Credit card users must be careful! Credit card fraud is becoming more and more sophisticated. In fact, there are those who use the old scam methods again, like the following chronology of fraud (as told by one of the victims)
Fraud Chronology
The victim receives a call from someone claiming to be from Visa/MasterCard company and is selecting a credit card user deemed creditworthy. They would be given an appreciation or reward in the form of a voucher to stay at a 5-star hotel whose location could be chosen in all cities in Indonesia. So convincing was the caller that the victim believed him.
The scammer will ask for a deposit in case the voucher was used. They convinced the victim not to worry because the funds will be returned within 3 months if the voucher was not used. Also, the victims will be asked to wait for the courier to deliver the gift voucher.
The courier finally arrived, delivered the voucher, and asked for the victim’s BCA credit card to prove that he/she was the package's rightful recipient.
As soon as the victim took out the card, the courier took it and inserted it into the EDC machine and then asked the victim to enter the PIN on the machine. The victim was taken aback as soon as he/she learned that the number shown on the machine is much greater than what was initially mentioned.
The courier asked the victim to talk with another person pretending to be the manager to get an explanation. The victim will be asked to settle the transaction during the phone conversation. The victim complied and enter his/her PIN into the EDC machine. Once completed, the courier left immediately.
At first, the victim did not suspect anything. The victim tried to chat with the Manager via WhatsApp (which was given by the courier) to ask for an explanation of the travel voucher, but there was no response at all.
It was only when the victim saw the transaction details that he found an odd transaction of the same value as the transaction on the courier’s EDC, which was recorded at a restaurant in Jakarta.
The victim tried to call the numbers listed on the voucher such as Contact Person for Reservation, and Hotline Service, all to no avail. The victim began to panic and browsed the internet to find information. As it turned out, many had been deceived. And this scam had been going on since 2019 by changing the company name.
Security Tips
Here are some security tips for customers to avoid falling victim to scams like this.
- Do not easily fall for a prize offer, reward, cashback, or anything else from someone purporting to be from a particular institution.
- BCA never offers vouchers, discounts, or anything by visiting cardholders in person using EDC facilities.
- If you have been contacted by someone purporting to be from an institution, always double-check the information through the institution’s official number, or to Halo BCA at 1500888 or via the HaloBCA app, which can be downloaded on Play Store or App Store.
- Never give your credit card to random people, always keep your credit card data confidential such as PIN, card expiration date, CVV/CVC code, etc.
We hope these security tips are useful for other BCA customers. Don’t forget to always keep your data confidential. See other articles at www.bca.co.id/awasmodus to avoid other modes of banking fraud. Share this information with your loved ones.