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Beware of social media scams
25.02.20
THE Garda National
Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) wish to warn people in
Inishowen to be aware of social media enabled fraud.
As in all scams, the goal of the fraudster is to
deceive victims into parting with their money or to
reveal access details to their bank accounts or
credit cards.
The most recent scam is targeting customers of a
banking institution via advertisements on Facebook:
• The advertisement refers to internet banking and
invites the customer to take a tour of the system
for a small reward (€15 or €30).
• The customer clicks on the link, to a 'fake' login
page.
• The customer enters their login details – these
details are now in the hands of the fraudster.
• The fraudster takes control of the account, and
sets up a new ‘beneficiary’ on the account, to whom
money can be transferred.
• The customers will receive an automated text or
SMS from the bank, with a code to authorise the
addition of the ‘beneficiary’ to the account.
• The customer will then enter the code into the
‘fake’ account which is captured by the fraudsters,
or intercepted via malware on a computer, laptop or
mobile phone.
The customer's bank account can then be emptied
within minutes. |
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Beware of social media scams on
Facebook. If in doubt, don't do it. |
The warning signs
include:
• Social media advertisements offering ‘rewards’ to
people, who must take some action that will reveal
their bank account details or credit card numbers
and access codes to same.
• To get the ‘reward’, the customer must click on a
link in the advertisements that will bring them to
their bank login page.
• The customer is then required to login to their
bank account in order to get the ‘reward’, thus
revealing their log in details and password or pin
number or other code.
Detective Chief Superintendent Lordan of the GNECB
warns the public to 'stop and think'. He would also
like to remind the public to never share banking
details, pin numbers or passwords with unknown
persons online. If it sounds like it is too good to
be true, it is probably not true. If in doubt, don't
do it. |
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