This is stands with any other banking company.
Thanks to Kevin Dixon for sharing and highlighting this, as it could happen to any of us
I want to share my experience with BPI bank. On 11 January I had 7 amounts stolen from my bank account I have enclosed an image of the 7 amounts. All were taken in the early hours of the morning.
3 payments to ‘gofundme’ and 4 payments to a nail bar in Marseille France. When I tried to use my card later that morning my card was declined. I thought this strange so I checked my banking app to find 515€ held ‘captive’. I thought this suspicious so I text the bank app with a number they gave me and emailed BPI. I had no response.
On Monday morning the 13 January BPI Bank had paid out the funds. I went to the bank on Av de Mar and brought it to the attention of a trainee. I was never invited to speak with anyone of authority as you would expect with a fraud case. The trainee said I had to go and report it to the police then return. I did this and two hours later went back with the police report to the bank.
The trainee told me she would send everything to Lisbon and get a response. I got a response 3 weeks later. The letter from the OPERATIONS DIRECTOR of BPI is included. They have said that they looked into the matter and I authorised the payments. It is a complete lie. The bank have refunded the ‘gofundme’ payments of 15€ so they obviously realise this was fraud. However, the 500€ has not been returned even though the funds were stolen at the same time! I believe a 7 year old child would know this was fraud. I reported it to the bank BEFORE it was released on Monday morning yet, due to there lack of security and bad business practice, I have lost 500€.
I am posting this to ask if there is anything I can do legally against the bank, like an ombudsman, and to warn people against using the BPI bank on Av de Mar. I went in to see the manager this week with a friend who was head of Visa in Toronto and dealt with fraud cases daily, but we were just stonewalled by the lady there who actually said that I had already been in complaining!! I tried contacting Nissou Beauty in Marseille to inform them I had reported them to the police and the bank for fraud and they blocked me. Surely a sign that they are complicit with the fraud.
I congratulate BPI on making 444 million last year! You would think that for 500€ they could do the right thing!
This is what my friend Gabriela de Sousa wrote regarding my complaint. She came to the bank with me to speak with the manage but they just weren’t interested.
Clearly BPI’s Corporate Security / Card Fraud Department is lacking in fraud detection tools and experience in investigating fraud. The branch had no interest in helping with ‘making it right’ and properly investigating this fraud against their client and shortcomings in their fraud detection tools. They were quite abrupt and rude. Providing absolutely no direction or reporting alternative to report to a bank ombudsman department.
I had a long career investigating fraud and cyber crime for various banks and for Visa. I can’t believe the customer treatment in this reported fraud case. I witnessed very poor customer service. Clearly this bank can improve their fraud detection strategies. Their customer service and investigation protocols, where these type cases are concerned, are suboptimal to say the least. I wouldn’t deal with a bank with these work ethics and customer service standards.
