By Wang Meng-lun and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA
Bank SinoPac yesterday issued full refunds and apologized after a programming anomaly in its new online banking system caused unauthorized transfers of NT$100,000 （US$3,047） from hundreds of customer accounts.
The bank suspended the affected service after the Criminal Investigation Bureau （CIB） received 68 reports by noon, primarily from Yunlin County residents whose funds were mysteriously moved to a specific Taipei Fubon Bank account.
Taipei Fubon Bank said that it immediately froze the receiving account upon receiving reports, suspended its transaction functions and notified the police.
Bank SinoPac in a statement said that a programming anomaly in its new Internet banking transaction system was to blame for the unauthorized transfers.
The bank said it had identified the root cause, suspended the affected service and has already refunded all transferred amounts — along with transaction fees — to customers.
Although the incident originated from an internal system error, Bank SinoPac still urged customers to remain vigilant against scams by avoiding suspicious links and unknown applications.
The Financial Supervisory Commission （FSC） said that Bank SinoPac found the funds were all transferred to a single account at a peer bank.
Preliminary investigations show 427 abnormal transactions of about NT$100,000 each, totaling more than NT$40 million and affecting 419 customers, the FSC said.
Bank SinoPac has already advanced its own funds to reimburse the customers and is required to submit a major incident report by Thursday next week, it added.
Earlier today, the CIB said it had confirmed the incidents with Bank SinoPac and has asked the bank to conduct an internal audit and provide data to police to determine the nature of the crime.
Authorities are also assisting affected account holders in filing reports at local police stations, it added.
Data from the 165 anti-fraud hotline showed that a Bank SinoPac customer reported a fraudulent transfer at 10:48am, prompting the hotline to immediately notify the receiving bank to freeze the stolen funds.
新聞來源：
TAIPEI TIMES