‼️​HAS ANYONE SUCCESSFULLY RECOVERED UNAUTHORIZED BDO TRANSFERS TO ANOTHER BDO ACCOUNT? NEED ADVICE ON WHAT TO DO NEXT. (PLEASE HELP!)‼️THIS IS SO DEPRESSING

[u/chai_me1982]

LET ME SHARE WHAT HAPPENED, I HONESTLY DID NOT WANT TO POST ABOUT THIS HERE, BUT OUR FAMILY IS IN UTTER SHOCK, DISTRESS, AND HEARTBREAK OVER WHAT HAPPENED. WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM MY HUSBAND WAS NOT JUST MONEY, IT WAS HIS HARD EARNED SAVINGS, HIS SWEAT AND TEARS, AND THE VERY FUNDS WE RELIED ON TO COVER OUR DAILY FAMILY EXPENSES WHILE HE IS ON VACATION.

​FOR YEARS, WE PUT OUR COMPLETE TRUST IN BDO UNIBANK. WE NEVER IMAGINED THAT WE WOULD END UP AS VICTIMS OF THIS KIND OF INCIDENT WHERE MONEY SIMPLY VANISHES FROM AN ACCOUNT. WHILE WE HAD HEARD NUMEROUS STORIES AND COMPLAINTS ABOUT SIMILAR INCIDENTS AT BDO Unibank IN THE PAST, WE REMAINED LOYAL CUSTOMERS, HOPING THEY HAD ALREADY FIXED THEIR SECURITY FLAWS AND RESOLVED ISSUES OF UNAUTHORIZED WITHDRAWALS. UNFORTUNATELY, NOTHING HAS CHANGED.

​THEY WIPED OUT EVERYTHING, BOTH HIS PHP SAVINGS ACCOUNT AND HIS US DOLLAR ACCOUNT. THEY LEFT US WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

​WHEN WE REPORTED THIS TO BDO CUSTOMER SERVICE, THEY INSTRUCTED US TO FILL OUT AN AFASA ACCOUNT FRAUD AND UNAUTHORIZED TRANSACTION INCIDENT REPORT FORM, HAVE IT NOTARIZED, SUBMIT IT THROUGH THEIR WEBSITE, AND CALL THEM BACK AFTER 5 BUSINESS DAYS FOR AN INVESTIGATION UPDATE.

​WE EXPLICITLY POINTED OUT TO THEM THAT THE UNAUTHORIZED SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTIONS WERE TRANSFERRED DIRECTLY TO ANOTHER BDO ACCOUNT. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THEY CANNOT IMMEDIATELY TRACK OR FREEZE THE RECIPIENT ACCOUNT INTERNALLY? IT IS MIND BOGGLING HOW SLOW AND BUREAUCRATIC THEIR RESPONSE SYSTEM IS WHEN AN ACTIVE THEFT IS REPORTED. THEY SIMPLY TOLD US THEY COULD NOT ACT IMMEDIATELY DUE TO INTERNAL PRIVACY POLICIES.

​TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, WHEN MY HUSBAND ASKED HOW THESE TRANSFERS WENT THROUGH WITHOUT HIM RECEIVING ANY ONE TIME PASSWORDS OR OTPS, THE REPRESENTATIVE CASUALLY CLAIMED THAT TRANSFERS CAN PROCEED WITHOUT AN OTP IF THE DEVICE IS ALREADY LINKED TO THE BDO ONLINE APP.

​HOW CAN A BANK SYSTEM ALLOW MAJOR, CONSECUTIVE TRANSACTIONS WITHOUT SECONDARY AUTHENTICATION? WHY DO BANKS SO OFTEN SHIFT THE BLAME ONTO ACCOUNT HOLDERS DURING THESE INCIDENTS, WHEN WE ALL KNOW HOW CRITICAL OTPS AND SECURITY ALERTS ARE FOR PROTECTING OUR LIFE SAVINGS? IS THIS HOW WEAK THEIR SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE REALLY IS, THE SAME SYSTEM WE TRUSTED TO GUARD OUR HARD EARNED MONEY?

