My Experience with SBI YONO ATM Fraud: How I Recovered My Money

In December of 2021, I had a shocking experience when I discovered an unread SMS on my father's phone stating that 20,000 INR had been debited from his account via cardless withdrawal from SBI YONO at 01:35 PM. Despite my father's denial of making such a transaction, we contacted SBI customer care for assistance, but they were unhelpful. We then visited the bank branch, but they instructed us to file an FIR at a police station before further proceedings. However, even after filing the FIR, another 20,000 INR was withdrawn from the same ATM, and the police were stunned to see my father's card still in his possession.

Although the General Manager of the bank suggested that the card may have been lost and the funds stolen, we were confident that the card was still in our possession, and we hadn't shared any personal information. The bank branch initially refused to check the CCTV footage of the ATM where the transaction occurred, but we persisted, and they eventually agreed to do so after some arguments. Upon discovering that SBI had received over 200,000 complaints with only a small fraction of them being accepted and compensated, I felt disheartened but remained hopeful that I would receive the 40,000 INR owed to me.

As we regularly visited the bank, the branch manager informed us that they were working on the case and mentioned insurance protection for fraud by debit card for Visa/Mastercard, which unfortunately did not apply to our situation,because the card has to be used Physically but in my case it was CardLess transaction. Despite the setback, I maintained confidence and demonstrated to the bank that no harmful external apps were installed on my phone and that Samsung KNOX Security was enabled which was Hardware Layer Security.

We also filed a complaint with various concerned authorities, including the RBI, and presented all necessary proof to support our case.

After much perseverance- 3 months, the RBI Regional Team finally confirmed via email that my account would be credited with the 40,000Rs owed to me by SBI. My family and I were overjoyed, and my father closed all his transactions, debit card, and net banking to prevent any future occurrences. However, we kept the account activity for my father's work purposes.

This incident raises several questions, such as why SBI YONO or SBI YONO Lite did not have SMS verification in 2020, and how the fraudster obtained the OTP. Regardless, the experience taught me valuable lessons, such as regularly monitoring our bank accounts and being aware of security measures to safeguard against fraudsters.