A Standard Bank client lost more than R4m in a single day through alleged fraudulent instant money transactions.
The woman from Tshwane told Sowetan most of the money was allegedly stolen while she was on a call with the bank’s fraud department trying to have her accounts blocked to prevent further theft.
The victim, who wants to remain anonymous, accused the bank of allegedly protecting its employees by refusing to disclose the outcome of its internal investigation into the matter.
Standard Bank, however, claimed its investigation indicates the client fell victim to a sophisticated phishing scam in which criminals illegally obtained her banking credentials.
“The findings are consistent with industry‑wide trends, where scams such as phishing remain one of the most common methods used by fraudsters to access accounts," said the bank’s spokesperson Ross Linstrom
The victim’s attorney blasted the bank on X on Monday, resulting in responses from other bank clients who claimed to have been defrauded in similar fashion.
An attorney representing the victim said the alleged theft took place on October 15 last year while the victim was consulting with a patient.
“She received SMS notifications reflecting transfers she did not know about. In a panic she contacted her banker, who referred her to the fraud department. The call with the department lasted for just over an hour, but she receiving withdrawal SMSes,” said the attorney.
The fraudsters initially sent two instant money transactions of R5,000 before increasing the transactional account limit from R10,000 to R200,000. They then transferred several amounts between R120,000 and R200,000 to Standard Bank accounts they had created.
Within a few minutes they increased the limit to R500,000.
When the transaction account was depleted, they moved to her investment account from which they transferred R911,000 and R970,000 to their accounts.
The legal representative said the fraudsters managed to remotely delete the withdrawal notice SMSes on the same day but the victim had taken screenshots of some of them.
“Our own investigation points to employees at the Centurion branch where she reported the matter the next day. They showed her a bank statement which did not reflect the fraudulent transfers. We engaged someone to assist us and his investigation showed the accounts receiving the victim’s money were created by employees at the same branch,” said the lawyer.
She said she decided to get involved after the bank allegedly sent the victim from pillar to post.
Sowetan has seen communication between her and the bank in which the institution in November offered the victim a R1.9m settlement, which she said she rejected because of the non-disclosure agreement clause.
“The terms of this offer and its acceptance are to be kept strictly confidential. XXX [withheld name of the legal firm] and its employees shall not disclose the existence or contents of this letter to any person, except its relevant employees, professional advisers or as required by law or court order, without the bank’s prior written consent. Any breach of this confidentiality undertaking will entitle the bank to claim damages without prejudice to its other rights in law,” reads the letter.
The lawyer said the incident raises “significant questions” regarding the integrity of the bank’s internal systems, controls and processes.
“In particular because the fraudulent transactions originated from one of the bank’s own branches, which points squarely to the possibility of internal involvement, negligence or systemic failures. In such circumstances, it is wholly inappropriate for the bank to attempt to frame its conditional reimbursement as a gesture of ‘good faith’,” said the lawyer.
She has reported the matter to the National Financial Ombud Scheme for its intervention.
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