Time.news – “I made a 300 euro bank transfer to a home banking insurance, then, a few hours later, I got un whatsApp message on the phone as part of the messaging service of the credit institution that invited me to follow a procedure to complete the transfer. I clicked on the given link and it was l‘beginning of our end “.
“Savings for our daughters in smoke”
Luca and his wife Giovanna they lost 15 thousand euros, the life savings destined for the two young daughters. They want their story disclosed to prevent others from falling into the same trap, which is technically called phishing, while their lawyer, Giorgia Antonia Leone is trying to recover the stolen goods in what is still a very difficult and delicate procedure.
Luca and Giovanna are not naïve, but professionals who live and work in Cinisello Balsamo, in the province of Milan, and thought they had secured their belongings. “What made me feel comfortable – continues Luca – is that, after clicking on the link and entering the numeric code that appeared, I found myself on the screen of my bank. Instead I later discovered that the hacker knew the data of my account and the amount of the transfer to the recipient. He therefore slipped in with extreme ease “.
“In these cases – their lawyer, who filed a complaint with the Prosecutor, explains to the Time.news – we talk aboutadvanced sms, to understand that the scam is really credible. The question is: how adequate are the systems used and the knowledge acquired by credit institutions to deal with these crimes? “.
“The bank only warned us ten days later”
In the complaint, the spouses also claim the civil liability of the bank because there is a crack in its IT system that made it possible to capture the account holder data. But there is more: the institute warned them several days after the mishap, not preventing the account from being drained in good time, limiting the economic damage.
“When we were warned by the bank – explain the victims – we felt disconcerted, anger, disbelief. All our work, our savings in the hands of those we consider delinquents who may never be identified. And the bank did not protect us. ”For some time, Luca was torn apart by guilt, going through a very tough time on a psychological level.
“The subtraction of the account holder data through fraudulent techniques and activities – recalls the lawyer Leone – falls within the risk area of the company and by virtue of this principle the bank, before starting a transaction, must always ensure that it is attributable to the customer. The lender is obliged to compensate the account holder victims of scams unless it proves the legitimacy of the online operation, proving that there is negligent conduct by the damaged parties. There are too many cases – he concludes – such as the one experienced by this couple and it is serious that all this can still happen, although the institutions themselves are aware of it and constantly warn their customers “.
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