Dear Claudienne:

My problem occurred between Wednesday, June 24, 2020 and Monday, June 29, 2020 when a sum of money totalling, $310,178.7 was stolen from my National Commercial Bank (NCB) account.

I live in Portmore, St Catherine and I am a final-year student at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), where I am studying international shipping & logistics.

As a student at the CMU, I would travel overseas to work during annual summer breaks on the Student Work and Travel Programme (SWTP) being offered to full-time university students.

While on the programme I was employed to multiple organisations and between February and April each year I would receive tax returns in the sum of US $1,000 plus,

Due to the global COVID-19 health pandemic this year, I was also eligible for the stimulus check issued by the United States of US$1200 and these monies would be deposited via wire transfer to my NCB account. I am the only person who has access to my account.

On Monday, June 22, 2020, I went to the Portmore Mall and deposited J$100,000 in my account via the NCB ABM. I was the only person at the ABM machine at the time.

I returned to the Portmore Mall on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 and used the NCB ABM to deposit an additional J$150,000,00 in my account. I was again the only person using the the ABM machine at the time ( about 8:00 to 9:00 pm). Security guards are normally at the location

In Portmore, on June 23 and 24, 2020, I used the debit card linked to my account to purchase items at a pharmacy, a gas station and at a fast food restaurant.

On Sunday, June 28, 2020, I went to the Portmore Mall to make another deposit at the NCB ABM but when I attempted to make the deposit, an error message on the ABM screen said that the system was down. I immediately checked my account balance and saw that there was a total of J$6,000 remaining in my account. I was surprised when I saw this because between the June 22 and 23, I had deposited a total of $250,000 in my account. I immediately called NCB’s customer care and told them what had happened. The agent said that my account had been compromised and informed me that she would immediately restrict my account.

She told me to visit the branch and make a dispute report after which the funds would be reimbursed. She also gave me a case number.

On Monday, June 29, 2020, I visited the Three Miles (Kingston) NCB branch and made a report. I was given a new card and also obtained a printout which listed the transactions made from my account between June 24 to 29, 2020.

The printout I received also showed that an attempt was being made to withdraw money from my account while I was at the Three Miles NCB branch reporting the fraud. However, the bank had already frozen the account and the NCB agent took my debit card and destroyed it. She then gave me a new card to use.

The bank told me to report the fraud to the police and on July 9, 2020, I went to the Greater Portmore police station. The detective sergeant who took my statement told me that he requested camera footage from the NCB Fraud Unit on July 15, 2020.

When I could not get an update from the police I went back to the NCB Tree Miles branch on July 20, 2020 and spoke to the service manager. She said she did not have a report on the matter and told me to go back to the Greater Portmore police station and make another report.

By now I had become frustrated with how the bank was handling my situation.

On Monday, July 27, 2020, I went back to the Greater Portmore police station and gave another statement. When I called the detective for an update he told me that he had requested camera footage of the days and times the fraudulent transactions were made from my account. However, when he checked the NCB Fraud Unit on August 2, 2020, he was still not able to get the camera footage,

I learned from the police that the letter the NCB Fraud Unit gave me to take to them suggested that my original pin and card was used to make the withdrawals from the account. However, I did not give anyone permission to withdraw money from my account nor did I give anyone the PIN to my debit card. I am always in possession of my debit card. and I did not give anyone my card to use at any time. Please recall that while I was at the Three MIles NCB branch reporting the fraud and the bank had frozen the account, the agent informed me that someone was trying to make a withdrawal from my account.

I believe that I am getting the run around from the bank. NCB needs to speed up their investigation as I need my money. In the two months since the money was stolen from my account, the bank has made no progress in resolving the matter.

I am therefore requesting your help in this matter.

DS

Dear DS

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with the NCB communications office about your issues.

Tell Claudienne notes that the bank has contacted you and the Greater Portmore police, the column notes that you have been having dialogue with NCB via e-mail and that your problem has now been resolved.

The column notes that NCB has sent you the following letter:

Dear DS

Re: Unauthorised Withdrawal from Account No. xxxxxxxxxx

We refer to your e-mail dated September 10, 2020, regarding the matter at caption and offer our apology for the inconvenience caused. Your feedback has been duly noted and we regret the lengthy delay in having the matter resolved.

Our initial investigation revealed that your genuine card and pin was utilised to conduct the disputed transactions and as such we were not in a position to provide reimbursement at that time.

However, subsequent to our initial investigation, we received new evidence which mandated us to conduct another review of the matter. This resulted in our decision to approve reimbursement of the funds.

We are pleased to advise that your account was reimbursed on September 16, 2020, in the sum of Three Hundred and Ten Thousand One Hundred and Seventy-Eight dollars and Seventy-One cents ($310,178.71).

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to address this matter and we look forward to our continued business relationship.”

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 876- 936-9436 or cell # 876-484-1349 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.