Cyprus Police
WHATSAPP CALL SCAM - IMPERSONATING ONLINE BANK
The Police advise the public to be careful in relation to a new fraud, by perpetrators who, in telephone video calls with citizens, falsely present themselves as online bank operators, aiming to steal money from citizens’ accounts. The Electronic Crime Sub-Directorate, of the Police Headquarters, received a number of complaints from citizens, in relation to the new fraud, which is committed with telephone calls via the communication application – WhatsApp, with the perpetrators falsely posing as operators of a well-known online banking institution.
The scammers falsely inform unsuspecting victims that, for reasons of bank account security, they must provide and indicate their identity and bank card details during the video call. After the victim reveals the aforementioned details, the perpetrators proceed to steal the available balances of their bank account. In fact, the perpetrators falsely inform unsuspecting victims that in order to complete the security of their account, they will have to confirm the transaction through the banking institution’s application. The public is urged to be particularly careful and to take the following protective measures: Do NOT respond to calls and instructions received from perpetrators Do not disclose to other persons, sensitive information such as passwords, one-time codes, PINs, account details, identity details and bank card/account details Citizens should verify the identity of the people calling them, by communicating through the official customer support channels of the banking institutions In the event that any banking data was disclosed to the perpetrators during such a call, the public should IMMEDIATELY inform their Banking institution to avoid unwanted use of their data and available financial balances.