Standard Chartered Bank Compensates Customers Hit by OTP Fraud
Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Bangladesh has compensated customers affected by the recent incident in which funds disappeared from credit card accounts due to unauthorized transactions carried out through unknown One-Time Passwords (OTPs).
In a statement issued on Friday, September 26, SCB said that at the beginning of the month, several customers reported suspicious transactions from their credit cards linked to unrecognized OTPs. Following the complaints, the bank immediately adopted multiple measures to safeguard customers.
Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, told the media, “We have refunded the affected cardholders to ensure that customers do not face any inconvenience. We are taking necessary steps until the investigation concludes, after which the matter will be settled with the relevant stakeholders.”
He further noted that a team from Bangladesh Bank is currently reviewing the entire process and systems by visiting the offices of the concerned parties. The bank has also presented the issue to law enforcement authorities along with a report.
Investigations have revealed that there were no security flaws within Standard Chartered’s own system. Both the bank’s internet banking portal and SC Mobile app have been deemed fully secure, protected, and encrypted. However, as a precautionary measure to further protect customers, SCB has temporarily suspended the “Add Money” feature for mobile financial services (MFS).
According to banking sources, fraudsters siphoned nearly Tk 2.7 million from the accounts of 54 SCB customers during the last week of August.
