Help! I need some solution to this bank/card fraud issue in VN

    Hello house!
Can I get some advice on what to do in the following situation?

Some 23 million VND was stolen from my account which I reported to the bank immediately on Dec 25, 2023 (The first time it ever happened to me in almost 4 decades). The bank asked me to file for a refund and wait at least 45 days before I can ask about it. This I did.

Long story short, we are now back and forth. It looks like they don't want to refund it. They continue to claim that I bought something (and up till now, we don't know the something!) on Facebook which I never did in my whole life. This is so convoluted as the address of the so called seller who deducted the money without any OTP message to prove any consent or intent to purchase what is not even specified in the analysis document. I tried calling FB and they said they don't know anything about this. The VISA card center requests that all fraud issues be sorted with the issuing bank.

Please, what do I do in this case? Is there any organization in VN that fights for people's rights and justice in this matter? The name of the bank is Agribank.

Thank you all for your attention.
   

    -@drjosh

Clarifying:

You are a US citizen in Vietnam with an account at Agribank?

You have a Visa card with them?

Is it a debit/atm card or a credit card?

@drjosh are you sure? checkouts and payments via Facebook from inside Vietnam? .  Have you ask for a report of sent SMS's and/or OTP's to your registered cellphone number?

Your history is a little weird having the details you have shared, maybe you and the agents in the bank are having troubles in translations.

good luck

The exact same thing happened to my wife who is Vietnamese. Several weeks ago, around midnight, she started receiving a series of text message indicating that charges were being made against her Vietnam bank account. Before she could block the account, 20m Vnd had been debited from her account. The next day she went to the bank and was told that these charges were the result of purchases she had made on Facebook, something that she had never done and did not do. The bank advised her that it would take 45 days for them to "research" this matter and process a refund.

@drjosh  @Ungarb

Which bank(s)?

Vietcombank

@Ungarb Thank you for your comment. Kindly let me know how you solves this issue. Any updates about this yet?

@OceanBeach92107

I am a non-US citizen in Vietnam with an account at Agribank

Yes, I have a Visa card with them.

It is a debit/atm card.

In a later post, @Ungarb said his wife also experienced this issue.

Any suggestions are welcome.

    @OceanBeach92107
I am a non-US citizen in Vietnam with an account at Agribank

Yes, I have a Visa card with them.

It is a debit/atm card.

In a later post, @Ungarb said his wife also experienced this issue.

Any suggestions are welcome.
   

    -@drjosh

Your profile says you are a US citizen...?

Since your card isn't a credit card, you may not have the same purchase protections normally afforded to Visa cards.

Thsis afternoon, sms' from the bank indicated that, in round numbers, of the USD $667 maliciously withdrawn from my wife's account, they have credited the account in the amount of USD$ 419. Monday she is going to the bank to query when the remaining $248 will be refunded.

@OceanBeach92107  SAMOA

The last of the purloined funds have been credited to my wife' s account

    @OceanBeach92107  SAMOA        -@ajairon

Samea, Samoa is the member's self-reported place of residence prior to arriving in Vietnam.

The member's self-reported nationality is American.

    The last of the purloined funds have been credited to my wife' s account
   
    -@Ungarb

Good to hear that, Ungarb.

Any idea who the perp was?

        @OceanBeach92107  SAMOA        -@ajairon



Samea, Samoa is the member's self-reported place of residence prior to arriving in Vietnam.
The member's self-reported nationality is American.
   

    -@Aidan in HCMC

American Samoans do hold a US Passport

@Ungarb Great to hear that the funds have been refunded. Any idea who the fraudster was?

No idea