Police officers have repeatedly informed the public about criminals’ methods. One recurring method is fraud during online sales. – This time, a resident of Lubin was defrauded on a portal where she was trying to sell ceramics. The vase, listed for PLN 69, quickly found a buyer – reports junior inspector Sylwia Serafin, press officer of the Lubin KPP. – After exchanging correspondence with the buyer, who asked for her email address, the seller received a message in her mailbox supposedly confirming the transaction. A technical support message from the bank appeared on the victim’s phone screen. All she had to do was follow the instructions to receive her funds. (Read: so that a criminal could take over your money).
The woman who reported the incident received a text message from the bank with a verification code and information that a new device had been added to her account. This was followed by a phone call asking her to confirm the access. (The bank’s name was displayed, while the voice was an automated one.)
At that point, the woman from Lubin became worried that it might be a scam. She then received a call from the same number. Convinced that everything was nevertheless in order, she unfortunately provided the verification code, only to receive a message from her bank a dozen or so minutes later saying that a loan agreement request had been rejected.
When the woman who reported the incident called the bank’s helpline, it turned out that eight international transfers had been made from her account and that the account limits had been changed. In total, she lost PLN 8,600.
Police:
Unfortunately, such cases are not uncommon.
And adds:
We urge people to remain extremely vigilant during online transactions. We encourage everyone to carefully learn the regulations of the relevant portal and how its payments are settled. Let us not click on links sent to us, even if the pages look virtually identical to the originals. Let us also remember not to provide logins, passwords, payment card numbers or security codes. When accepting any transaction on a phone, let us read the message text. It may turn out that we accept a transfer sent by a scammer.