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Scammers send false pay stubs and coordinate calls with suspected bank employees
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Experts recommend avoiding giving bank details to strangers and making transactions only in cash
(CRHoy.com) With several screenshots of the supposed payment made for the sale of a computer and using an Uber service as a messenger, a scammer managed to gain the trust of a young woman who ended up without the computer she sold on Facebook and without money in her Bank account.
This young woman is one of the 2,716 victims who have reported to the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) scams when selling some products online. The statistic reflects data from January 1 to December 7, 2020.
In the case of this young woman, there were several actions that led her to trust the alleged buyer that even after receiving the computer, kept calls and messages for several days worried that apparently he had had a problem with the deposit, there he made a second scam with the bank account.
The young woman put a computer up for sale in early December in the Facebook virtual store and got several interested people.
He met with the final buyer in a public place on a Saturday to finalize the sale, before the meeting, the buyer gave him three screenshots of the supposed deposit from a Banco Popular account.
Minutes before the meeting he warned him that he had had a crash, but that would send an Uber driver to remove the computer and thus not delay it.
The young woman tried to verify the payment, but since it was a transaction from a public bank to a private one during a weekend, They indicated that the money would be reflected in the bank account until Monday.
On the same Monday, the false buyer contacted her in the morning to indicate that the bank had notified her that the funds were frozen and that they needed to contact her to verify some information and finalize the transaction.
Although by that time she already had suspicions that it could be a scam, the young woman received a call from a number that appeared to be from the bank, they even put the music of the institution with the internal menu and at that moment the scam was completed .
The money from his accounts was transferred to an account and was withdrawn at a cashier in a supermarket in Tibás. In the end, he lost the ₡ 260,000 from the sale of the computer plus the money he had in two of his bank accounts.
Increasing mode
According to the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), The type of fraud related to the purchase or sale of goods has increased in the last four years:
- In 2017, 866 cases were reported.
- In 2018 the figure increased to 1,187.
- In 2019 the cases rose to 1,927.
- By 2020, 2,716 cases were received.
According to the OIJ, scams in all its forms increased during 2020 thanks to the pandemic caused by COVID-19; They do not rule out that the number of scams is greater and that some people do not report it for fear of retaliation.
“The offender realized that to illegitimately access people’s assets he had to resort to a different place and then he resorted to virtual environments and that caused an increase in the amount of fraud or crimes that were forged through the networks or through the use of telephone methods (…) ”indicated this Monday the director of the OIJ Walter Espinoza.
Criminals have not only impersonated buyers, but also sellers who have the same common purpose, to establish a relationship of trust that obtains bank information.
The main objects with which scams are committed are with video games, computers, electronic equipment.
The OIJ warned that people look for recommendations from the seller on social networks and to find out if there is a physical store or references on the web. In addition, if they are low-denomination purchases, they can be made directly and in cash.
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