Users of the popular Israeli BIT money transferring app complained on social media that their accounts were hacked into and that they were out thousands of shekels, N12 reported on Saturday.
“I received a message that someone just signed in using my details,” wrote one user. “I opened the bank app and saw someone had already made two transactions worth NIS 3,600 each.”
Another user told a similar story, writing, “half an hour ago I received a message from ‘BIT’ that someone signed in with my name on a different phone. Half a minute later I get an SMS with a NIS 1,600 charge and a minute later, another NIS 2,000.”
The app belongs to Bank Hapoalim and was created in 2016, allowing users of all banks to transfer money using their phones instead of having to use cash, credit or bank transactions. Other similar apps in Israel include Paybox and PepperPay.
Bank Hapoalim denied the hacking accusation and called the complaints fraud incidents. “A bank stands behind this app, nobody hacked it, and user information is inaccessible,” said the bank in a statement. “Every case of fraud is handled by us to the satisfaction of our customers, as always.”
“Millions of Israelis transfer money safely and easily using BIT,” the bank said.