“Many account holders, debit and credit card holders, have reported to us that in recent weeks they have received several messages which appear to have been sent by presumed banks regarding hypothetical bank transfers or other types of operations, and which simultaneously ask for confirmation or blocking through telephone numbers. We invite anyone who has received this type of communication by text message or email to contact their credit institution and never dial the number indicated”. Thus Adiconsum Palermo Trapani raises the alarm on the spread of the so-called phenomenon of voice phishing, also known as vishing, a fraud attempt in which the fraudster contacts the victim by telephone or via voice message in order to steal the victim’s personal data such as credentials access to online current accounts and credit and/or debit cards. “It is a phenomenon that has been known for a couple of years now, it is necessary to keep a high level of attention to avoid the risk of not seeing the restitution of the stolen sums recognised. And it is a phenomenon that transforms over time, we have in fact learned of other tricks on the part of scammers such as that of posing as postal police agents who ask for the execution of bank transfers, which at first sight appear to be addressed to accounts in the name of the unfortunate victim, so-called accounts ‘technicians’ created ad hoc to transfer, according to the scammers, all current account availability to a ‘secure’ account free from fraudulent attacks. But that’s not the case!” explains Antonio Rocco, head of Adiconsum Palermo Trapani. “To be increasingly convincing then, often, together with the call, ‘sms alerts’ are simultaneously sent to the victim’s mobile number, apparently coming from the bank where the credit relationships exist, with which OTP codes or you indicate the name of the operator with whom you are speaking or refer to the data of suspicious transactions”. Hence the advice to prevent fraud from the lawyers used by Adiconsum:~do not enter your telephone number in online forms (for example, when purchasing online), unless strictly necessary; be wary of telephone requests allegedly coming from your bank for personal data or other sensitive data. In fact, credit institutions do not contact the customer by telephone to request the execution of any operation, nor do they require the disclosure of personal codes; never confirm sensitive details; never call back a number left on the answering machine; ensure that email/web security is up to date and includes anti-phishing features.~”Unfortunately if you believe you are already a victim of one of these scams, Adiconsum, both in the territorial headquarters in Palermo and in Trapani, is available to assist you in ‘activity aimed at recovering what has been lost’, adds Rocco. “Given such a worrying increase in the sending of these messages, we believe that it is essential – comments Federica Badami, territorial secretary of CISL Palermo Trapani – for those who, unfortunately, fall into the scammers’ network, to know that they can count on Adiconsum and its experts . In times of crisis like the one we are experiencing, in fact, it is increasingly necessary to know how to protect ourselves from these attempts which threaten the savings of families, pensioners and many workers”. To contact the Consumer Association which is part of the CISL world, you can write an email to the address: [email protected]. The Palermo headquarters is located in via Sacra Famiglia n. 18 (tel. 091.307761 – 388.8822243), in Trapani in Piazza Ciaccio Montalto n. 28 (tel.3891331582).
