Cardholder declines compensation from DongA Bank

A customer of DongA Bank had her account hacked, with around VND116 milion ($5,110) stolen

Doan Thi Ngoc Duyen of Ho Chi Minh City’s District 12 told vnexpress.net that she received feedback from DongA Bank on July 12. The bank stated that it was inspecting the customer’s case to try and ascertain why VND116 million ($5,110) disappeared from her ATM account on the night of June 27.

A camera system used by DongA Bank was checked and it was found that transactions had been carried out by another person, whom Duyen could not identify. Criminal activity is suspected so the case has been handed to an investigation agency.

DongA Bank noted that before losing the money, Duyen gave her card to her husband to withdraw money. She did not comply with regulations of the bank and Circular No.19/2016/TT-NHNN of the State Bank of Vietnam in keeping her card information secret.

DongA Bank has offered VND58 million ($2,555) as advance compensation, equivalent to half of the total money lost, while waiting for the report from the investigation agency.

However, the customer has not agreed to the compensation and wishes to be repaid in full for the lost amount. She claims not to violate the regulations of the bank because she has authorised her husband to withdraw money from her account on previous occasions.

“Losing money from the bank account is not my fault, so the bank should not make me wait for the conclusion of the investigation. I don’t know when I will receive my money,” said Duyen.

Duyen has hired a lawyer who has sent a response document to DongA Bank. The lawyer has asked DongA Bank to repay in full or compensate all the lost money within the next seven days.

At around 4am of June 27, DongA Bank sent five messages to Doan Thi Ngoc Duyen announcing that VND96 million ($4,230) in her account had been transferred to another account, followed by two messages announcing that VND20 million ($880) had been withdrawn in cash. As a result, Duyen lost VND116 million ($5,110) while the card was still in her wallet.