Criminals extorting money do not target only elderly people. Recently, a man claiming to be a bank employee called a woman from Wrocław who was temporarily staying with family in Bolesławiec. The caller told the woman that a loan had been taken out using her details and instructed the 30-year-old to log in to her bank account and check the account balance.
When the woman said that she had not applied for any money, she received information from another “bank employee” about how she could cancel the alleged liability. Following the instructions, the victim, dictated by the fraudster, submitted a loan application that was supposedly intended to help ensure that she did not fall victim to cybercriminals.
Investigators: – After receiving approval, the woman went to one of the banks in Bolesławiec to withdraw the money and, following the criminal’s instructions, deposit it into a specified cash machine using a BLIK code.
They added: – The vigilance of the bank employees and their immediate cooperation with the Bolesławiec police officers made it possible to prevent the crime.
The result? The woman from Wrocław did not lose her money. Police officers warned her near the cash machine where she was supposed to deposit part of the cash.
Bolesławiec officers:
The 30-year-old believed her callers because the telephone number displayed on her phone belonged to the bank. The criminals used telephone spoofing; this increasingly common fraud involves impersonating other telephone numbers so that the caller can then use them to call the victim. Technology makes it possible for the caller to manually enter a number and its description, which will be displayed to the recipient as an incoming call.
Officers urge caution:
Any telephone request to transfer money or provide bank account details should be treated as an attempted fraud. In such a situation, it is best to enter the bank’s number manually, call, report the received call and verify the information provided.