A woman who had unapproved transactions of a combined S$1,998 made from her bank account had it frozen while the bank investigated the matter.
However, after the bank completed its investigations, she failed in her dispute and was allegedly forced to admit that the transactions were legitimate.
This was even though she received no notifications or SMSes about it.
The incident has affected her mental health as she is the sole breadwinner of the family.
Ms Juanita, who’s 40 and works at a local hospital, told MS News her bank account has been frozen ever since some transactions were made without her knowledge.
On 25 Jan, two S$999 transactions were made from Ms Juanita’s UOB bank account while she was asleep, between 2am to 3am.
She found out about the transactions that same morning.
Image courtesy of Ms Juanita
However, she is unsure of the recipients as they show up as a string of numbers with no name attached.
She said she had not received any notifications, one-time passwords, or emails regarding the transactions. However, they went through anyway.
“I am on medication for insomnia, I could not be awake at that time (the transactions were made),” she said.
After discovering the transactions, Ms Juanita called UOB and the bank froze her accounts.
She then made a police report, an ordeal that lasted four hours.
Image courtesy of Ms Juanita
Thereafter, she appealed to her MP, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, for help.
Subsequently, the matter was referred to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Source: Reuters, for illustration purposes only
Unfortunately, she received no substantial updates from UOB until early April, after she sent follow-up emails asking about her situation.
Image courtesy of Ms Juanita
The final call with UOB came on 3 Apr, when an officer called Ms Juanita and told her that her dispute was unsuccessful.
The officer then allegedly made her agree that the transaction was legitimate.
“There is no black and white (informing me of the resolution),” she said. “Why can’t they email me?”
To date, she has not received any email from UOB about the update.
Meanwhile, MAS informed her that the case is still under investigation.
Due to losing almost S$2,000 and having her bank accounts frozen, Ms Juanita says her mental health has been affected.
She is also on higher dosages of medicine from her psychiatrist.
Image courtesy of Ms Juanita
Because of this, she is currently on medical leave after her employer noticed her mental condition worsening.
Besides adjustment disorder, Ms Juanita has also been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
As the case is still ongoing, she does not want to close or unfreeze her bank account.
Her funds are still locked inside and she said she is at her wits’ end.
“How could I have approved the transactions?” she asked. “There was no notification, no OTP, no email.”
She compared her experience to another bank that informed her of a suspicious transaction and managed to prevent it.
“I think the security (for the bank regarding suspicious transactions) can be improved,” she said.
MS News has reached out to UOB for comment and will update the article if they reply.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image courtesy of Ms Juanita and adapted from UOB.
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