The Financial Supervisory Commission stated that an abnormal transfer occurred at Wing Fung Bank, and nearly NT$40 million was transferred out of the accounts of 419 customers. The picture shows Wang Yunzhong, deputy director of the bank. (Photo by reporter Wang Menglun)
[Reporter Wang Menglun/Report from Taipei] Wing Fung Bank reported today that a new system was outsourcing, and NT$100,000 was transferred out of a public account for no reason. In response, the Banking Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Commission stated that it had received a report of a "major incident" from Wing Fung Bank. According to regulations, 7 days after the notification, The investigation and investigation results of the incident will be formally reported to the Financial Supervisory Commission within a few days. In addition, the account of Beifu Bank that was remitted has been temporarily frozen. According to bank statistics, there are 427 remittance records, each of approximately 100,000 yuan, with a total amount of approximately more than 40 million yuan, and a total of 419 people affected.
Sino-Fung Bank suddenly reported that abnormal transactions had occurred in customer accounts. It was reported that some customers had orders and funds transferred automatically from their accounts without operating the mobile banking APP, causing outsiders to pay attention to whether there was a hacker intrusion or an abnormality in the bank's information system.
Wang Yunzhong, deputy director of the Banking Bureau of the Financial Supervisory Commission, stated that Wing Fung Bank has been asked to clarify the cause of the incident and initially grasp the inflow of relevant funds. The same collection account has been frozen and funds will not flow out. Wing Fung Bank has also proactively informed customers and returned the affected funds in the form of "advance payment" to ensure that customers' rights and interests are not affected.
Wang Yunzhong pointed out that SinoPac Bank is currently actively clarifying the cause of the information system abnormality involved in this incident. Whether it is a problem with the mobile banking APP itself or a hacker attack is still under investigation. There is no confirmed result yet, so it is temporarily inconvenient to explain to the public.
In response to outside concerns, are the same hackers involved, or have similar incidents occurred in other financial institutions? Wang Yunzhong pointed out that no relevant notifications from other banks have been received yet. In accordance with the major incident notification regulations, if a financial institution has an information security or public security incident, it should first notify the Financial Supervisory Commission by phone within 30 minutes of discovery. We have not yet received relevant notifications from other banks.
Wang Yunzhong pointed out that Wing Fung Bank has removed the new version of the mobile banking APP from the shelves. If customers have automated transaction needs, they will be guided to use the old version of the mobile banking APP or ATM to reduce subsequent risks.
As for whether the Financial Supervisory Commission will send personnel to conduct special inspections? The Banking Bureau stated that at present, the bank will conduct its own internal inspection. After the bank submits the inspection results, it will decide on subsequent relevant supervision and handling based on the investigation situation and the cause of the incident.
Wang Yunzhong pointed out that SinoPac Bank has classified this incident as a major incident. Subsequent regulations must formally report the incident investigation and investigation results to the Financial Supervisory Commission within 7 days after the notification. "The Financial Supervisory Commission will further discuss the follow-up handling measures based on the report submitted by the bank."
In addition, if there is a vulnerability in the bank's internal information system instead of being hacked by hackers, will the bank be fined? The Banking Bureau stated that it still depends on the circumstances and reasons of the incident and the bank's relevant responsibilities. Therefore, it will not preset a position or whether to impose a penalty.
As for why this abnormal transaction was concentrated into the same account, as well as the actual background of the receiving account, the flow of funds and other details, the Banking Bureau said that relevant units are still investigating, and the receiving account has been frozen in advance to ensure that the money will not be withdrawn or transferred out.
Regarding some people’s reports that their accounts were being operated abnormally even though they did not open the mobile banking APP, and there were even reports that facial recognition and other biometric recognition mechanisms were cracked, the Banking Bureau stated that it is still clarifying the relevant technical details and cannot yet confirm the actual cause.
The Banking Bureau stated that the incident at Sino-Fung Bank occurred near noon today. The relevant investigation and customer notification operations are still in progress. The Bank will continue to monitor the results of the bank's inspections to ensure the safety of customer funds and the order of financial transactions.
