ABN AMRO will still compensate customers who have been victims of bank helpdesk fraud. Even when the customer has surrendered their debit card, the bank will compensate damages.
Bank help desk fraud is a type of scam in which criminals pose as bank employees and try to take money from bank customers in various ways.
Sometimes the scammers pretend that something is wrong with your account and tell you to transfer your money to a so-called "safe account. In reality, there is nothing wrong with your account and your money will end up in the hands of criminals.
In another method of bank help desk fraud, the so-called bank teller asks for the victim's PIN number on the phone. Something is said to be wrong with the victim's debit card so it must be picked up by a bank employee or courier. When the customer brings the debit card, their bank account is emptied as quickly as possible.
ABN AMRO previously did not reimburse this type of bank help desk fraud because the customer was allegedly "grossly negligent."
Through the GIBO Foundation (Gedupeerden Internet Bankrekening Oplichting), some 900 customers at various banks have already received compensation for their losses. This amounted to a total of 15 million euros. The ABN AMRO, after a fire letter from the organization GIBO, nevertheless changed its position.
Director of checking accounts private ABN AMRO, Hans Reus, said the following in Meldpunt: "When you see how shrewdly the fraudsters operate, and that people end up in a tunnel, where people still believe they have the bank on the phone, you get it. So we have indeed come to a reversal. We are going to compensate for this type of fraud and also retroactively."
This is good news for customers of the bank who were previously victims of this form of help desk fraud.
In addition, the bank is also working on a new option that would allow customers to better secure themselves. It would involve a kind of time lock that the customer could set for himself.
The changes are much needed as cybercrime continues to rise and scammers like to target customers of banks that have high daily limits, for example.
