Bank fraud and credit card frauds

If you are the subject of fraud - you should keep this in mind

• Call the bank and block your accounts immediately.

• File a complaint against the withdrawals once you have contacted the bank.

• Contact the police and file a police report of the incident.

Do not use the number that the scammer phoned you from, instead you should find the bank's telephone number yourself. There is often a number you can use to block your card that you can call at all hours. When you contact the bank you should also file a complaint against the transaction, in other words tell them that you are not the one who transferred money from your accounts.  

The Supreme Court improves your chances of you getting your money back in the event of a bank fraud

The Supreme Court has pronounced a judgment that will improve your chances of getting your money back in the event of an authorised transaction. According to the Court, in order for you to be required to pay for the entire amount yourself, you had to have been aware of the risk of an unauthorised transaction but you still acted upon the request of the scammer. The bank has the burden of proof to show that you acted in a way that results in you paying the full cost or parts of it.  

If you have previously been denied compensation for an unauthorised transaction you can contact the bank again and refer to the new ruling from the Supreme Court. 

The National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN) makes the same assessment as the Supreme Court 

Following the ruling from the Supreme Court, the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN) has also tried cases on unauthorised transactions and has issued new recommendations for banks whose customers have been the victim of scammers. In 8 out of 9 tried cases, ARN finds that the bank should repay the majority of the savings that victims of fraud have lost. 

If you are the victim of unauthorised transactions

The first thing you should do if you are the victim of an unauthorised transaction is to immediately call the bank and block your accounts. Do not use the number that the scammer phoned you from, instead you should find the bank's telephone number yourself. There is often a number you can use to block your card that you can call at all hours. When you contact the bank you should also file a complaint against the transaction, in other words tell them that you are not the one who transferred money from your accounts. Contact the police and file a police report of the incident. If, for example, you did not protect your code, gave your code to an unknown person or left your card unsupervised you can may be required to pay the entire unauthorised amount or parts of it . According to a judgment from the Supreme Court, in order for you to be required to pay for the entire transaction yourself, you must have been aware of and realised that there was a risk of an unauthorised transaction, but despite this you still provided your bank details. The judgment also states that the bank has the burden of proof.

If you and the bank do not agree

If you and the bank do not agree you can file a complaint with the bank's complaint department and request a reconsideration of the decision.

Konsumenternas.se

Visit Konsumenternas.se for information on how and when you can file a complaint in a bank matter.

File a complaint in a bank matter on the website Konsumenternas.se (in Swedish)

The National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN)

If after the complaint department's decision you are still dissatisfied with the bank's decision, you can file a complain to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN). ARN will assess your case and submit a recommendation on how the dispute should be solved. If you have already have your matter tried by ARN you cannot turn to ARN again, even if legal practice has changed. When you send in your case to ARN it is very important that you attach all of the documents that support your case. For example, if you claim to have bad hearing or dementia, you need to include an up-to-date medical certificate. You should also attach the documents you have used when you complained to the bank, for example the letter templates from the Swedish Consumer Agency.

It costs SEK 150 to file a complaint with ARN. File a report on ARN's website (in Swedish)

Court of law

You can also choose to try the dispute in a court of law. Trying a dispute costs money, but the decision made by the court needs to be complied with. You can also turn to a court of law if ARN has already assessed the case and you want a new review. Read more about trying a dispute in a court of law

KO representative

If you want to try the dispute in a court of law you can also apply to have a KO representative present your case. In some cases, the Consumer Ombudsman (Konsumentombudsman, KO) can help you in the dispute. KO can in such cases act as your representative in a court of law. Apply for a Consumer Ombudsman on the Swedish Consumer Agency's website (in Swedish)

How to protect yourself against bank fraud

There are skilled scammers who can deceive you into handing over your bank details, which leads to the scammer being able to carry out transactions from your bank account. You should therefore make sure that you do not hand over any bank details, such as codes from your security token, upon instruction from someone else. You should not approve anything using your e-identification upon request from someone else either.

Keep this in mind

• Never approve an activity using your e-identification without first carefully reading through what it is your approving.

• Do not give out bank details upon instruction from someone else via telephone, email or social media, even if the person claims to be representing your bank, an authority or a company.

• If you are not sure whether it is the bank calling you can always end the call and phone the bank yourself.

Other measures that may be good to consider are blocking unknown numbers in your phone, deleting your data online as far as possible and block your phone at NIX phone. An idea could also be to get a secret phone number. However, these measures do not prevent all fraudsters and there are some things you need to keep in mind.

How to protect yourself against credit card fraud

To avoid being the victim of fraud, you need to be careful both when making normal physical purchases using your card and when you use your card to shop online. Never hand your card over to someone else.

Keep this in mind

• Avoid clicking on links that come via email or SMS that you do not recognize.

• Be careful with programs you are prompted to install on your computer.

• Avoid ads with offers that seem too good to be true.

• Hang up if someone calls and wants you to share your card details.

• Never the code to your card to anyone.

• Never store the code, for example written down on a piece of paper, together with the card.

• Contact the bank to block the card immediately if you lose it.

• Never leave your card somewhere. If, for your example, you are at a restaurant, you should never leave the card in your jacket pocket if you leave the table.

• Protect your code when you enter it in a store or at a cash machine.

Read more about protecting yourself against card fraud on the website Konsumenternas.se (in Swedish)

If someone has tricked you into transferring money using Swish

In the judgment from the Supreme Court, the issue of whether a Swish payment that a consumer carries out upon instruction from a scammer constitutes an unauthorised transaction is not tried. This issue has, as far as known, still not been tried by any court of law. However, the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN) has in a number of cases found that such Swish payments do not constitute an unauthorised transaction. The same applies to other transfers where the consumer has carried all tasks themselves as requested and instructed by the scammer. The Swedish Consumer Agency does not share ARN's opinion, but would welcome this issue being tried in a court of law. File a report with the bank if you believe that you have been subjected to some type of fraud, for example through Swish, and you should also report it to the police.

Apply for a KO representative

If you are not satisfied with the bank's decision and want the dispute to be tried in a court of law, you can apply for a KO representative. In some cases, the Consumer Ombudsman (Konsumentombudsman, KO) can help you in the dispute. KO can in such cases act as your representative in a court of law. Apply for a Consumer Ombudsman on the Swedish Consumer Agency's website (in Swedish)