police call for vigilance

“We have seen an upsurge in fraudulent acts involving ‘false bank advisers'”, indicated Monday the staff of the Departmental Directorate of Public Security of the Côte-d’Or (DDSP 21). ” The wishes (contraction of English words voice et phishing )” is a new scam “with fake bank advisers by telephone which has been gaining momentum since 2022”, continues the DDSP 21. “Since June, more than 1,500 victims have declared themselves on the government platform (Cybermalveillance , note), including a dozen complaints in Dijon. »

“Victims are often robbed of several thousand euros”

The principle of this scam is as follows, explains the DDSP 21: “The scammers will call you pretending to be a bank adviser, reporting fraudulent movements on your account. They request information from customers, including certain codes to validate transactions. The victims are often robbed of several thousand euros. Sometimes scammers already have information about their victim through Vitale card renewal phishing. This is often what will allow the bogus bank adviser to call you already having information, to put the victim in confidence. »

“It can affect everyone”

The DDSP 21 continues: “It can affect everyone. Most of the time, the fake bank advisor calls you with a typical number 06 or 07, which is suspicious because your bank will never call you with this type of number. However, sometimes scammers manage to steal your bank’s phone number. »

Advices

Faced with this phenomenon, the DDSP 21 gives advice: “As soon as a ‘bank adviser’ calls you to inform you of fraudulent movements on your account, you thank him kindly and call your usual bank adviser and you will check yourself on your account. Never [il ne faut] give him your account password, or confirmation codes, and you do not validate any operation. »