Gave her boyfriend her bank card: woman must repay money from phishing fraud

Anyone who gives a partner free access to their bank account may have to answer for the consequences. That is the lesson of a final judgment by the Regional Court of Frankenthal (Palatinate) of 18 September (case no. 9 O 46/25), reported on 29 October by the legal news sites Legal Tribune Online and beck-aktuell. A man from Grünstadt had fallen for a common phishing scheme: after a text message linking to a fake bank website, a supposed bank employee called him and obtained his online banking details under the pretext of "updates". Almost 6,000 euros were then transferred from his account to a Sparkasse account belonging to a woman from Wuppertal.

The woman said she knew nothing about the fraud. She said she had given her then-boyfriend her bank card because he told her he was in trouble, and that he withdrew and spent the money before the relationship ended. The court's 9th civil chamber left open whether that was true, as it made no difference. The money had arrived in her account without any legal basis and had to be repaid. Because she had handed her account over to the man, she had to be treated as if she had known the money was of criminal origin – even if she did not benefit herself.

According to LTO, the court relied on the rules on unjust enrichment (Section 812 of the German Civil Code) and attributed the ex-partner's knowledge to the woman by analogy with Section 166; it rejected the argument that the money had already been spent. According to beck-aktuell, her only option is to seek the money from her ex-boyfriend – whether she will succeed is uncertain. The case shows the risk of handing over a bank card or account access to someone else – even within a relationship.