A woman from Bolesławiec County called us to report that in April someone twice tried to extort money from her via Messenger using the “BLIK” method. The woman immediately realized that scammers had hacked into her friends’ accounts. The first attempted fraud took place on April 10, and the second—yesterday.
The matter was reported to the police. Fortunately, our informant was not fooled. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case. In February, złotoryja police officers received a report from a county resident who informed them that his social media account had been hacked. The local KPP:
After the scammers gained access to his profile, they took the next step. Using a popular messaging app, they sent messages to his friends asking them to provide a BLIK code. The man allegedly needed an urgent loan. One family member replied to the message. The woman sent a BLIK code, which the scammer used to withdraw almost PLN 1,000 from the account. Unfortunately, the woman realized that she had been scammed only afterward.
What can you do to avoid becoming a victim of this crime?
Officers: – BLIK fraud is a popular method used by criminals to extort money. Under no circumstances should you provide codes without verifying the authenticity of the information you have received—even if the person who writes to us is someone we know and are close to. We must be aware that someone may have hacked into our friend’s account and, exploiting our familiarity, may be trying to deceive and rob us. If we want to help, we should first contact that person, preferably in person or by phone, without using the messaging app. Let us confirm whether they actually sent us the message.
And they appeal: – Let us be cautious during such transactions. Let us protect the security of our data and the passwords we use online.