Filenews 31 October 2024
Police are urging caution in relation to a new scam by perpetrators who in video phone calls with citizens, falsely pose as online bank operators, aiming to steal money from citizens' accounts.
The Cybercrime Subdivision of the Police Headquarters received a number of complaints from citizens in relation to the new fraud, committed by phone calls through the communication application – WhatsApp, with the perpetrators falsely pretending to be operators of a well-known online banking institution.
Fraudsters falsely inform unsuspecting victims that, for reasons of security of their bank account, as well as to update their details, they must indicate and indicate during the video call, identity and bank card details. After the victim reveals the above information, the perpetrators steal the available balances of his bank account.
In fact, the perpetrators falsely report to unsuspecting victims that in order to complete the security of their account, they will need to confirm the transaction through the banking institution's app.
The public is requested to be particularly careful and to take the following protection measures:
- Do NOT respond to calls and instructions received from perpetrators
- Not to disclose to other persons, sensitive information such as passwords, one-time passwords, PINs, account details, identity details and bank card/account details
- Citizens to verify the identity of the people who call them by contacting through the official customer support channels, banking institutions
- In case the perpetrators were declared any banking data during such a call, the public should IMMEDIATELY inform their Banking Institution to avoid unwanted use of their data and available funds
