Scams in the banking world are evolving every day. One of the latest forms is online scam.
In today’s digital world, scammers don’t show up looking dangerous. This is the new face of digital fraud, a form of deception in cyberspace. From scammers posing as helpful customer service representatives, to fake accounts offering assistance, to fake agency officials sending application links.
Here are some types of scams commonly used by fraudsters to deceive people online.
Posing as a Bank Customer Service, scammers pretend to be real customer service agents by imitating their voice, phone number, and even their way of speaking.
For example, if they are impersonating BCA, scammers would use numbers like 1500888 or other similar ones, claiming to be a Halo BCA’s Customer Service.
The scammer speaks just like a Halo BCA Customer Service agent and relays fake information to the would-be victims, saying that there are suspicious transactions on their account or credit card, which the victim will naturally deny because they believe they didn’t do said transaction.
The scammer will then offer help to cancel the suspicious transactions. They will ask the victim to open a link that they’d sent, asking them to fill in the ‘necessary information’ so the transaction can be cancelled.
This trick is usually effective because the fake Customer Service doesn’t ask for the victim’s personal data directly, but convinces them to input their personal details via the provided link instead.
Fake account scams are prevalent on social media platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram. The scammer creates a fake blue-check account, pretending to be the official bank account.
If they are pretending to be BCA’s official account, the fraudster will use BCA’s logo, the BCA Expo’s logo, or other BCA logos taken from BCA’s official website or official accounts.
To make it seem more authentic, the scammer would add a blue check on the profile picture, even though the real blue check on official accounts doesn’t appear inside the profile picture, but next to the account name on social media and next to the phone number on WhatsApp.
Similar to the fake customer service scam, the fraudster would claim to be a representative of BCA and give false information, which could be something positive (such as winning a prize, reward points, etc.) or something alarming (such as suspicious transactions, account blocking, etc.).
The victim will either feel excited or panicked, losing focus and eventually being tricked into sharing personal information, either directly or through a link provided.
Once the fraudster has the victim's personal data, the bank account or credit card becomes their target for theft.
Scams involving fake links have many variations. One that is currently happening often is a fake link scam where the fraudster pretends to be an official from a government agency such as the Population and Civil Registration Agency, the Tax Directorate, BPJS, etc.
The scammer’s speech would be very convincing, offering attractive deals to trick the victim.
The victim would then be instructed to click on a link and install a provided app, following all of the fraudster’s instructions.
Shortly after, the device would be infected with malware, allowing the fraudster to steal personal data and even the victim’s account balance.
Tips to Avoid Digital Scam Methods
- Stay calm, don’t panic or get too excited. When scammers provide false information, they are hoping to trigger panic or excitement in the victim, making it harder for them to think clearly. This is what scammers rely on to guide their victims into following their intentions.
- Protect your personal data. Never share banking details (such as PINs, passwords, OTP codes, CVV/CVC numbers, card expiration dates, etc.) with anyone through any platform.
- If someone send you a link or an apk file, don’t click the link or download the file carelessly, and remember the danger of malware.
- Always remember official contact numbers, accounts, and website links for BCA.
- Call halo BCA at 1500888
- WhatsApp Bank BCA at 08111500998 (blue check verified)
- Official social media accounts of BCA can be found here
- Use antivirus apps or built-in phone software to protect your devices from harmful apps and malware.
Always be vigilant against the latest scam methods, and keep yourself updated with www.bca.co.id/awasmodus to avoid online scams!