'Phantom' withdrawals from ABSA account using a bank card and a PIN that we did not have

<p>On 30 December, 2015, my wife reported to ABSA that a number of unauthorised withdrawals had been made from my current account.<br />After investigating the matter, the bank informed us that an amount had in deed been withdrawn from my account using a particular card and a PIN that could only be known to myself, and that it is our responsibility to use the card in a secure manner.<br />In fact, (1) R 10,500, substantially more than the bank stated, had been withdrawn without my knowledge or permission and (2) neither my wife nor I had a card with the number referred to in the letter at the time of the withdrawals and therefore did not have a PIN for that card.<br />On 12 Feb 2016, I wrote to ********** disputing the above findings.<br />The bank rep**** that it “cannot be held liable for any financial loss that you may have incurred as the disputed transactions were effected with your card and secret PIN number.”<br />Again, I state that neither my wife nor I ever had that particular card and therefore also did not have its PIN.<br />I escalated the matter to the Banking Ombudsman on 10 March, 2016, explaining the matter in detail.<br />The Ombudsman came to essentially the same concluding that ABSA bank came to: “As your PIN must have been disclosed to enable the person to make the withdrawals, albeit without your knowledge, we can accordingly not make a finding in your favour.”<br />It also totally disregarded the fact that we had never had in our possession the card that was allegedly used to make the unauthorised withdrawals.<br />Several subsequent emails to the Ombudsman have not been acknowledged let alone responded to.<br />Letters to consumer journalists Georgina Crouth, Wendy Knowler and Magan Power have borne no fruit.</p>