The online scams are growing – The Greek Banking Association calls alert

There is no end to the ingenuity of Internet skills that using technology make frauds against unsuspecting citizens who are customers. Recently, customers of banks and other financial institutions receive a call that seems to come from their Bank—as the telecommunications provider’s call recognition service displays to the customer his bank’s phone number—in fact comes from malicious third parties who have been taking advantage of existing technological capabilities and without having violated the bank’s systems, they call on acting bankers and try to intercept sensitive banking data (username & password, card numbers, PIN, OTPs, etc.) in order to extract money from their victims’ accounts. As a rule they invoke the need to use these elements to supposedly protect the client from malicious actions and fraud. CORVERSE This new fraud that is growing internationally and for which the Greek Banking Association (ETT) calls the public alert, is known as Caller ID Spoofing (change of call number and interception of a real number). As the EET notes, these calls, to become even more credible, are usually made immediately after a failed telephone attempt to deceive the same client. In the second call, malicious third parties claim to be calling from the Bank that identified the previous fraud attempt and call to protect the client. As electronic fraud typology “travels” very quickly from country to country, the EET recommends that the trading public be very careful when receiving such calls. As the EET advises: Be especially careful with calls that appear to come from your Bank but the interlocutor asks you for sensitive banking data. Always remember that during a genuine communication from your Bank, even if you do not expect it or indeed concerns transaction verification, you will never be asked to disclose sensitive banking items such as those described above. If you receive a similar call or during a call you feel they are trying to cheat you, end the call immediately and call your Bank customer service number. Never type ‘codes’ that indicate you during such calls. Please read very carefully the entire messages sent to you by your Bank by SMS, OTP or Viber OTP and do not restrict yourself to searching and typing the six-digit disposable code. The EET also points out seven points that one must be careful to understand a fraudulent call. Specifically: The good does not allow you time to think, ask for more information or discuss with another member of your family as “there is no time”. He tries, citing the same reason, to prevent you from communicating with your Bank himself. They request your card details, your entire PIN or your e-bank passwords (user name & password). During the call you receive SMS from the Bank and your partner claims it is to cancel the fraudulent transaction. In fact, it does not require any single use code to cancel any fraudulent transaction against you. You are asked to transfer your money to another “safe” account or to make a “virtual”/ “test” transaction. You are asked to go to ATM to withdraw or transfer to an account that will indicate you. They tell you that you are a victim of fraud and they will send a courier to your home to give them your card and your PIN or money that they persuaded you to take over from ATMs to protect them. They call you on the fixed phone and ask for information about your mobile device or urge you to turn it off.