I deal with language, so the structure of this sentence bothered me, but I was in the middle of this tough conversation, I was only thinking logically. Andrzej Purtykowski told me that someone was using my data, that he had my ID number and his PESEL number. That the police were notified. He asked about various things, but did not try to get any sensitive information from me. Although he asked at one point if there were any institutions to contact, I said I would take care of it myself.
Then my red light went on
At one point he asked if I had a second account, in another bank, and mentioned the name. I confirmed. He said that a message from the other bank should arrive soon and asked if I had received it yet. Yes, I received an SMS that my account has been blocked. And that was the moment when a red light went off somewhere on the edge of my conscience. I said no news had arrived, he was surprised. He kept me on the line for a while and then hung up.
I contacted the second bank and found out that the phone call from the alleged PKO MP was an attempt to steal data. These banks do not call and block the account immediately. That someone – possibly “Andrzej Purtykowski” – tried to hack into my account, but the other bank’s security systems worked.
After hanging up, I looked up the number I had been called from – several thousand people were doing the same thing at the same time, identifying it as attempted fraud.
Most cyberattacks go unexplained
I usually consider myself a cautious person. I do not click on suspicious links. I will delete inappropriate text messages immediately. Because of my work, I also received training in cybersecurity. I regularly scan my phone and computer for possible viruses and hacking attempts. And yes, I receive messages that say: “My name is Meyburg Bernd-Ulrich Waldemar. I am 76 years old, born in Hannover, Germany, and I am currently on to admit me to a cancer hospital in Washington, USA for a major operation. For this reason, I want you to receive some money (EUR 1.5 million) into your bank account, which you will spend on charity , supporting the less privileged.
“A little money” is indeed an encouraging suggestion, and the less fortunate is a term I really like. But I will also delete this spam after laughing.
If someone who is rather alert, like me, doesn’t understand the scam right away, it means that many people are being deceived. Not everyone can quickly find a suspicious number on the Internet – digital exclusion in Poland is steadily decreasing, but still around 4 million Poles do not use the Internet . At the same time, fraudsters are perfecting their methods and constantly inventing new ways to trick people.
According to the CERT team working within NASK, the number of dangerous areas is growing rapidlyand according to the findings of the High Audit Office, the effectiveness of state authorities in combating Internet crime is very low – most cyber attacks go unexplained and business is halted. This means that so-called average citizens are left to deal with the growing number of cyber crimes alone.
There are many types of fraud: scam, phishing – this is what happened to me, an attempt to extract data and impersonate the institute’s employees, although there was also an element of spoofing, ie falsifying identification data. Maybe new ones will appear in half a year. And that’s not how these tests happen except for old people. Because regardless of age, vigilance sometimes falls asleep. And that’s when the PR calls. Andrzej Purtykowski.
2024-08-19 07:54:33
#Secret #Andrzej #Purtykowski #red #light
