Cyprus Police
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, has received a number of complaints from citizens, in relation to the new fraud, which is committed by telephone calls via a communication application, with the perpetrators falsely posing as operators of a well-known online banking institution (Revolut).
The fraudsters falsely inform unsuspecting victims that, for reasons of security of their bank account, they must report and indicate during the video call, identity and bank card details. 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 must confirm the transaction through the banking institution's application. The public is urged to be particularly careful and to take the following protection measures: -To NOT respond to calls and instructions received from the perpetrators -To not disclose to other persons, sensitive information such as passwords, one-time codes, PINs, account details, identity details and bank card/account detailsCitizens 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 declared 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.
