Online Banking Fraud

If fraudsters attack the digital infrastructure of companies such as Facebook, Deezer and Vodafone, as they did recently, they can also obtain payment data. This gives them access to bank accounts from which they make money disappear via fake domestic and foreign accounts. This clever approach often means that police investigations and chargeback attempts by banks come to nothing.

If the fraudsters cannot be identified, you still have the option of making a claim for damages against your account-holding bank. As banks rarely act cooperatively here, legal support may be required to enforce your claim. As a law firm specializing in banking and financial law, we are at your side and offer you an initial outlook on how to proceed in a free consultation.

Who pays for the damage caused by phishing, pharming and the like?

As a victim of fraud, you are generally entitled to compensation. You should only check who you can contact and whether the refund is practically enforceable.

Online banking fraudsters usually hide abroad and remain anonymous. Unfortunately, trying to resolve the abuse at this point is often unsuccessful.

If the money was sent abroad via a German interim account, you may be entitled to compensation from the account holder. In the legal field, this intermediate figure is referred to as a financial agent.

But even if the transaction went directly abroad: Your bank is generally obliged to reimburse you. After all, the transfer was made without your knowledge or consent. Only if the fault is legally on your side is your bank released from its obligation.

In the dispute with your bank, banking law issues such as "unauthorized payments", "intent" and "gross negligence" must be carefully examined. The legal regulations on this can be found in §§ 675 u BGB ff.

Types of online banking fraud

Online banking fraudsters use numerous tricks to steal your money. The most common scam is phishing.

Here, the criminals send you links in e-mails that direct you to a fake bank website. Under the pretext of a fictitious problem, you are asked to disclose your account number and other data at this point. A phone call is also one of the popular scams where you are asked to access your account. The Federal Office for Information Security explains terms such as phishing and smishing.

Unfortunately, the online banking fraudsters are so well positioned that the fake websites hardly differ from the original websites. The calls also appear to be made by authentic bank employees. It is particularly important that you never disclose your access data or TAN numbers by e-mail or telephone. A reputable bank will never ask for access to your bank account.

In addition, the fraudsters exploit loopholes that arise when changes are made to online banking software. For example, when switching to 2-factor authentication. Here they send numerous e-mails with a notice about the upcoming change of the authentication method. These e-mails contained fraudulent links asking users to install the new procedure themselves. A classic case of phishing.

Transfer fraud in online banking

Simple bank transfer fraud, on the other hand, hardly ever occurs among private individuals. For this scam, the fraudsters find out the bank customer's account details and submit a transfer. Alternatively, the criminals make use of the printed transfer forms by stealing them from the bank and manipulating them. The course of events is much easier to prove in the case of a forged bank transfer.

Under these circumstances, the bank is at fault, as it is obliged to carefully examine the risk of forgery. This not only applies to large banks such as Sparkasse, Postbank & Co. Smaller banks must also ensure sufficient security.

Account opening fraud in online banking

Data leaks also enable yet another method of online banking fraud. Using stolen or forged documents, the fraudsters open a bank account that they use for two options. Firstly, they submit a series of direct debits for the account details. As soon as the money is in the account and before the bank can recognize the fraud, the money flows abroad. In this case, the bank bears the loss.

Secondly, fraudsters can use a forged signature to obtain a debit card and use it to make purchases at various businesses. The merchant usually bears the loss here. The University of Bonn provides an Identity Leak Checker that you can use to check whether your information has been stolen.

However, a financial agent has nothing to do with this attempted fraud. While an account is opened with a false identity, the fraudsters use a real person for a financial agent.

Protection against online banking fraud

The mere suspicion of online banking fraud should prompt you to take action. Contact your bank immediately and have the account and all cards blocked. You can do this online at Sparkasse, Commerzbank and many other major banks. Check your bank statements and card debits.

If you are the victim of attempted fraud, report it to the police. It can help to create a memory log as soon as possible. Keep a written record of which events took place and when. The more details you can provide, the better. Save e-mails and text messages using screenshots and note the content of any phone calls, together with the date and time.

Victims of fraud should also contact a lawyer specializing in banking and capital market law. This will help you to enforce your claim for damages. Experience shows that the banks usually do not want to pay the refund.

The most important thing, however, is prevention. In their own interest, bank customers should never communicate their account details, TAN numbers and personal data by telephone, text message or e-mail.

How to get your money back with CDR Legal

In the event of fraud, banks initially assume that you as a customer have acted with gross negligence and must bear the loss yourself. However, this assumption does not always correspond to the legal situation. That is why we regularly represent clients affected by online banking fraud and enforce their claims with our many years of experience and expertise in banking and financial law.

Arrange a free, no-obligation consultation with us to tell us about your case and receive initial advice on how to proceed. You are then free to decide whether you would like us to handle your case.