Why the bank can block account transactions and what to do about it

Why the bank is blocking the operation

Since September 26, 2018, amendments to the laws have been in effect that allow banks to block transactions if they seem suspicious.

The legislation was changed to protect money in accounts. If the bank fixes a dubious transfer, it must suspend it for a period of up to two days.

This term is given to the financial institution to find out from the client whether he is transferring money. If he confirms that the funds are transferred with his consent, the operation will be resumed - and immediately.

If there is no feedback from the client, the money will still be transferred, but after two days.

What transactions are considered suspicious, regulated by the Central Bank.

1. If the transfer is sent to a fraudster

From the point of view of the law enforcement system, a fraudster is a person who has been sentenced under the relevant article. Prior to that, he was only suspected of a crime, but even then only if the investigators identified the fact of an illegal action, identified the attacker, and so on.

Therefore, despite the fact that a fraudster, like a thief, must be in prison, in reality everything is much more complicated. In addition, criminals often operate from prison.

The Central Bank, unlike the investigating authorities, has the ability to form a list of fraudsters much more quickly.

A criminal only needs to "light up" his data once in a money transfer, in which an attempted theft will be established, and information about him will go to a special database, to which every bank has access.

If you try to carry out a transaction using the details that are in this database, the bank will consider it suspicious and block the operation.

2. If you transfer money from a device that was used by fraudsters

Not only the intruder's data, but also the devices that he used could be "lit up". If someone tried to illegally transfer money using a certain computer or smartphone, this fact was recorded by the bank and confirmed by the victim of fraud, then these devices go to a special database.

In this case, it does not matter which details are used for the transfer - the same or different, the gadget is compromised, and the operation in the bank will be considered suspicious.

3. If you do something differently than before

The bank may have questions if something in your transfers contradicts your habits:

you have never transferred large amounts and are suddenly sending every penny to someone;
you send several payments to the same addressee in a short period of time (and you could have made one payment);
you mainly pay for purchases in the stores of Nizhny Tagil, and today an operation from Lisbon has been recorded - so if you are going on a trip, it is better to notify the bank about it;
you linked your card to another smartphone or are trying to make a payment from a new laptop.

What to do if the bank asks to confirm the transaction

1. Make sure it is a bank

The anti-fraud law has spawned new ways of fraud. Attackers can call you and tell you that suspicious transactions are being carried out on your account or card. In the process of negotiations, they will try in various ways to extract information from you, which in the end will lead to theft of money.

Therefore, remember that when you receive a call from the bank, you do not need to voice any information: they have all the data. And the code from the SMS or the numbers on the back of the card cannot be called to anyone at all.

If in doubt, hang up and call the bank at the number indicated on the back of the card or on the official website.

2. Confirm the operation

There are two ways to do this in the law: a call or an SMS message. Follow the instructions given by the bank officer.

If you do not answer, you will be left without a card for two days, as it will be blocked. The translation will also be frozen for this period, so the addressee may be unhappy.

Pay attention to what exactly the bank employee says. If the recipient of the payment is in the database of fraudsters, it is hardly worth confirming it, even if you sent the money yourself.