Disgusted with FNB

1. On the morning of the 27 December 2019 at 15h11 , whilst we were away on vacation in the Potchefstroom area, I received FNB payment notification SMS’s from my bank account after which I received an incoming call from a person claiming to be from the FNB ***** department and requested me to acknowledge security check questions.

• The caller gave me my full Name; and I confirmed this to be correct, • The caller gave me my address; and I confirmed this to be correct, • The caller gave me my ID number; and I confirmed this to be correct • The caller named a monthly debit order and amount coming off my account and I confirmed this to be correct. • The caller asked me if all my bank cards were on my person, which I acknowledged.

2. As the caller had all my information, there was no reason for me to doubt, nor have suspicions that the caller was anyone but an Employee of FNB ***** department, as he claimed to have been.

3. The caller requested that I provide him with the OTP (One time Pin) so that the ***** Department could prevent the transactions from being approved. On the understanding that I was in fact dealing with an FNB ***** representative, I provided him with these numbers.

4. After concluding the call with the caller at 15h30, I then phoned FNB ***** department back, were the help desk assistant asked me more security questions to which I had to give them my:

• Id number • Physical address • Mobile number

5. I was then informed that I had been “****med” with the previous call and I immediately, through the ***** Help Desk, cancelled my FNB credit card and cheque card and received an SMS confirmation that the cards had been cancelled at 15h42 (on 27th).

6. I tried logging into my online Internet banking profile at 18h00, but found that my profile had been blocked.

7. On the 28 December 2019, at 9h00, I went to the FNB bank in Potchefstroom to ensure that the cards had in fact been cancelled, and to apply for new cards to be issued and to have my online banking unblocked. At 18h00 I tried to access my online banking and found that it was still blocked.

8. On the 29 December 2019, at 9h00, I went back to the FNB Potchefstroom branch to have my online banking profile enabled and with the assistance of the branch, I managed to login at the branch. I checked the cheque account and saw that the ********** transactions were still in “pending payments”. I phoned the FNB ***** department from the FNB branch to query if the “pending payments” were going to be returned to my account, and I was told that the case was under investigation.

9. 31 December, I logged into my online banking and found that the R30000 ***** transaction had been paid out of my credit card. I went back to the FNB Potchefstroom branch to query why the funds had been paid from my account, 4 days after a ***** case had been reported. No further clarity was provided, other than the matter is under investigation.

10. On the 2 January 2020, a further ********** payment of R2000 was released from “pending payments”, 6 days after the ***** case had been reported.

11. On the 3 January a further ********** payment of R7000 was released from “pending payments”, 7 days after the ***** case had been reported.

12. After following up daily with FNB, I was provided a case number on the 6 January for the ********** transactions on my cheque card, case number 2019/******* and my credit card EX19.**********.

13. I have also reported and opened a ***** case at the Police station

Given the amount of information supp**** to me, by the caller, which only an FNB staff member would have had access to, I had no reason to doubt their authenticity. However, the following points, in my opinion, still need clarity and some explanation from FNB:

A. How did the caller have access to all my personal information, including debit orders and amounts as outlined in point 1 when contacting me as the ***** department lending legitimacy to their claim of who they were.

B. Despite the fact that the OTP was provided to the caller under the understanding they were, in fact, FNB ***** department representatives, the FNB ***** department was notified immediately on the 27th December 2019 and all cards cancelled. The first ********** transaction of R30 000 was released on the 31st December 2019. 4 days AFTER the ***** case had been logged. This is a period of 4 days that the transaction was still under the control of the bank, knowing that this was a ***** case, giving them enough time to put a hold on the money pending further investigations. After a further period of 6 and 7 days after the ***** case was logged more money was then released. The bank’s responsibility should be to me as a customer first #FNBShame.

C. What is the value of paying monthly for ***** protection on my credit card, when the bank (FNB) can make their own judgment on liability?