The traders are called to be alert banks following an incident of “imported” fraud on Bullet. An organized circuit, from abroad, deceived a businessman, convincing him to change his bank codes, as a result of which all his money was lost. A Greek-speaking woman introduced herself to him as a bank employee and informed him that his account had been compromised and asked for a security procedure with the introduction of new codes. The call appears to be made from a phone number that actually belongs to the bank, and the businessman dealing with it didn’t think for a second that it was a scam.

This is the new fraud technique that has also appeared in Greece known as “Caller ID spoofing”.

New scams – New techniques

As it has been repeatedly mentioned, along with the rapid development of e-transactions at the international and domestic level, the field of action of fraudsters is also expanding, who are developing their techniques, and focusing on how they will be able to deceive and deceive the citizens rather than seeking to breach or “hack” a bank’s system.

“Frauds are constantly expanding and evolving,” according to converging reports from bank executives to APE/BPE, explaining how fraudsters are deceiving unsuspecting citizens by either manipulating them into making payments themselves or transferring money to accounts managed by the fraudsters, either by intercepting their e-Banking codes, their credit card details and One-Time Codes (OTP) received at that time and required to authorize transactions.

In particular, fraudsters, in order to approach their potential victims, pending new institutional regulations, use various technological possibilities for fraudulent purposes such as:

– They spoof the caller ID (callerID spoofing), which is technically possible WITHOUT hacking the bank’s systems, so that another phone number (caller IDspoofing), such as the official number of a bank, appears on the victim’s phone.

The scammer will call or text, pretending to be a bank employee, and to sound even more convincing they may use the name of a person who actually works at a bank.

He may also know some additional information such as the first 4-6 digits of the card (which are common bank identifiers) and claim to close the account or close the card due to fraud.

To limit illegal Caller ID spoofing, several countries have recently enacted relevant legislation requiring telephone providers to implement various technical measures to limit the phenomenon (e.g. USA, Germany, Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland, Malta, Sweden).

– They fake a person’s voice or image/video, using Artificial Intelligence, to reproduce their voice or image from a video they have published on the internet (AIvoice cloning, AI video cloning, AI deepfake). The scammer can then contact (phone call, video conference, text) the person’s colleagues, friends or family members and use the cloned voice and/or image to trick them into asking for money.

Typical forms of defrauding citizens:

– Electronic “fishing” of information (card, online banking codes, etc.), the well-known phishing, through fraudulent email or SMS messages or other messaging applications (e.g. WhatsApp Messenger, Facebook Messenger).

– Fraud attempts under the pretext of approving government benefits, where fraudsters contact unsuspecting citizens by phone or via emails, SMS or other messaging applications.

– Fraudulent phone calls with the pretext that either there is an alleged technical problem with e-banking and cards or their computer is infected with viruses. The calls are made by strangers impersonating either technicians from the bank itself or technicians from a large IT company.

– Investment scams where strangers approach their victims either by phone, email or social media posts, pretending to work for supposedly large foreign investment firms and promising them high returns by investing money through virtual (fake) investment platforms on the Internet.

– Fraudulent payment orders via email and messaging applications where fraudsters try to manipulate professionals or traders dealing with businesses, either as suppliers or customers, into transferring money to fraudulent bank accounts.

– Fraud to broker an illegal money transfer, where fraudsters try to convince unsuspecting citizens to broker an electronic money transfer by offering a percentage of the money as a fee.

– Scams through online ads purporting to sell cars, mobile phones or other products with the aim of their victims sending down payments or the full amount, but never receiving what they bought.

According to permanent and timeless recommendations of banks, citizens should:

– Be especially wary of phone calls and messages informing them of alleged problems with their accounts, cards or e-Banking.

– If they suspect there is a problem with their accounts or cards, go directly to e-Banking or m-Banking themselves.

– Immediately end the call or any other communication and call their bank’s customer service number themselves.

– When contacting them, never reveal passwords or their personal and financial information, even under the pretext of depositing money.

– Be especially wary of online and social media ads that promise high returns.

– To activate the notification services to be informed as soon as a transaction has been carried out on their account or card.

Citizens should ALWAYS remember that banks will not call or send a message (eg email, SMS) to:

– They ask you to disclose your personal information, such as account and card details, ATM codes and access codes to e-Banking, Mobile Banking services.

– Inform you that your account or card has been locked or has a problem and at the same time direct you to a website to fill in login codes for e-Banking, your card details or One Time Code (OTP) in order to resolve the alleged problem.

EET and TtE farms

The most frequent forms of fraud have also been reported in the recent past by both the EET and the Bank of Greece.

EET’s latest campaign was a continuation of the previous corresponding initiative “One pause is enough” which aimed to inform the entire population and was completed in February 2024.

In the same context, the Bank of Greece’s recent information campaign on secure payments and protection against electronic fraud.

Citizens can be informed in detail about the various types of electronic fraud from the website of the Hellenic Banking Association and the Bank of Greece.

https://www.bankofgreece.gr/trapeza/koinwnikh-eythynh/xrhmatooikonomikh-ekpaideysh/prostasia-apo-hlektronikes-apates