Through Martin Leduc
Published on
See my news
We already knew about phishing, in the face of which it requires particular attention. A new scam has been around for a few weeks. It’s about “vishing”contraction of “voice” and phishing, therefore, for phishing.
The principle is simple: a (fake) bank adviser calls you and gives you confidence. “He has a lot of information about her to give credibility to his scam: identity, address, bank card details, even account number”, we explain on cyber-malveillance.gouv.fr.
The scammer then claims to have identified suspicious actions in your bank account. Which are in fact orchestrated by the latter, or by an accomplice. We are talking about “purchases by credit card, adding a beneficiary and transfers”, specifies Cyber-malveillance.gouv.fr.
How do scammers get access to so much information?
Several ways may have been employed.
The information used by the scammer to target the victim and give credibility to his scam could have been obtained by phishing, account hacking, virus stealing passwords on one of the victim’s devices (computer, telephone, etc.), etc. , note cyber-malveillance.gouv.fr.
From there, he will explain to you that you can cancel these actions, by communicating to him one or more codes received by sms. This is where the scam takes place. These codes, it is the scammer himself who sends them to you, and they are actually used to… validate the actions mentioned.
How to protect yourself from it?
The phrase “caution is the mother of safety” has never been truer. We must therefore be very wary of all messages, whether by phone or email, and calls. If in doubt, do not hesitate to contact your bank.
An advisor from your bank will never ask you to provide him with your password, confirmation codes or to perform validation or cancellation actions on your banking application for alleged fraud in progress on your accounts. .
In addition, you should never validate operations that you did not initiate, even if your interlocutor pretends that it is a question of canceling them. “A bank adviser will never cancel an operation by sending a code by text message”, firmly reminds a banker from Brittany, contacted by news.fr.
And to prevent personal information from falling into the wrong hands, Cyber-malveillance.gouv.fr also advises to update regularly, to use an antivirus, and never to install an application or software from a site which is not the official site.
What to do if you have been a victim?
If you have ever fallen into the trap, like many other victims, you must immediately oppose it with your bank.
It is also necessary to identify with it the fraudulent operations that have been carried out. Depending on the case, a refund may be requested. So keep all the evidence, because a complaint may be necessary.
You can also report the facts on the Perceval platform, created for this purpose, and call the info scams platform, which can advise you on the steps to take. The number is 0 805 805 817, and it’s free, open from 9 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.
#vishing #phone #scam
