Unite Union advocate Mike Treen is questioning the security of online banking platforms after thieves stole $13,000 from his Kiwibank account. Photo / Alex Burton
A high-profile union boss is questioning the security of internet banking platforms after fraudsters accessed his online Kiwibank accounts and drained $13,000.
However, Kiwibank is defending its systems as robust and says the man was most likely victim to a scam.
There are also suspicions information on the man’s phone may have been compromised when the device was serviced at a shop, providing thieves with potential access to his log-in and password details.
Unite Union advocate Mike Treen was shocked to receive an email on July 21 from Kiwibank’s fraud department.
He rang the call centre and learned $13,000 had been siphoned from his cheque account that day in three separate transactions – $5000 and $3000 to different ANZ accounts and $5000 to an account registered with SBS Bank in Southland.
The cyber criminals had also secretly moved $5000 from Treen’s credit card to his cheque account to enable the theft.
Treen told the Herald he did not authorise the money transfers, or receive an authentication text alert from Kiwibank to confirm the transactions were legitimate.
He claimed bank staff initially suggested he may be responsible.
“They treated me like I was an idiot, like I had essentially done something to give my password to somebody over the phone.
“They made it very clear that it was up to me to try and fix it.”
