‘I lost R10K in ATM fraud’: Bank won’t refund woman whose card was swallowed
SCAMMED: Triche Bizhaer, 28
A Hanover Park woman is kwaad for Standard Bank after they refused to refund R10 000 stolen from her account at an ATM.
Triche Bizhaer said she went to the ATM at Jimmy’s Garage in Comet Road on January 25 when her bank card got swallowed.
“I go to that ATM all the time and on that day, I went there just after 7am before I went to work but then the card got swallowed by the machine and then while I was trying to call the bank, I got two SMSes that said R5 000 and R4 800 was taken out my account,” she says.
“I have a Standard Bank card and the machine was FNB and I called both banks while at the ATM. FNB said I must go to Standard Bank, so I called them to report it.
“I called again the same day and they said they will look into it. I also went to Manenberg Police Station and opened a case.”
Triche, 28, believes a card-skimming device was attached to the ATM. She says after days spent calling and visiting bank branches, she finally got a response last week, but it made her bors even more warm.
“The bank called me on Friday (February 4) to say that they will not refund my money because I only cancelled the card on January 26, but that is not true. And then I also got a message from the cops two days after I made the case to say that the investigation was closed,” says Triche.
“I do not understand how they can say this because I lost the money while I told both the cops and the bank that there was a man behind me at the ATM who ran away after my card was swallowed.”
Standard Bank spokesperson Tatenda Goredema says the bank cannot be held responsible for the theft.
“Based on our investigation into the matter, we determined that Ms Bizhaer’s original card and PIN were used to perform the disputed transactions. The transactions took place before the card was stopped and our records show that SMS notifications were sent to Ms Bizhaer noting the transactions,” said Goredema.
“The bank was not the beneficiary of the proceeds of the unauthorised transactions.
“If Ms Bizhaer is not satisfied with the outcome of the investigation, she is entitled to approach the banking ombud for independent adjudication on the matter and report the matter to the authorities.”
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirms a case of card fraud was opened at Manenberg Police Station but could not say whether it was still under investigation.