The criminals’ modality consists of sending a message pretending to be one of the entities that provide the service, mainly VISA.
The Fiscal Unit Specialized in Cybercrime (Ufeci) of the Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that complaints of bank scams grew by 3000% in Argentina during 2020. In this same line, according to a report by the cybersecurity company Avast on 28 % of Argentines received a phishing campaign in the last time and 15% confirmed to have fallen for the bank scam.
So, phishing is the most common banking attack on a local scale: it involves fake email campaigns that impersonate banks and their services. Cybercriminals send the digital scam and use fraud, deception and scam to manipulate their victims and force them to reveal confidential information.
According to information from Ufeci, cybercriminals deceive Argentines by promising “exclusive promotions” or solutions to an operational problem. For this, they request sensitive data that they then use to steal funds from bank accounts.
LOCAL CASES
Banking entities are aware of the situation and, for example, at the end of March the cybersecurity department of Banco Galicia registered a scam via email with the subject “Disabled to operate online”.
Being a matter that surprises users, the bank’s clients open phishing and provide valuable personal information. Therefore, the entity enabled an email box for those users who fell for the scam and alerted the rest of the people about the danger of opening the email and entering data in it.
Weeks ago, Visa detected a similar banking scam: cybercriminals send an email saying that the account will be suspended for “suspicious activities”. Then, they ask to enter a link that requires access to a page with sensitive data such as email and password to reactivate the account.
Also in December of last year, the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) detected a scam in its name. The phishing circulated among thousands of Argentines a misleading email with the subject “The BCRA’s security division.”
But financial institutions are not the only ones affected. In recent days, hundreds of people have fallen victim to a new viral scam that tricks WhatsApp users. It is a virus that hides behind a false propaganda that impersonates the identity of Toyota and Volkswagen to “give away” cars for the anniversary of both companies. Cases were also known where criminals pretend to be the Ministry of Health, report that the person already has a turn to receive the coronavirus vaccine and steal their bank details. To obtain this data, cybercriminals take advantage of the doubts and anxiety generated by vaccination against the pandemic.
WHERE AND HOW TO REPORT
For those who were affected, the first action is to report the situation to the bank, if it were this entity. Once this is done, you have to file a complaint in Consumer Defense, entering here.
At the same time, with the data of the complaint that the user made in his bank, he can present the complaint in the Central Bank (BCRA) by entering the “Unresolved complaints” section. Then, it is advisable to go to a prosecutor’s office or go directly to the UFECI, specialized in cyber crimes.
To mitigate the risks related to technology and security, the BCRA has a text called Minimum requirements for the management, implementation and control of risks related to information technology, information systems and associated resources for financial entities ”.
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