"On 7.4.2023/46/XNUMX, my debit card was hacked and my entire salary was drained within a minute. I have not shared codes and personal data. When I ran to the counter, it was as if they weren't even surprised. I filed for a refund and that was it. And XNUMX days later, there is no response, despite my insistence."

This is a Facebook status as a public warning that our colleague, the journalist Meri Jordanovska shared it with the public a week ago, along with notifications it received from NLB Bank about "successful" payments. What can be seen from the notifications from the Bank is that the withdrawal is in a non-existent currency – in "VNM", and Google is listed as the place of sale. But as Jordanovska claims, even though the currency was fake, the withdrawal of money was real and, as she was told by the Bank, it happened somewhere in Singapore.

- I have neither bought nor paid anything in Singapore. When my salary disappeared from my account in a minute with 4-5 transactions made and when I went to the bank, they asked me if you have payments of 12.000 denars in Singapore. I said no. Those 12.000 denars corresponded to 50.000 "VNM". There were several such transactions of varying amounts made in haste while I blocked the account. But how the conversion was done in the non-existent currency, even the bank did not know how to answer me, because in Singapore they do not have the "VNM" currency - Yordanovska told "Sloboden Pechat".

She says that she was first told that the case should be resolved in 30 days, then in two-three months, and the last information, and that was verbally, is that now everything depends on how the case will be resolved by "Mastercard International", but that if they don't get an answer soon, the money will be returned to her by June 5.

– It's really unpleasant to be left without a salary unplanned, especially if you also have credit. I believe that this is irresponsible behavior of a bank towards a client - says Jordanovska.
According to numerous reactions under her Facebook status, Yordanovska is not the only one who has had money withdrawn from her, and that in "VNM" currency.

"Sloboden Pechat" sent questions to NLB Bank, in which it mentioned the following case. We asked what the procedure is in relation to unauthorized withdrawal of money from an account and how it goes to prove that the user has been damaged; whether and what is the deadline for the return of funds unauthorized withdrawn from a user's account and is there a "shortened procedure" in case of obvious theft of money, as in the case when the currency is in "VNM"? On the same day, NLB confirmed that they had received the questions and that they would respond, but as we write the text, the response has not arrived.

We also turned to the National Bank, where we did not receive an answer for this specific case - withdrawal of money in "VNM" currency, but we were told that customers submit their complaints to the banks with which they have concluded an agreement and that a large part of the complaints are resolved between them . However, there are those who have turned to them.

- From the beginning of 2023 until today, the National Bank has received three complaints from individuals related to the misuse of debit and credit cards. In the first half of the previous year, one complaint of this type was received, and during the entire year of 2022, a total of 7 complaints were received, which refer to the misuse of debit and credit cards by natural persons - say the National Bank.

The National Bank prescribes standards for the security of the banks' information systems and supervises and supervises the implementation.
Such standards for the security of information systems are also prescribed by the European Central Bank and are in use in all EU member states.

– If a weakness related to the information system is determined at a bank, a report is drawn up with measures to overcome the identified weakness. Also, one of the strategic priorities in the operation of the National Bank is the existence of an appropriate system for the protection of consumers in the domain of the banking system. Therefore, in the past years, efforts have been strengthened to ensure a greater degree of protection for users of banking services, including the establishment of a directorate in the bank, which receives and considers complaints related to the operation of banks with natural persons. We would like to point out that the Directorate for Consumer Protection and Financial Education acts upon a personal address of a natural person, who needs to submit specific data. Therefore, we encourage customers who feel that their rights have been threatened to contact the Directorate - says the National Bank.

Recently, the National Bank adopted a Circular for financial institutions to monitor and apply the recommendations and good practices for protecting the rights and interests of consumers when using financial services from the banking sector, according to international and European practices in this domain. In accordance with the guidelines of the circular, the banks' response period for customer complaints is 15 days.

Internet banking is best turned off

Insiders explain that with electronic banking, banks usually have an option to settle online payments that happen in seconds. Thus, it is possible to turn off the option of online payments, and if paying a bill, the option can be turned on immediately, and the upper limit of the amount allowed by the customer can be specified.