A Vietcombank ATM cardholder in Ho Chi Minh City is demanding that the bank resolve a case in which he lost VND18 million from an ATM account while there was no SMS sent to his mobile phone to confirm the money withdrawal. Doan Van Phai, residing in Go Vap District, said he made a total of three transactions at a Vietcombank ATM booth on August 10. He withdrew VND9 million in the morning, transferred VND10 million in the afternoon, and finally received a transfer worth VND50 million at 5:45pm, all contributing to settle his ATM account balance at VND55.4 million before what he called a mysterious money loss occurred. (VND10 million = US$480) At 9pm he received an SMS saying that VND 1,650 had been deducted from his ATM account, a small amount that Phai said he didn’t care about at the time. Many banks in Vietnam are offering SMS Banking service, which allows users to receive SMS messages whenever their ATM accounts are changed. A day later, however, Phai discovered that VND18.1 million has vanished from his account when he checked his balance at 5pm. He immediately contacted the bank to block his ATM account, and was informed that the money was withdrawn between 9-10pm a day earlier. “But during that time I didn’t receive any SMS about the withdrawal,” he told Tuoi Tre. “It’s also impossible that someone had stolen my ATM card and conducted the transaction as I always carry the card and mobile phone with me,” he asserted.Not fake card crime According to video records of Vietcombank, the person in question professionally conducted the transaction by exposing the fewest possible body parts and wearing a helmet, face mask, and jacket. The person is also seen in the video pressing the buttons on the ATM with his or her little finger, and quickly cleaning the fingerprints left afterwards. Phai asserted that he has no idea who the person is, and insisted that the bank verify who the culprit is, and find out why he didn’t receive the SMS message when the account was changed. However, Vietcombank chief officials from the Card Division told Tuoi Tre that someone has taken advantage of Phai’s ATM card to steal the money. This is not a case of using a fake ATM card crime, the bank said. At the time of the withdrawal, Phai had VND55 million in his account, but only VND18 million was withdrawn, while ATM card fakers usually empty the account, the bankers explained. Moreover, the person in question didn’t steal any money from Phai after the August 10 transaction. The recorded video also shows that the person conducted the transaction with an authentic Vietcombank Connect24 card, rather than the white card the criminals usually use. The withdrawal was also made at the same ATM booth Phai often uses, the bank said. “If it is verified that Phai is a victim of ATM card crime, Vietcombank is willing to repay 100 percent of the money he lost,” the bank representative said. As for Phai’s question of why he was not informed of the withdrawal via SMS, Vietcombank supposed that the person who stole his ATM card also took his cell phone and deleted the informing message after committing the theft. Phai, however, asserted that his mobile phone is protected by a password that only he knows. Vietcombank said it has transferred the case to police.