Money stolen from bank account

When I looked at my bank statement this month there was a debit of more than 1000 francs which was not made by me. I mostly communicate with my bank by email so maybe somebody hijacked my email account or maybe my debit card was skimmed.

Either way, I want to know whether I can get my money back. Is there any legal protection for fraudulent transactions? Can I get the bank to pay?

Hi there,

As a general rule, Swiss banks do not accept liability for fraudulent transactions when your bank information is stolen over the internet (when you use online banking or email banking, for example). The main reason for this is that the bank has no control over your devices, software, email servers and online habits. When bank details are stolen using malware or other harmful software on your computer, there is nothing the bank can do about it and no way that they can verify that transactions are in fact fraudulent.

However, banks tend to be accomodating with regards to online banking and may reimburse part of the loss if there is sufficient reason to believe that transaction made were indeed fraudulent.

If the theft results from a skimmed or stolen debit card, most Swiss banks will be more accomodating. In many cases banks will reimburse at least part of the stolen money. The moneyland.ch guide to protecting yourself from card skimming provides useful tips on protecting your card data.

Best regards from Moneyguru