15,000 Customers Return $11 Million "Free Cash" Gotten During Bank's System Glitch

• Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has recovered from customers most of the funds it lost during a systems glitch over a week ago
• Of the $14 million lost, the bank has been able to get back $11 million thanks to customers who willingly sent back money
• The bank's head says that over 500 individuals are yet to return the money they erroneously withdrew from the bank

Legit.ng journalist Victor Enengedi has over a decade's experience covering Energy, MSMEs, Technology and the stock market.

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has successfully recovered almost 80% of the funds lost due to a technical malfunction that permitted customers to withdraw or digitally transfer more money than their account balances permitted.

Legit.ng had reported that the incident, which occurred on March 16, 2024, resulted in approximately $14 million being withdrawn or transferred erroneously.

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The issue arose during a system update intended to enhance the bank's operations, affecting more than 15,000 customers.

Transactions stemming from this glitch varied in value from 9 cents to $5,350.

Customers willing to return funds

Earlier, the bank's head, Abe Sano, pointed fingers at university students, attributing a significant portion of the "theft" to them, alleging that they extensively spread information about the glitch through social media platforms.

CBE has now disclosed that approximately 15,000 individuals have willingly returned funds acquired unlawfully.

However, there remains a group of 567 individuals who have yet to return funds that rightfully belong to others.

In what seems to be an effort to encourage their compliance, the bank has publicly shared their names and account details.

Sano said:

“The total amount remaining is not significant for the bank, but if this money is not fully recouped, it sends the wrong message.”

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According to BBC, CBE was established 82 years ago and is Ethiopia's largest commercial bank, overseeing over 38 million accounts.

As of mid-2021, it commanded nearly 67% of all deposits and 53% of all bank loans within the nation.

In a similar incident, the Bank of Ireland, in August 2023, experienced a technical issue that allowed customers to withdraw or transfer more money than was in their accounts.

Nigerian bank loses customers’ N1.7bn to hackers

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Globus Bank Limited suffered a major setback after hackers withdrew customers' funds amounting to N1.755 billion following a system glitch.

According to court documents filed by the bank before a high court in Lagos, the fraudulent transfers were carried out by hackers who took advantage of a technical issue in the bank's USSD channel.

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While the bank has recovered N817,998,969.85 from the fraudsters' accounts, it remains unable to retrieve N962,019,843.35 that was transferred to accounts held in eight commercial banks within the country.

Source: Legit.ng