2000 Singh Case

From Phantom

Key Facts

Amount stolen	R607,000 (South African Rand) (=GBP55,000)
Number of Withdrawals	190
ATM Locations	Russell Square, Kings Cross, Knightsbridge, London, UK
Issuing Bank	Diners Club South Africa
Acquiring Bank(s)	Various
Card Type	Chargecard
Withdrawal time period	2 days
Days from theft to discovery	72 hours
Card theft involved	No
Level of customer action	Civil court action by DCSA to recover monies
PIN Status	Original PIN as issued shortly before thefts (PIN cannot be changed)
Outcome	Resolved. High Court of SA in Durban ruled in favour of Diner's Club SA. Appeal was rejected.

Case Details

• One of four similar cases where phantom withdrawals were made on a South African Diner's Club card over a weekend in central London.
• Singh denied involvement in the withdrawals and was sued by DCSA for recovery of the disputed sum.
• Many relevant legal documents from the case were made available at http://www.cryptome.org/citi-ban.htm

Further Notes

January 2004 : The following message is now displayed at the bottom of Standard Bank monthly account statements:

IMPORTANT NOTICE : DAILY, MONTHLY ATM CASH WITHDRAWAL LIMITS APPLICABLE LOCALLY DO NOT APPLY WHEN USING ATM'S INTERNATIONALLY- TO AVOID INCONVENIENCE WHEN TRAVELLING ABROAD SUCH LIMITS ARE HIGHER AND THE LOSS OF A CARD COULD RESULT IN A POTENTIAL LOSS SUBSTANTIALLY HIGHER THAN LOCAL LIMITS.'

Standard Bank is the primary share holder of Diner's Club SA.

August 2004 : Creditcard-holders `must pay' - News article at www.news24.com