My bank (or one where I don't even bank) keeps sending me statements, alerts and OTP notifications meant for someone else, with their name and account details. How do I get it fixed, and is the bank liable?
1 Answers
This is surprisingly common, and it's a real data-protection failure: the bank is sending one customer's confidential information to a stranger. It has happened to me with several banks.
What to do:
- Don't act on the emails or contact the other customer. Keep them as evidence. Save them with full headers, and avoid forwarding the other person's details more widely than necessary.
- Complain to the bank in writing. Say that your email address is wrongly linked to another customer's record (give the masked account number or name shown, the dates, and the type of messages), and ask them to (a) remove your email from that record, (b) confirm in writing, and (c) investigate how it happened.
- Refuse "visit a branch" or "send your PAN" replies if you aren't their customer. The fix is internal to their records, so you shouldn't have to identify yourself further to stop receiving someone else's data.
- Escalate to the Nodal Officer, then the RBI Ombudsman, if it isn't fixed within 30 days, or if they close it falsely, for example by calling the emails "spam".
- Keep watching. If emails resume, reopen the matter with the new dates.
Get the resolution in writing. Phone confirmations have been used to close my complaints as "resolved" while the emails kept coming.
Related
What do RBI Ombudsman closure clauses like 14(8)(a), (b) and (e) mean?
1 answers
The RBI Ombudsman closed my complaint saying I "confirmed resolution" on a phone call. What can I do?
1 answers
Should I accept a bank's goodwill compensation while my RBI Ombudsman complaint is pending?
1 answers
The RBI complaint portal keeps rejecting my text. How should I write the complaint?
1 answers
My bank keeps sending template replies and moving its own deadlines. How do I escalate effectively?
1 answers