Banks can protect their own
systems and they can introduce the toughest of security measures for their
customers. But they cannot be held responsible if customers are tricked into
giving away their passcodes and in any way co-operating with the fraudster. This
is like saying you can leave your wallet on the train and the bank will
compensate you for your losses.
In the UK there has recently
been a scam whereby a fraudster claiming to be from the phone company calls up
and persuades a customer to type in their bank security codes. There then
follows the predictable argument about who is responsible for the subsequentlosses – the bank or the customer.
One UK businesswoman is
claiming that as the bank did not alert her to unusual activity on her account
it bears responsibility and should refund her.
These scams are sophisticated
and easy to fall for. The resulting losses are much more serious than leaving a
wallet on the train. Sympathy for the victim is natural. But clearly if the
bank compensated every customer who fell for this kind of scam its losses would
be huge.
What banks should do is make
it clear under what circumstances the bank is liable and under what
circumstances the customer is liable. Most bank websites contain lots of advice
about how to avoid scams but they do not address this sensitive issue – unless
it is buried in the terms and conditions which nobody reads anyway. They need
to be more upfront about it as a way of alerting customers to the potential
risks. – Online Fraud Detection.
