Verified as victim of fraud but BOI rejected my claim

H

hurlaway

Registered User
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Ok, so I'm 20 years old and last month I was with my friends on a city break in Warsaw where we went to a strip club one night and the next morning I woke up not remembering barely anything but with about €1200 gone from my account. I know that it is entirely my own fault for going in there with such a stupid amount of money on my card but it was my first time ever going into one and we hadn't planned on going to one that night. Anyway, I was absolutely distraught over this. I went to the police station there and to be fair they took my complaint about the club seriously, got me an English translator, and gave me documentation saying that I was a victim of fraud. When I sent all this off, along with a letter explaining what had happened, to Bank of Ireland, they rejected my claim because they don't refund chip and pin transactions. I'm just wondering if there is any point of appealing it if that's the case and if so what would be the best way of going about it.

I realise I got what I deserved really for going to such a place but I just feel terrible about it still and it happened a month ago. I've always been extremely careful with my own money and I can't comprehend what happened really. I'm pretty sure I was spiked in there because upon entering I was given a 'free' shot and I literally remember nothing beyond drinking this and I remember everything beforehand clearly, but I didn't mention this in my police report or my first claim because I thought it would sound unrealistic and just stupid really. I realise that the chances of me ever seeing that money again are almost nil but any advice would be appreciated, I feel like I should just try making an appeal considering I went to the trouble of getting documentation off foreign police.

I should probably add that we were quoted a price when we entered the club of €45 and that's what my friends who didn't use card spent in there. Two of my friends who tried to use cards in there had the transactions rejected by the card and one who did use card had €600 taken from him, although me and him stayed in there for longer than the rest. I realise I must sound like a complete idiot throughout this post but I still feel so depressed and ashamed over losing that much money and if there's any way possible of making a successful claim I may as well try it.
 
Can I just clarify and simplify this?

You had a chip and pin card.

So you took out or approved €1,200 by entering your pin.

Someone spiked your drink.

Was it one transaction? Was it in the name of the club?

Brendan
 
It was two transactions of €600 each. Both were in the name of the club and both were chip and pin transactions. Sorry for not being more clear in the original post.
 
You didn't lose your card and find that the thief used it fraudulently.

You entered your pin on a transaction - twice.

If your card had been used in a place where you had never been, you would have a good chance of getting a refund.

But there isn't much, if any, evidence of fraud here.

You should contact the European Consumer Centre to see if you can take any action against the club. Maybe contact the club to find out what the expenditure was for?

Brendan
 
An expensive lesson; unfortunately you haven’t a leg to stand on. As my late grandfather used to say, you won’t be late for school again.
 
hurlaway said:
I realise I got what I deserved really for going to such a place
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Eh, no you didn't. You were ripped off. Here is a link detailing some cases of alleged fraud similar to your own case.

http://www.krakowpost.com/4766/2012/04/scam-allegations-against-krakow-strip-club

Perhaps a call to the Financial Ombudsman might assist? Certainly if there two lots of €600 taken, the bank records can probably show that there were several other attempts made to illicit cash. I'm not sure if its any help, but the more options you avail of the better chance that you may get something, if not all, back.
 
Big Short, all the Irish bank are concerned about is whether I entered my PIN when prompted to pay €600. It doesn’t matter that I was bananas drunk.

The “victim” should take it up with the Seedy Eastern European Strip Club Regulatory Authority.

Or if that doesn’t exist, just grin and bear it becuse there’s no way that the Irish bank (and indirectly the taxpayer) should foot the bill.

An expensive lesson; but one to move on from.
 
hurlaway said:
I went to the police station there and to be fair they took my complaint about the club seriously, got me an English translator, and gave me documentation saying that I was a victim of fraud.
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This sounds very strange to me.
What exactly did the documentation say?
How could the police say that you were a victim of fraud if they did not investigate the case, interview other witnesses etc. and nobody was prosecuted let alone convicted of any crime?

BTW - if it was me I'd probably cancel the card and get a replacement just in case and on the offchance that it had been skimmed or otherwise compromised.
 
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Gordon Gekko said:
the Irish bank are concerned about is whether I entered my PIN when prompted to pay €600. It doesn’t matter that I was bananas drunk.
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Yeh I get all that. Just trying to help. One of the cases listed in UK however states that the bank refunded money when it was shown that multiple attempts were made to spend the card even though the limit was exhausted.
In other words, if a plausible case can be put together, backed up with documentary evidence (from polish police, bank records) plus inquiries by financial ombudsman, consumer affairs etc....its possible, just possible that the bank, may offer some relief from the bill.
Perhaps they wont, but up to this lad to consider if worth trying.
 
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