Can Banks Shift Phishing Losses to Customers?

1sockchuck writes to mention a Netcraft article wondering who should bear the brunt of phishing costs. A group of customers with the Bank of Ireland recently had $202,000 drained from their accounts by phishers. The bank initially resisted the request to refund their money, but allowed it after a suit was threatened. From the article: "The Bank of Ireland incident is one of the first public cases of a bank seeking to force phishing victims to accept financial responsibility for their losses, but it likely won't be the last. Phishing scams continue to proliferate, as Netcraft has blocked more than 100,000 URLs already in 2006, up from 41,000 in all of 2005. Financial institutions continue to cover most customer losses from unauthorized withdrawals. But after several years of intensive customer education efforts, the details of phishing cases are coming under closer scrutiny, and the effectiveness of anti-phishing efforts taken by both the customer and the bank are likely to become an issue in a larger number of cases." So, should a bank be forced to pay back a customer who has lost money to phishers? Or is it ultimately the customer's responsibility to make educated use of technology?

Comments

Re:I say, "Yes. Yes they should."

[SeattleGameboy]

I probably wouldn't bother seeking a refund.

Won't seek a refund for $200k loss???

Bill, is that you?

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[HTH NE1]

Phishing seems to be good advertising for banks. I'd never heard of Fifth Third Bank until I was suddenly getting 5 phishing e-mails a day for it.

Re:I do what I can to the phishers

[zap0d]

I'm happy to share my name John Doe and my card number 12345678 and my address Milky Way 1 and also my secret password "asdf"

Re:Read your bank's TOS lately?

[Jack Pallance]

Funny story, I opened a checking account a couple of years ago and I was wondering if there was any possiblity of protecting my account by requiring all withdrawals be made at the bank or by check (No EFTs from websites, etc). Of course, this isn't possible because of the way the banking system works (banks don't send actual checks to each other, they just send the information electronicly, the same as an EFT).

The funny part is, when I asked the branch manager what could be done, he tole me, "Just don't give your account number to anyone." Basicly, he told me to never use any checks from my account, because ALL OF THEM HAVE MY ACCOUNT NUMBER! If I write a check to someone, he can then take the check, go onto the Internets, and sign up for pron using CCBill and the account number at the bottom of my check.

Thanks Mr. Manager!!

Re:I do what I can to the phishers

[Bing Tsher E]

Any details available on where this ATM with money hanging out of it is located? ;)