There is a new mode in which criminals pose as bank officials to make “synchronizations” with official applications. We tell you what it is.
Some banks offer among their services the possibility of making withdrawals from ATMs without using a card. These transactions are possible simply by supplying codes, account numbers or data that only the holders know, or also by means of functions found in bank applications.
However, a form of scam that takes advantage of this tool to request withdrawals from users via telephone is increasingly common, posing as bank officials.
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This is how Ana María * tells it, a woman who this week was the victim of scammers who contacted her to ask for personal information. On the other end of the line, a young woman informed her that the bank had to synchronize the application with her cell phone number and make some adjustments so that the entity could contact her in case of making large withdrawals.
He was then asked to enter the password for his virtual account to start “a simulation mode” in which they would make the security settings for said withdrawals. Then, he asked him to authorize a withdrawal without a card for the highest sum and to tell him the code that the bank usually provides for the application, this, supposedly, to cancel the transaction.
The young woman on the phone also assured that, in case of hanging up, the application and the account would be blocked because the authentication process would be interrupted.
The victim says that in the background she could hear other “advisers” talking with clients, who told her that the call was being monitored and recorded for security and that she received false text messages in which the supposed bank confirmed a successful synchronization, therefore that he did not suspect that it was a robbery.
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When the real bank informed him via SMS that a withdrawal had been made for the amount established at the Titan Shopping Center in Bogotá, he decided to contact the entity and found that he had fallen into a scam.
This case is not the first received by banks that have the function of making withdrawals without a card, and it is added to other schemes that are carried out by cell phone, such as an impersonation of the bank in text messages.
This consists of users receiving an SMS from their supposed bank in which they notify them that their accesses and products have been blocked. In these messages there is a link to verify the account and there they request personal data and passwords of the holders.
Follow the news of El Espectador on Google NewsAnother type of “phishing” consists of criminals impersonating the bank and sending a notification of “seizure order to the bank account” of the holder via email. The unsuspecting users may end up supplying their data there because of the great similarities that the page has with the real bank.
To avoid falling for this type of scam, remember that no bank communicates with its customers to ask for passwords or reactivate products . Do not provide passwords, users, card numbers, security codes or expiration dates that are requested by any means.
Banks advise that if they offer you prizes or promotions in exchange for giving your passwords or personal data, be suspicious. Do not type passwords or validation codes via text messages or provide them over the phone. Enter them only if you are the one calling the bank.
Confirm the authenticity of the links that come to you by mail and type the page of your bank yourself from the computer. Also avoid using the public internet and third party computers to carry out your transactions.
Finally, if you think you fell for a scam, immediately contact the bank to have your accounts blocked on all channels.
* The name was changed at the request of the victim.
