A single fraudulent phone call, a message with an apparently harmless link, or a hastily scanned QR code can leave a person without their life savings. Moldovans lose hundreds of thousands of lei every day after falling into the trap of increasingly inventive scammers. As phone and online frauds become more sophisticated, specialists explain the methods used by criminals, reports IPN.<\/p>\n\n
Scammers no longer attack technology, but people<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n According to an informative note on social engineering fraud carried out by the European Consumer Centre of the Republic of Moldova, most schemes do not rely on breaking into computer systems, but on manipulating victims. The authors of the document explain that criminals try to exploit people’s fear, haste, and trust in institutions or close individuals to persuade them to transfer money or provide access to accounts and personal data. For this, the fraudsters create situations of urgency, panic, or apparent authority, so that the person reacts quickly and no longer critically analyzes the information received.<\/p>\n\n The most widespread schemes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Among the most common methods are false calls on behalf of banks, messages containing fraudulent links, scams related to parcel delivery and fictitious investments promoted on social networks. The victim is told that there is a suspicious transaction or that their savings are in danger. In other cases, scammers claim to represent public authorities and request the urgent transfer of money into a “safe account”. Another frequently encountered method is the “accident” one, when the person is notified that a relative urgently needs money for surgery or for bribing the police. Increasingly, technologies are used that allow the falsification of the phone number displayed on the screen, so that the call appears to come from a bank, a public institution, or even a relative of the victim.<\/p>\n\n How to recognize a fraud attempt<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Specialists warn that almost all scams have several common elements. The victim is pressured to act immediately, they are told that their money is in danger or that a relative urgently needs help. Another warning sign is when the person on the other end of the line asks you to keep the conversation secret, a clear indication that it’s an attempt at fraud. Specialists warn that emotion is the main weapon of scammers. In many cases, they ask for passwords, confirmation codes received via SMS or the installation of apps that allow remote control of the phone.<\/p>\n\n What a bank will never ask you<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n The National Bank of Moldova emphasizes that financial institutions do not request the card’s PIN, CVV codes, passwords or authentication codes over the phone. Also, the BNM specifies that it does not contact citizens to propose investments and does not ask for money transfers for the purpose of protecting savings. Furthermore, no bank will send an employee to collect cash from a person’s home. The central bank recommends citizens to activate transaction notifications, use two-step authentication, and carefully check online merchants before making payments.<\/p>\n\n What you should do if you have suspicions<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n Experts recommend immediately interrupting the conversation and directly contacting the bank through official numbers. In case bank details have been provided or money has been transferred, the person needs to block the card, notify the bank and report to the police as quickly as possible. According to experts, in online fraud, the first few minutes after the incident are essential for limiting losses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A single fraudulent phone call, a message with an apparently harmless link, or a hastily scanned QR code can leave a person without their life savings. Moldovans lose hundreds of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":450975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[32375,2933,6406,2296,607,40173,6734],"class_list":["post-450976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society","tag-ecc","tag-fraud-en","tag-manipulation","tag-money","tag-nbm","tag-online-fraud-2","tag-telephone"],"yoast_head":"\n