Have you transferred money to an investment platform that later turns out to be fraudulent? Report the fraud to your bank immediately and secure the evidence. The bank is not automatically liable simply because it executed the payment. Relevant factors include your consent, the role of the bank and any specific warning signs it was aware of.
Nederlands: Lees dit artikel in het Nederlands: Beleggingsfraude of een nepplatform: kan de bank aansprakelijk zijn?
Türkçe: Bu makaleyi Türkçe okuyun: Yatırım dolandırıcılığı veya sahte platform: banka sorumlu olabilir mi?
Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Do you have questions about your own situation? Get in touch.
First, stop further losses
Do not pay any additional amount to release supposed profits, taxes or a refund without having the situation checked independently. Keep website details, chats, account numbers, proof of payment and the names under which the platform operated. Report the transactions through your bank’s official channels.
A recall request can sometimes help, but it does not guarantee repayment. Whether it is possible depends, among other things, on where the money is held and what cooperation or legal measure is available. Act quickly and record when you warned the bank.
Authorised payment or made without consent?
If you consented to the transfer yourself, the assessment differs from a situation in which the fraudster made the payment without your consent. Deception about the purpose of a payment does not automatically turn every transfer you approved yourself into an unauthorised payment.
If in doubt, ask for the transaction data and authentication details. The use of the correct security credentials is not, for every question, full proof of consent. What happened must be examined payment by payment. The statutory rules on payment services are set out in Book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW).
The role of the bank
A bank that merely executes a payment has a different role from a bank that advises you on an investment or manages your assets. A general obligation to screen every transfer for fraud in advance cannot simply be assumed.
Specific knowledge of a risk may, however, be relevant. Ask which warnings, reports or contacts existed in your file and what was done afterwards. The mere fact that an amount was large or unusual does not automatically answer the duty of care question.
Platform, recipient and other parties
Besides the bank, the contracting party, the recipient or any intermediaries involved can be investigated. Determine who can be legally identified and from whom recovery is possible. A website bearing a well-known company name does not prove that you actually dealt with that company.
Also have new “recovery” offers assessed critically. A party that promises guaranteed repayment in return for an upfront fee may cause further losses. Keep the original documents and do not give access codes to unknown helpers.
Frequently asked questions
Does the bank have to compensate every loss caused by a fake platform?
No. The legal basis, the role of the bank and the specific facts are decisive.
Is a payment I made myself still unauthorised because I was defrauded?
That does not follow automatically. Consent to the payment and deception about the background are separate questions.
Does a police report help in getting my money back?
A police report can support the evidence and the investigation, but it does not in itself give you a right to compensation from the bank.
What can Arslan assess?
The payment route, the bank’s response, any possible breach of the duty of care and viable claims against the parties involved.
Also read about bank fraud and unauthorised payments and Kifid, the Dutch Financial Services Complaints Tribunal, or the courts.
Have your payment and bank file assessed after investment fraud.
This page provides general information and is not legal advice about your own situation. No rights can be derived from its content.
