What To Do If Money Is Stolen From Your Card?

Yes, such a situation happens in Bali. And it is not the end.

Stop blaming and reproaching yourself, and get into a constructive mindset. Now is not the time to figure out "who was at fault and what if." You need to act to maximize the possibility of getting your stolen funds back.

The main thing is to take all necessary actions to return the funds within the first 24 hours after the theft. Don't waste time!

1. If you have any money left on your card, block it immediately. This can be done either by calling the bank or through the mobile application.

2. If money was withdrawn from you in one place (in Bali, for example), and you are in a completely different place,

Before blocking, carry out some operation on your card, preferably at an ATM. Withdraw a small amount of money or request a balance. And be sure to keep your receipt. This will allow you to confirm your location. This way it will be easier to prove that the money was stolen and not withdrawn by you.

3. Within 24 hours of the money being stolen, notify your bank of the illegal charge. The best thing is to come to a bank branch. If this is not possible, please write an email. If this is not possible, then call the hotline. But a personal appeal to a branch and an official letter by mail have more weight. If the bank fights you off and does not want to respond, send a registered letter with notification.

If the bank client did not inform the bank about the theft of the card within 24 hours after the incident, responsibility for any transactions performed with stolen property lies with the card owner

4. Also, within 24 hours of receiving information about the theft, write a statement to the police.

Don’t listen to assurances that the police in Bali don’t decide anything and you won’t achieve anything. This statement is an important step in your communication with the bank. If you are in Bali, contact the tourist police or local police department. If you need an Indonesian translator for communication, ask for help in groups of compatriots so that someone can help you with the translation.

5. Collect as much evidence as possible that you are not involved in the controversial withdrawal of money from your card. This could be a border crossing stamp in your passport if you are in another country, information about your card transactions if they were made by you in another place.

Upon notification of a disputed cash withdrawal, the banking organization must conduct an investigation to determine the place and time of the fraudulent transaction. The period for consideration of the application by the bank is from 30 to 60 working days.

In the event of unauthorized withdrawal of funds from a stolen bank card by reading data with a skimmer, the bank that owns this ATM is obliged to return the funds to the card owner.

The cardholder has the right to demand from the bank a response to his request in writing, confirming the completion of actions to block the card. If funds are withdrawn after the plastic carrier is blocked, employees of the banking organization will be responsible for this.

Possible difficulties:

1. It will be very difficult to prove the illegality of a transaction if a stolen card was used as payment in an online store, and in practice it is almost impossible. The main thing here is to block your card on time.

2. It will be difficult to prove your non-involvement if funds were withdrawn from the card at an ATM by entering a PIN code. Most likely, the bank will refer to the fact that the transaction was carried out according to all the rules, and the client voluntarily provided the PIN code at the same time as transferring the card to a third party.

3. If the bank refused to return the stolen funds to you, and the investigation did not produce results, you can file a claim in court. You need to provide evidence of your non-involvement in the unauthorized transaction and document the fact that you timely contacted the bank to request blocking of the card. That is why it is necessary that you do not have telephone calls to the bank, but letters or registered letters.