ABSA *****

Around midnight between 23h45 on Sunday 05/08/18 and 00h30 on Monday 06/08/18 large amounts of money disappeared out of my personal bank account at Absa Bank. I was sleeping when I received a phone call at 00h30 (Monday 06/08/18) from the Absa ***** department notifying me and requested if I was aware of it. I confirmed negative and instructed them to freeze my account immediately. On Monday morning I went straight to Absa Woodlands branch to investigate the matter. I draw bank statements and noticed that a total amount of R40,600 was transferred in four transactions from my bond account to my current account and then from my current account, a total amount of R50,000 was electronically paid to unknown sources. The manager of Customer Care at Absa Woodlands, Russell, gave me forms that I had to fill in and gave me instruction to certify it at the nearest police station and then mail the forms to ********** He also told me that it was not necessary at this stage to open a case at the police for theft. I did what he told me to do and on the same day I mailed everything. On Tuesday I received mail informing me that there is an error and that my mail to ********** has failed. I went back to Russell at the Absa branch and he mailed it from there and received confirmation back that they received it, I also received a ***** case number. Russell then also assisted me to reactivate my accounts and change PIN codes and Passwords and he insured me that it was safe for me to make use of internet banking again. I was then informed that Absa ***** will investigate the matter and that it will take two to three weeks for the investigation to be completed. Once my account has been reactivated I noticed that two beneficiaries have been created on my account, at Capitec Bank. This was done without my knowledge and the ****** money was transferred into those accounts. I am the only person that can create a beneficiary and when I do so I receive a verification message that I have to confirm or reject within 60 seconds. Should I not respond within the 60 seconds, the request (or creation) is cancelled. Should I except or confirm within the 60 seconds, that beneficiary is successfully created and I receive a confirmation message immediately to confirm that. Then when I do a first payment to a new beneficiary, I receive a verification message again with a 60 second time span to confirm or reject, as described, to enable that payment to be effective. In this case the two new beneficiaries were created and paid successfully without me receiving any such messages or any conformation on my behalf. Again I went back to Russell and explained to him the situation and I told him there is a breach in the security of their IB (Internet Banking) system and he must take note of it. I also asked him whether I should remove these beneficiaries or if it should remain as proof to try and catch these perpetrators and he advised me not to remove them for now and insured me again that my account is safe now, after all the PIN code and Passwords have been changed. About three days after the case has been lodged I phoned Absa ***** to follow up on the progress and the lady informed me that there is no progress yet and I must be patient for a while and that it could take up to a month. I was upset, she said that they are working on many cases and I have to be patient. After that I received about another three to four calls from them. Every time it was a different person but the questions were more or less the same. At one stage I realized they are testing me and I suggested that I should come over to their offices to discuss matters in detail, but I was informed they don’t do it that way. I insisted and asked that specific caller to give me their physical address, but she said she is not allowed to. I then requested to speak to some kind of person in control with authority and she told me that her manager is Nthabiseng Nkutha and she will put me through to her (she was not prepared to give me Nthabiseng’s direct contact number), but I was cut off. As mentioned, off all the calls I received from Absa *****, it was always a different person and I got the impression that there is no single person taking responsibility for working on my case. They are difficult to get hold of and everybody seems to be not helpful at all. During one of these calls I informed the person about the two beneficiaries, as described above, but she advised me to remove them and then I did. The last person that called me from Absa ***** was a lady by the name of Bianca. She called me about three weeks after I lodged the complaint and she asked me whether I lodged a complaint or not. I was really upset and told her I could not believe that she asks me such a question at this stage of the (supposed to be) investigation. I explained the whole story to her and told her that I demand immediate action. She told me that I should be patient and that the investigation will take 30 working days. I got more upset and I said to her that it was two to three weeks, then became a month and now 30 working days and on top of that, three weeks later the investigator phones me to find out whether I lodged a complaint. The call went lost (I suspect she ended the call herself) and when I phoned back, the switchboard couldn’t connect me with her. This was the last contact I had with Absa *****. They are very unfriendly and unprofessional. I never received any progress reports or neither was any sensible questions put to me that could assist them in their investigation. Russell then phoned me, telling me that Absa ***** request that I should now open a case of theft at the police, which I did immediately and gave him (Russell ) the case number. Also, about three weeks into the investigation, I found that I could not get access into my Internet Banking and I went to Absa Woodlands. Russell assisted me to get online again and he told me that he can see on the system that I was switched off. I told him that I was seriously concerned about depositing my upcoming salary into the account and he assured me that it is safe. I request a written guarantee but he told me that it is not in his powers to do so, neither could he tell me who has such powers. On 04/09/18 my Internet Banking (Online Banking) was switched off again and again I went back to Russell. Like the previous time he reset it and said that I was switched off on the system. I asked him who does this and why, and he said he doesn’t know. I was upset again and told him that someone is fiddling with my account and Absa can’t give me an explanation. I also demanded immediate information on the progress of the investigation. He (Russell) then made a phone call to Absa ***** and rep**** to me that my case is now at a higher authority and is handled by a lady called Sharon and he will report to me as soon as he has any information. The next day, 05/09/18, he phoned me and informed me that Absa ***** is just waiting for some information from Capitec Bank and that the investigation will then be finalised. On Friday 07/09/18 I mailed a letter to Russell and Absa *****, explaining the series of events, as described above and I also demanded that I want my money back, with interest , by Friday 15/09/18. Then on 11/09/18, I received a letter from a Keshnie Periasamy at Absa *****, informing me that my claim has been declined and Absa is not liable for my loss. The reason for this they say, is (1) I have compromised my secret PIN and Password and (2) that they observed that a “Sure Check” was successfully delivered to my phone which enabled the transactions to be effected, stating that I was a victim of crime. This is absolute nonsense, never was my PIN or Password ever compromised by me, I keep it secret to myself only. Also I never received any “Sure Check” or verification message to enable these transactions. Surely there is a flaw in Absa’s IB security systems or it could only be that someone in their organisation assisted the perpetrators to hack into their system and steel money. I don’t trust their investigation was professionally executed and it is easy to keep me in the dark and just shift the blame on me, with false excuses. I am a client of Absa for many years now and I trusted them to put my money in their safe custody. Like other banks, they promote Online Banking to the benefit and safety of their clients and I have made use of it for many years, trusting their security systems to be adequate to protect their clients. I have never done any online shopping or any funny stuff that could compromise my PIN, Password or bank card details. I am not the victim of crime here, Absa is. They should secure their IB security systems and not falsely shift the blame to their clients, unless they have actual proof. This is my explanation of the events to the best of my knowledge and I will do anything possible to proof Absa as the defaulting party and to refund my money, with interest as well as any further costs I had to endure to fight this cause. In general, I am disappointed with this organisation, not only due to the damage they cause me, but also the poor service and non-chalant attitude I received so far during this fiasco.