• UOKiK has been receiving complaints from consumers who have lost money from their bank accounts as a result of fraud.
• We would like to remind everyone that the bank is obliged to return funds, which have been lost due to fraud, to the consumer within one business day and then explain who is responsible for the incident or report such cases to law enforcement.
• "Do not give your payment card number or CVV/CVC code to anyone, do not click on suspicious links received via text messages or instant messengers, beware of phone calls from people impersonating bank and various institutions employees," warns Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

"We put an item up for sale on OLX (sales portal), and after a few minutes, we got a message on WhatsApp from a person who was interested in purchasing it. We were confident that we were corresponding with a person who wanted to buy our goods. They sent a bank transfer confirmation; we were supposed to provide them with our payment card number, and it really wasn't strange for me because when buying train tickets I also had to give all my card details. Nothing seemed suspicious to me. After a while, I logged into my account and saw that the money had disappeared," the affected consumer describes her story.  This is one of many complaints about thefts of money from bank accounts sent to UOKiK. The problem consists in the loss of savings and the bank's failure to acknowledge consumer complaints. The most common reports concern impersonation of an employee of a given bank's hotline, an auction or sales portal, or website forgery.

"Online shopping is very popular and convenient, but as the complaints received by UOKiK prove, it can lead to some serious problems. I would like to warn consumers not to give out their payment card numbers and card codes marked as CVV or CVC, which make it easier for fraudsters to steal money. Do not click on suspicious payment links received via text messages or instant messengers. To enable payment, simply provide the buyer with your bank account number. Auction portals usually use secure payment methods. I would like to remind banks that they should thoroughly analyse each case of an unauthorised transaction and report frauds to law enforcement agencies," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

Consumer, be careful when:

• you receive a text message containing information that you have to pay extra a small amount of money for the shipment along with a link to the transfer – especially if you have not ordered anything;
• you sell an item on an auction portal and a potential buyer wishes to contact you outside of it, e.g. only by e-mail or instant messenger;
• you receive a phone call from someone claiming to be an employee of your bank about an unauthorised transaction, or someone asks you to install an app. Hang up the phone and call the financial institution's official hotline for confirmation;
• someone asks for your payment card number and CVV/CVC code – with these, the fraudster can authorise each transaction;
• you receive authorisation text messages from the bank – pay attention to them, as they contain information about what you are authorising and what you are agreeing to. Fraudsters may ask for your permission to change your authorisation phone number by providing a different one so that they can confirm every transfer made from your account.

What to do if you are a victim of fraud:

• if fraudsters have conducted an unauthorised transaction from your bank account, contact the bank through its official hotline, report such a transaction, change your login and password to the banking application and e-banking portal, as well as block the card as soon as possible. You have 13 months to notify your bank about such an incident, but the sooner you do so, the better. Then, notify the police;
• if your complaint is rejected, apply to the Financial Ombudsman or the municipal/district consumer ombudsman for help in resolving your case.

Banks' obligations:

• the bank should fairly analyse the consumer's complaint;
• according to the Act on Payment Services, the bank should return the stolen amount to the consumer within one business day and clarify the issue. If the customer is responsible for the loss of cash to a certain degree, the bank, after returning the stolen amount to the consumer, should assess how much the customer contributed to the loss of money. The bank may then require the consumer to return a portion of the returned funds;
• the settlement should occur on the following day and be calculated from the date of the incident or the date on which the consumer made the report;

if the bank refuses to return the funds due to a suspicion that the consumer has been a victim of fraud, the bank itself should inform law enforcement about this fact. The bank cannot refuse to return the funds and, at the same time, condition such return on the consumer reporting the matter to the police.

Consumer assistance: 

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
 email: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer advocates – in your town or district

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL