Money transfer is a common banking transaction. Considering it’s frequent occurrence, many people become careless when making transfers. This is exploited by malicious individuals to deceive victims.
Cases of fraud using the "guided transfer" mode have occurred repeatedly. The latest scam strategy involves guiding the victim to transfer to a Virtual Account (VA) number with a falsified name.
The trending scheme involves fake letters about increased interbank transfer cost. In the future, scammers may use other tricks/methods while still guiding victims to transfer to fake VA accounts.
Recognizing the common modes used by malicious individuals can decrease the risk of becoming a victim of this crime. Let's find out tips to avoid such scams.
Tips to Avoid Scam Modes
Here are some safe tips for making transfers to avoid scam modes.
1. Check if it's from an official BCA bank number/account.
Who is contacting you? If they claim to be from BCA, check if it's indeed an official Halo BCA number/account. If claimed to be from someone you know, verify the authenticity of their number/account. If you don’t recognize them, remember BCA's message: If you don’t know, just say NO!
2. Be careful if you're being guided to make a transfer.
In recent fraud cases, victims are often tricked into unknowingly being guided to transfer funds to the scammer's account. The tip is to realize that you're in the transfer menu activity.
In recent cases, victims are frightened by information about increased interbank transfer rates. As a result, victims unknowingly agree to be guided to transfer funds to the scammer's Virtual Account, which has been custom named as "OLD RATE," deceiving the victim. Currently, there are several e-commerce applications that allow us to change the Virtual Account name as desired.
3. BCA never asks customers to transfer funds.
Know that BCA bank never asks customers to transfer funds, whether to a regular account number or a Virtual Account.
When you realize you're being guided to transfer funds, immediately stop the transfer activity and end the chat/conversation with the party claiming to be from the bank.
These are tips that can be done to avoid fraud with the guided transfer mode to scammer's accounts. If you have already fallen victim to fraud, report it to Halo BCA at 1500888.
Keep updating yourself with information related to scam modes from the AwasModus article to increase awareness.
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