As of: February 18, 2024, 7:52 a.m
By: Laura Hindelang
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If the account has been hacked, you can usually get the money that was illegally withdrawn back.
In some cases, however, banks may refuse reimbursement.
Nobody wants to experience this: When you look at your account, you notice unknown debits that you didn't make yourself.
Sometimes these are one-off debits, sometimes they are repeated debits to the account.
The money is often collected over several months - which is especially not noticeable if you order a lot online and quickly lose track of the debits.
In some cases, however, large sums of money are suddenly missing.
No matter how much money was stolen from the account, you should act immediately if someone else debits it.
Contact bank if account has been hacked
It is important to contact the bank as quickly as possible and have the relevant cards blocked.
At the same time, you can also request a refund of the money.
According to the Handelsblatt
, how long you can lodge an objection against a debit with your bank depends
on the type of payment:
Direct debit: You can have an unauthorized debit reversed by the bank within eight weeks.
Transfer: You have 13 months to claim back a transfer that you did not make yourself.
Credit card: You can complain about the payments using the so-called chargeback procedure.
This usually requires you to fill out a form within 120 days of the transaction.
You will receive this from the bank that issued the credit card.
So much for the theory.
In practice, however, it is not always easy to get the money back, especially when making a transfer.
Once the amount has been credited to the recipient's account, the bank loses its influence.
The
consumer advice center
recommends complaining about unauthorized debits - if possible - directly to the respective company.
This is particularly important in the chargeback process, as an additional written attempt to clarify the matter with the company is often required as proof.
To clarify the facts, it is advisable to secure possible evidence such as emails or SMS from the fraudsters and browser histories.
© Angle/Imago
If the bank rejects a chargeback, those affected have the option of contacting an arbitration board.
The European Consumer Center Germany
provides
a clear list .
Alternatively, you can also contact the consumer advice center or a lawyer.
The law is fundamentally on the side of the consumer: banks and savings banks are liable for unauthorized transfers, the
lawyers Aslanidis, Kress & Häcker-Hollmann
inform on their website.
When banks are not obliged to refund the money
After an account has been misused, the bank is obliged to restore all data and account balances to the state before the attack, i.e. to reimburse the stolen money.
The person concerned must prove that a stranger actually carried out a transaction without authorization.
The financial institution can only claim an amount of 50 euros as compensation.
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However, the law does not apply if you have violated the so-called duty of care.
Such a breach may occur if the computer on which you use online banking is not secured with current virus protection programs.
Or if you fell for phishing emails and calls and, for example, gave your PIN to a supposed bank employee.
In such cases, your behavior can be assessed as grossly negligent.
In the worst case, the bank can demand the full amount of the damage from you.
To do this, the financial institution must provide concrete evidence of the duty of care that was neglected, emphasize the
lawyers Aslanidis, Kress & Häcker-Hollmann
How to protect yourself from unauthorized debits
Phishing, pharming, sim swapping – the list of possible scams is not only long, but the methods used by the perpetrators are also becoming increasingly sophisticated.
That's why you should be suspicious of even the smallest signs, such as a spelling mistake or an incorrect display in online banking.
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You can protect yourself from fraud with the following tips:
Check the debits online or on account statements at regular intervals.
Use strong passwords, change them regularly and never save them on your own PC, tablet or smartphone.
Use two-factor authentication on two devices and TAN procedure for online banking.
Set a limit for daily transfers.
Only access online banking via the bank's URL or via a bookmark.
Install the latest firewall on the computer.
Never open links and attachments from emails from unknown senders.
Sometimes fraud emails can look deceptively real and give the impression that they actually come from the bank.
Please also pay attention to possible spelling errors in the email address.
Any unsolicited contact attempt is suspicious.
“Black Lists” and “White Lists”: On the “black list” you can inform the bank who is not allowed to debit money from the account under any circumstances.
On the “white list” you tell the bank the companies and service providers that are authorized to make the debit.