Islamabad: International thieves managed to deceive the security system of yet another bank in Pakistan through internet banking as they used fraudulent means to steal the data of many debit cards to conduct transactions in foreign currencies.
Following the incidents, the bank resorted to quick action and suspended the service of conducting international transactions for all customers.
However, a high official from United Bank Limited (UBL) confirmed that the bank was under no attacks and had never been under one.
“We are under no cyber-attack. No data breach or hacking has happened.”
But, the UBL official honestly admitted that cases had been reported by customers about fraudulent transactions through their debit cards. He added that such scams happen after a customer unintentionally shares their bank details PIN codes with unknowns.
Referring to those who lost their money because of fraudulent transactions, the official said that such customers would get their money back as per prevailing banking and insurance laws.
Another official said that the fraudulent transactions took place last week.
“Most of the debit cards running to MasterCard networks were subject to the fraudulent transactions,” the official said
Now, anyone who would like to use a debit card for internet banking purposes will have to get the service switched on first. Otherwise, they will be denied due to suspension of the service for safety purposes.
Earlier, customers of the UBL found themselves clueless as they started receiving messages of fund transfers, bill payments or online purchases without their knowledge or consent.
Affected people took to social media to voice their concerns about their data privacy. Data breaches have become frequent in the two years, as the use of digital banking has increased significantly.
It is also pertinent to know that the same bank and others, including state-owned National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and BankIslami in the private sector, have earlier become subject to cyber-attack or fraudulent financial transactions by international thieves through different means.
