I got an unauthorised debit of €500 euros on my Deutsch Bank credit card which did not show up until the end of the month in my bank statement. The narration was that the card was used to make a withdrawal at an ATM in a remote part of Berlin. I made a complaint at the bank and I was advised to file a police report which I did.

I got a letter from the Staatsanwaltschaft basically saying they could find feckall after "investigating"

I need advice on what to do next as I have no culpability in this. I almost always use my Giro card and I’ve only used my credit card once on an ATM outside a Späti (good chance there was a dodgy card skimmer there)

Any ideas how i can get my money back? Will sending this letter to Deutsch Bank suffice?

by kaylypso

4 comments

  1. i dont think you will get your money back but yea send it to the Deutsche Bank

  2. Depending on your credit card contract and the type of transaction (e.g. whether it was authorized with your PIN code), you may be able to get a refund from your bank, but they usually require you to provide some proof that you’ve filed a police report.

    Bank cards (no matter if credit or debit) are incredibly insecure and banks know this, but they choose to compensate fraud victims instead of improving the security of the system because it’s cheaper.

  3. Yeah, these types of crimes rarely lead to finding a culprit. All the state prosecution can do is request the camera footage of the ATM, but if this happens weeks ago, the chance is high that the footage is already deleted. And even if not, especially on an ATM, it is pretty easy to have enough disguise on your face to hide your identity. And even if they have a clear view on the culprits face, they need to find him. Generally, the chances ate slim and the effort for 500€ is regularly too high.

    Best way is – as other mentioned – to contact the bank.

  4. How did the criminal get hold of your card and PIN?

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