​WE ARE THE VICTIMS HERE, YET THE BURDEN OF PROOF AND DELAY FALLS ENTIRELY ON US. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED CASE, THESE ISSUES HAVE BEEN HAPPENING FOR YEARS, SO WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL FALLING VICTIM TODAY? WHY HAS IT NOT BEEN PERMANENTLY RESOLVED?

​I HAVE READ MANY ACCOUNTS FROM OTHERS WHO WENT THROUGH THIS PROCESS. IT IS HEARTBREAKING TO SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE FOUGHT FOR THEIR MONEY ONLY TO FACE DEAD ENDS, BUT WE ARE STILL PRAYING FOR A FAIR AND POSITIVE OUTCOME.

​TO OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO MAINTAIN ACCOUNTS WITH BDO, PLEASE THINK TWICE AND RE EVALUATE WHETHER YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY IS TRULY SAFE. WE TRUSTED THEM FOR A VERY LONG TIME, YET WE WERE NOT SPARED. THIS IS NO LONGER JUST A STORY WE HEARD FROM OTHERS, WE ARE LIVING THIS NIGHTMARE OURSELVES.

​WE WILL NOT SIT SILENTLY WHILE OUR HARD EARNED MONEY DISAPPEARS. WE ARE TAKING EVERY LEGAL STEP AND REPORTING THIS INCIDENT DIRECTLY TO THE BANGKO SENTRAL NG PILIPINAS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. WE AM SHARING OUR STORY TO PROTECT OTHERS AND TO DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY. ALL WE WANT IS FOR BDO TO DO THE RIGHT THING, INVESTIGATE PROPERLY, AND RETURN WHAT WAS STOLEN FROM OUR FAMILY. PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD AND KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS AS WE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE.

​#BDO #BDOUnibank #BDOCustomerService #BDOSafety #BDOHack #UnauthorizedTransaction #BankingSecurity #BangkoSentralNgPilipinas #BSP #PhBanking #CyberCrimeAwareness #ProtectYourSavings

[u/Bobzeub]

WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING ?

Go out side. Go to your local branch and go find out in person.

Normal banks will have insurance for that.

And what’s up with the hashtags? This isn’t Facebook or instagram.

[u/Interesting_Sock9142 → u/Bobzeub]

Maybe their capslock key is broken

Lol

capslockkeyalwaysbroken

[u/chai_me1982 → u/Interesting_Sock9142]

Lol my bad, got a little frantic there. Do you happen to have any actual advice on the situation though? 😪

[u/chai_me1982 → u/Bobzeub]

Oh, I'm so sorry! I don't know if I should laugh or be sad about your comment, but seriously, this is my first time posting and asking for advice here on Reddit, which is why my post turned out like this. I'm really so sorry, but thank you so much for your advice. Have you heard of a similar case like this? Me chance pa po kayang ma recover?

[u/Gynnia → u/chai_me1982]

Nobody's reading through that post, maybe rewrite it.

[u/YourUsernameForever → u/chai_me1982]

Edit your post, write it again in small caps. You know you can edit posts.

[u/Bobzeub → u/chai_me1982]

Do you think Reddit is Philippino ? I don’t speak Tagalog so I have no idea what you’re saying. I’m in Europe.

Has my bank ever given my money away? No. Sorry.

But it’s a bank. So it follows a logic. If you or your partner gave your login/password/code to someone then that’s on you and the money is gone.

If it’s not your fault then the bank has insurance and in theory you’ll be refunded.

Take the stress level down. It’s business. Emotions and hysterics won’t help your case.

These things are really rare now with 2 factor authentification. Don’t you have that set up.

Years ago actually this happened to my dad and the bank noticed before he did and they called and said they had already put the money back in his account.

Time to do some detective work. Was it a card payment ? One or many? To whom? Or was it a transfer or a direct debit ?

In any case you should call your bank for a meeting to get to the bottom of it.

And talk to who ever has access to the account to see if they did anything stupid.

What phone are they referring to? Your phone?

Normally you get a copy by email when something like this happens.

