Court orders Abanca to pay €20,000 compensation to cyber-fraud victim
The Civil Section of the First Instance Court of Ferrol has ruled in favour of a defrauded client, ordering the financial entity to return nearly €20,000 following an electronic fraud.
Court orders Abanca to pay €20,000 compensation to cyber-fraud victim
A judge in Ferrol has issued a ruling ordering the financial entity Abanca to compensate with €19,990 a person who fell victim to an electronic scam. The bank has already announced that it will appeal the verdict. The information has been reported by ABC (https://www.abc.es/espana/galicia/condenan-abanca-abonar-cliente-20000-euros-ciberestafa-20260706184102-nt.html).
The affected party was represented by the law firm Pérez-Lema, which has publicised the details of the judicial decision.
The incident took place on 15 January. The victim received an SMS alert warning her of an unauthorised access to her funds. Immediately, her device displayed the company's usual corporate image. Shortly afterwards, an individual called her by telephone demanding that she transfer all her savings to an allegedly protected account, claiming an ongoing cyber attack.
Trusting in the authenticity of the communication, the injured party carried out two transfer operations. Upon realising the following day that she had been deceived, she contacted the police and requested the entity to return the amounts.
The magistrate has rejected the assertion that the user acted carelessly. The court understands that the scheme used by the fraudsters was sophisticated, and that the claimant did not have the means to suspect that she was not speaking with actual employees of her banking entity.
Source: ABC