.
‘I think the case was routed to a general query line, so there wasn't much the person could do aside from just raising a case. It was quite disappointing.’
Additionally, he shared that he was put on hold for three hours just to talk to someone about how 'stressful' the whole situation was before his account was suspended by Ubank.
'It’s quite distressing actually. I was saving up for a car so a lot of that has gone. I’m hoping to recover the money back but it was very stressful trying to get in touch with someone and I couldn't sleep,' Mr Chan said.
'I was pretty anxious and… sad.'
He claimed that the majority of his savings were kept in his Ubank account, so when it was lost, he had almost little money in the bank.
'My salary is paid into a Commbank account and from there I transfer my savings to Ubank so I just have two weeks of money left as all the additional money was the savings in Ubank, so I’m waiting on the next fortnight’s pay,' he continued.
He added that Ubank needs to offer 24/7 customer service to help people in case of fraud. Sze has stated he won’t remain a customer of Ubank, once the whole case is resolved.
A Ubank spokesperson released a statement to the media about the supposed incident. It read: ‘We have alerted customers impacted by this scam via text, the App messaging, social media channels and on our website,’
‘The SMS claims to be Ubank. Anyone who receives this SMS should not click on any links, send the SMS to +61 476 220 003 and delete it immediately. Ubank will never SMS you asking for banking details.’
‘Our Security team is working hard to prevent this scam from impacting our customers. We encourage customers to remain vigilant.’
Members, if this ever happens to you, contact the customer service department of your bank immediately. Be sure to check their hours of operation though, and remember that if you need to report something out of hours, your local police station is likely to be open to taking your report.
Above all, remain vigilant – your hard-earned savings could be at risk at any time, as this unfortunate story shows.
What are your thoughts on this shocking case? Do you think Mr Chan has the right to be upset over the lack of service from the bank? Let us know in the comments below.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to one Melbourne man, Sze Chan, who had almost $20,000 of his savings (that he had worked hard to accumulate over several years) drained from his account in a matter of minutes.
Mr Chan had been a customer of the online bank Ubank for quite some time, but he always felt safe and secure in the knowledge that his money was in good hands.
However, it took just one bad evening for that to all be ripped away from him.
On the evening of December 6, Mr Chan received a notification that a new device had been connected to his Ubank account. Three minutes later, a staggering $19,900 was taken from his savings account.
A screenshot of the notification that Mr Chan received about the new device that was added to his bank account. Credit: news.com.au/Supplied.
He said he hadn't requested the device addition so he called the bank right away to confirm the unusual activity.
Mr Chan added that at 9 pm, which was after the customer service line's working hours, he called every number on the website to see if anyone was still working. But sadly, all of his calls went unanswered.
'I tried to contact Ubank on Facebook and Twitter and email them and there was no response,' he recalled, adding that the whole experience was incredibly stressful for him.
'It was surprising that if a crime could happen outside the working hours there was nothing you could do as I had to wait until the next morning and by then, it was too late.'
The following day, Sze called Ubank again and this time he was able to talk to a customer service agent. He was told that the incident would be classified as a disputed transaction and had been sent to the fraud team – but he was still upset by Ubank’s poor customer service.
This text message about a scam warning from Ubank was sent in the same thread as the one informing him of the addition of a new device in Mr Chan's account. Credit: news.com.au/Supplied.
‘It was quite curt and brief so I was kind of surprised about their response. I was hoping for some sort of sympathy and hoping they could explain how this could happen,’ he explained.
‘I think the case was routed to a general query line, so there wasn't much the person could do aside from just raising a case. It was quite disappointing.’
Additionally, he shared that he was put on hold for three hours just to talk to someone about how 'stressful' the whole situation was before his account was suspended by Ubank.
'It’s quite distressing actually. I was saving up for a car so a lot of that has gone. I’m hoping to recover the money back but it was very stressful trying to get in touch with someone and I couldn't sleep,' Mr Chan said.
'I was pretty anxious and… sad.'
He claimed that the majority of his savings were kept in his Ubank account, so when it was lost, he had almost little money in the bank.
'My salary is paid into a Commbank account and from there I transfer my savings to Ubank so I just have two weeks of money left as all the additional money was the savings in Ubank, so I’m waiting on the next fortnight’s pay,' he continued.
He added that Ubank needs to offer 24/7 customer service to help people in case of fraud. Sze has stated he won’t remain a customer of Ubank, once the whole case is resolved.
A Ubank spokesperson released a statement to the media about the supposed incident. It read: ‘We have alerted customers impacted by this scam via text, the App messaging, social media channels and on our website,’
‘The SMS claims to be Ubank. Anyone who receives this SMS should not click on any links, send the SMS to +61 476 220 003 and delete it immediately. Ubank will never SMS you asking for banking details.’
‘Our Security team is working hard to prevent this scam from impacting our customers. We encourage customers to remain vigilant.’
Members, if this ever happens to you, contact the customer service department of your bank immediately. Be sure to check their hours of operation though, and remember that if you need to report something out of hours, your local police station is likely to be open to taking your report.
Above all, remain vigilant – your hard-earned savings could be at risk at any time, as this unfortunate story shows.
What are your thoughts on this shocking case? Do you think Mr Chan has the right to be upset over the lack of service from the bank? Let us know in the comments below.
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