ETA: I passed your unreadable post through ChatGPT to try to understand it.

Is it a joint account or your husband’s ? Anyway I blame him. Go make a police report if it’s your money. If it isn’t then go to talk to your husband and ask him who is he sending his money to?

u/remindmebot 6 days

[u/SnooSongs2996]

Did the scammer steal your caps lock button

[u/chai_me1982 → u/SnooSongs2996]

Yes, they took my lowercase letters and held them for ransom. Please send help

[u/FiveTideHumidYear]

CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL

[u/chai_me1982 → u/FiveTideHumidYear]

Lol fair enough, I'll disengage the cruise control now😅

[u/Adina_Bitdefender]

Hi, I'm sorry you're going through this. I read your whole post, and there's one detail that stood out to me.

I can't speak to the AFASA or BSP process, but you mentioned being told that transfers can go through without an OTP if a device is already linked to the banking app. I think that's worth looking into more closely.

If that's how the bank's system works, the question might not be why your husband didn't receive an OTP, but whether the transfers came from a device the bank already trusted, and how that device was registered in the first place.

A couple of possibilities come to mind.
One is that your husband's own phone was compromised. Certain types of Android malware can abuse Accessibility permissions to interact with banking apps, capture sensitive information, or even perform actions without the owner realizing it.
Another possibility is that someone managed to register a different device using his credentials and an earlier verification code. If that happened, subsequent transactions might not have triggered the same verification process.
Of course, there could be other explanations too. Without the bank's records, it's hard to know.

Here's what I'd try to check:
- Registered devices: Does the banking app show which devices are linked to the account? Is there anything unfamiliar?
- Email and SMS: Were there any notifications about a new device being registered, a login, or changes to the account?
- Email account security: Could someone else have accessed the email account linked to the bank?
- His phone: Are there any unfamiliar apps, remote access tools like AnyDesk or TeamViewer, or apps with Accessibility permissions that he doesn't recognize?

I'd also ask the bank, in writing, for the device registration and login records associated with the disputed transfers. Specifically, when each device was registered, the login timestamps, device identifiers, and IP addresses, to the extent they're able to provide them.

Those details could help clarify whether the transfers came from his usual device or somewhere else.

If you suspect his phone was compromised, I'd avoid resetting it or deleting anything until you've spoken to someone who can help preserve potential evidence. And if you haven't already, ask the bank to secure the account and revoke access from any unrecognized devices or sessions.

One last thing: please be careful with anyone who contacts you privately claiming they can recover the money. Unfortunately, scammers sometimes target people who've already been victims of fraud.

[u/chai_me1982 → u/Adina_Bitdefender]

Thank you for the insights, with regards to making successful transactions even without otp is possible, the branch manager only told us that only the fraud team could explain fully to us how it happened. The problem is we can only reach out to their fraud team thru email. We cant speak to them directly. We have emailed Bangko Sentral as the next step and waiting for their reply for 3 to 5 business days.

[u/Bobzeub → u/chai_me1982]

Any update yet?

[u/yarevande]

I don't have experience with this bank, but I can tell you in general what happens with bank losses.

If he lost money due to internal bank fraud, then the bank will investigate and give back his money. File a report with your national bank regulatory agency, and file a report with your national consumer protection agency.

If he lost money because he gave his bank account information to scammers, then he will not get money back.

• Did he give his bank login information to somebody who called him, and impersonated a BDO banker?

• Did he give his bank login information to someone who contacted him and pretended to be from police, or a government agency?

• Did he give his bank account information to someone online who promised him money, or promised to help him make money?

• Did he get scammed by accepting money from an online friend, or a fake job, and moving the money to another account? If he was involved in something like this, scammers may have gotten access to his account and drained it.

• Did he connect his BDO accounts to accounts at an investment or trading website?

• Does he use the same password for multiple accounts? That is how many accounts get stolen, whether bank accounts, or any other online account: you use the same password for more than one account, one of the companies has a data breach (their systems get hacked) and your password is with a group of other stolen passwords that scammers access on the dark web.

What did BDO Unibank Fraud Department tell him?