Recently, the activities of “call centers” have become widespread and garnered significant public attention. *The Page* explains the proper course of action to recover your funds if you have fallen victim to such scams, as well as the situations in which a bank bears no liability for the loss of funds.
Experts state that in fraud cases, evidence is most effective when viewed collectively, as each element reinforces the others, making it difficult to refute or cast doubt on the claims. A call recording reveals exactly how the deception took place. Correspondence provides instructions and payment details. Meanwhile, a bank statement proves the transfer itself (the movement of funds): the amount, the time, and the recipient’s account.
The victim sees only their side of the story. Investigators independently determine who made the call and where the money ended up by working with telecom operators and banks, and by conducting forensic analyses.
To avoid falling victim to call center scams, experts recommend the following:
record the caller’s number, as well as the date and time of the call;
take screenshots that clearly show the caller’s number or account details, rather than just the message text;
do not delete anything, even if you feel embarrassed;
obtain a bank statement regarding the transaction that includes the recipient’s details.
“A court might not accept a screenshot if the sender’s identity is unclear. However, if the time of the call matches the time of the transfer down to the minute, it serves as very compelling evidence,” notes Mykhailo Honcharuk, a lawyer and managing partner at the Honcharuk & Partners law firm. If you voluntarily transfer funds to a fraudster, the bank bears no liability.
Funds obtained through deception pass through numerous accounts—complicating efforts to trace them—before eventually being pooled for distribution among the members of the criminal group.
When it comes to recovering the money, everything hinges on a single question: who pressed “transfer”?
“If funds were debited without your involvement—for instance, if your app was hacked or your SIM card was reissued—the bank might be held liable. Generally speaking, the risk of loss rests with you until you notify the bank, after which it shifts to the bank. That is why you must call the bank immediately. However, if you voluntarily disclosed your card details, PIN codes, or similar information, the bank is absolved of liability,” explains Honcharuk.
According to the expert, if you personally transferred the money or read out an SMS code, the bank views this as an instruction from you. Having executed that instruction, the bank is under no obligation to reimburse the funds from its own coffers. In such cases, the money in the recipient’s account—usually belonging to a “money mule”—is legally classified as an “unjust enrichment” and can be recovered through the courts; however, this requires identifying the account holder, obtaining their details, and so on.
“Naturally, the situation becomes far more complex when the movement of funds—or cryptocurrency—crosses international borders. There is no simple path to asset recovery in such instances; often, the cost of reclaiming what was lost equals or even exceeds the value of the loss itself,” adds Honcharuk.
