Phantom of the Soap Opera

Court rules in bank’s favor in “phantom withdrawal” caseby Gill Montia

Story link: Court rules in bank’s favor in “phantom withdrawal” case

A UK court has found against a customer who sued his bank afterbeing held liable for withdrawals from cash machines, which he claimshe did not make.

So called “phantom” withdrawals occur when money is withdrawn atbank ATMs without the card holder’s permission and where card detailshave not been revealed to third parties. Chip and PIN technology has been designed to prevent stolen and lostcards being used in this way but Halifax customer, Alain Job, claimedthat he was not responsible for £2,100 disappearing from his account.

However, Mr Job failed to convince Nottingham County Court that hiscard could have been used to withdraw the money at ATM’s without anynegligence on his part.  Lawyers argued that the card could have been cloned but Halifaxproduced evidence that it claimed showed Mr Job’s original card hadbeen used in the transactions.IT experts appear to differ over whether cloned cards can be used inthis way and Mr Job is reported to be considering an appeal.

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