Police officers from Lubin received a report from a resident of the city that an unknown perpetrator had hacked into her social media account and then, impersonating her, asked the woman’s friend in a message for a PLN 1,000 loan via the BLIK application. After receiving the code, the criminal withdrew the money from an ATM.
Police:
Once again, we appeal for caution. The “BLIK” method is a new form of fraud used by criminals extorting money. They steal a person’s “identity” online. They then impersonate that person and, taking advantage of trust, ask their friends to provide a BLIK code.
Scammers most often add that they are standing at the checkout and want to pay for their shopping, but their payment card has happened to expire that day. Alternatively, they ask for a quick loan to make an online purchase, promising to return the funds the next day.
The officers stress:
Let us remember to use devices with internet access carefully, as only vigilance and prudence can prevent fraud. We should remember to protect our access passwords, log out of applications every time we finish using them, and avoid opening emails from unknown senders.
They add:
We also remind you that scammers often impersonate the websites of banks or popular auction and social media portals. Let us remember that, if any doubts arise, we should not enter our login or password.
For our part, we will only add that fraud is punishable by between six months and as many as eight years in prison.