2003 Lloyd Case

Key Facts

Amount stolen	£409.26
Number of Withdrawals	7
ATM Locations	131 Ostrovskehi 6, Prague, and Andel, Vyst. Zensk, Prague
Issuing Bank	HSBC, UK
Acquiring Bank(s)	Unknown
Card Type	Debit Card
Withdrawal time period	1 day
Days from theft to discovery	3 days
Card theft involved	Yes
Level of customer action	Written complaint
PIN Status	Issued c. 1986, never changed, never written down
Outcome	Resolved. Customer reimbursed

Victim was on holiday from UK in Prague, had card stolen 30 minutes after leaving hotel; the card had not yet been used in that country.
Subsequently, aprox GBP400 was withdrawn.
After initial complaint, bank investigated for 6 weeks, then agreed to refund the amount by which the account had gone into the red as a result of the theft.
Victim sent a letter of complaint, quoting HSBC terms and conditions, arguing that these made it clear that HSBC were liable for the unauthorised withdrawals unless they could show that victim had not taken "reasonable care" with the PIN.
The letter also quoted research into security of ATM systems by Mike Bond.
About 3 days later, the bank declared they had made a mistake calculating the refund they intended to supply, and agreed to reimburse the full amount