How scammers tricked me into allowing them to add my N26 account to their Google Pay

ClubMan said:
Not really Google's fault if eir provide multiple different URLs to the same (?) payment page.
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But is this so that they get a better listing on Google?

I have seen other companies trying to get their company in the first few listings in Google to crowd out negative comment on them.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
But is this so that they get a better listing on Google?
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I doubt it - I'd say that it's more likely due to restructuring of their websites over time leaving legacy and possibly redundant working or non-working links to services/pages. If they were strategically/systematically doing Search Engine Optimisation then I would expect it to be done in a less haphazard way.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
There is no grounds for complaint here as far as I can see.
To N26, the Ombudsman or the Bundesbank.

By all means, report it to the Gardaí as you were a subject of criminal fraud which took advantage of your own carelessness.
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Perhaps, though it would be up to the authority in question to decide on the gross negligence or not as per the EU payments directive and the OP should complain if they believe they weren't grossly negligent - in this case the Bundesbank as N26 "refuse" to come under jurisdiction of Irish ombudsman.
 
dustyie said:
there is a definte a weakness in N26 systems no noticafication by email or text when changing phone no. or adding a google pay acc.
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If this is true (!) I would consider it a serious weakness in N26’s system to protect their customers from fraud and you’re right to be critical of them for it. It’s basic stuff and if they’re not doing it one might rightly wonder what other basic security protocols they’re taking shortcuts on.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Do they have a choice?

I would have thought that the bodies covered by the Irish FSPO were designated in law.
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They do it would seem, in my discussions with the Irish FSPO, it was advised that Revolut had voluntarily come under their remit or what have you whereas N26 had not. The below is part of the FSPO's response me to on a complaint submitted re N26:

"As you may know, the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO), in accordance with our governing legislation (the Financial Service and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017), may by law only investigate complaints against regulated financial service providers, certain providers subject to the Consumer Credit Act 1995 or pension providers. Any investigation by the FSPO must be conducted pursuant to the laws of the Republic of Ireland.

N26 contracts currently set out that;

“Applicable law/court of jurisdiction German law is applicable for the business relationship between you and N26. N26 is also subject to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany for the pre-contractual relation. There is no contractual clause stipulating jurisdiction”.

On 18 February 2022, N26 confirmed to this Office, that following legal advice, it is not willing to consent to investigation of a complaint pursuant to the laws of Ireland. As a result, the FSPO is not in a position to investigate your complaint."
 
Seems to me that they do notify users when changing phones...

Pair your Smartphone - N26 Support Center

In order to use your N26 account you'll need a paired smartphone. To connect your device to your account, simply open the N26 app and follow the instructions.
support.n26.com
 
ClubMan said:
I fail to see how you can attribute blame to N26 for this debacle.

Doesn't your statement tell you where the payments went?

What do you mean "I now know"? Why didn't you know at time?
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TBF you could say the same for any type of hack.. doesnt help the poor individual who suffers.

Maybe OP should get onto eircom, as their website was spoofed.
 
That’s moving the N26 app to a new phone which is a different process.

Though to be clear I’m not saying N26 notifications are not sent when Google/Apple Pay are setup, hence my (!), just that if they are not that would be an orangey-red flag and people should avoid such a service.
 
colin44 said:
TBF you could say the same for any type of hack.. doesnt help the poor individual who suffers.
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Perhaps, but the original poster made serious allegations against N26 that need to be challenged.
 
As a general point, the reimbursement policies and practices seem to vary quite a lot across the EU.


See Figure 13 here.


It is not nearly as standardised like across the EU like deposit guarantee schemes.
 
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ClubMan said:
Perhaps, but the original poster made serious allegations against N26 that need to be challenged.
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Making people aware of possible fraud, even if it involves making 'serious accusations' (lol) against N26, is a good thing..
Why do you care?

In fairness, if N26 did not notify him of possible fraud, with 11 transactions (that could have been made in other countries, for stuff that he normally does not buy, weird hours, over a short period of time etc..).. shows their lack of security!

When we were in SA back in 2010, my mate went to ATM in Cape Town, their was a guy in there who was trying to 'help' him work the machine.. he must have seen when pin was entered, and had card scanner! his account got hacked, bank had no prob refunding him! we could also say that this was no fault of bank?
 
colin44 said:
In fairness, if N26 did not notify him of possible fraud, with 11 transactions (that could have been made in other countries, for stuff that he normally does not buy, weird hours, over a short period of time etc..).. shows their lack of security!
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Legitimate transactions often have weird and wonderful patterns too.

It wouldn’t be unusual for someone to use a particular card only when they are on holidays for example, and to use it quite heavily.
 
Dr Strangelove said:
Legitimate transactions often have weird and wonderful patterns too.

It wouldn’t be unusual for someone to use a particular card only when they are on holidays for example, and to use it quite heavily.
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And this should be queried by N26 each and every time! Or they could have a system , where the customer notifies N26 that they will be in X country for x time...
I get calls from AIB when use CC on certain purchases, or have to approve in app etc - at a minimum these are security features that ALL banks should have.
We pay banks enough for their services, they should be more vigilant for fraud on their accounts / hardware. Like in my example, why would it be the users fault if a banks ATM has been compromised? I know in my example the ATM was in SA, but could have easily been in Ireland or any other country for that matter...

People should stop putting the blame on users all the time.. We are using a service (paid for service) from banks, they need to up their game.. and if that service is compromised they need to pay up!
 
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Personally I’ve never had a fraudulent transaction on a card but have twice had cards blocked when I used my own cards in a way that card providers’ systems flagged as suspicious.

It’s a delicate balance. Customers also have a finite tolerance for constant security verification - as do merchants.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
I resent having to click lots of warnings online just because some people are careless.
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It’s a bit of a secret but online merchants don’t like it either.

All those extra clicks cause people to leave transactions incomplete.

They don’t like fraud either but as I said it’s a delicate balance.
 
I've been watching this thread over the last few days. Like others, the key point for me is what action opened up the route into the OP's account. I've just posted real world details of a scam that worried the National Cyber Security Centre enough to cause them to issue an alert this week. While the context is quite different, it strikes me that the root cause (One Time Code disclosure) could very well apply in this case. Thread is here:

https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/scam-targeting-mobile-phone-users.238697/#post-1913602

NCSC alert is here: NCSC Advisory Upgrade Scam targeting Mobile Phone Users 09 December 2024
 
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