Fraud cases in which scammers introduce themselves as bank employees or employees of other institutions/organizations in order to obtain citizens' banking information have increased significantly in recent times.
What is interesting is that this new fraud trend follows a path that is almost identical to a genuine banking procedure, and citizens are easily taken in by it.
The scenario described by defrauded citizens roughly works as follows:
- The scammer calls the citizen from the same number as their own bank.
- Introducing himself as a bank employee, the scammer directly and correctly states the citizen's national ID number, address, and mother's and father's names, one by one.
- By giving this information, he thoroughly convinces the citizen that he is a bank employee.
- The scammer then states that he is calling from the bank's security department and wants to obtain confirmation of a transaction.
- Telling the citizen that purchases have been made on their card and that large online loan requests have been made from the bank, the scammer asks whether the transactions are known to them.
- Naturally, the card/account holder states that the transactions are not theirs.
- Upon this, the scammer states that the card and account information may have been compromised, and that the card and accounts need to be blocked to prevent purchases.
- He states that a separate code will be sent for the cancellation of each transaction.
- The scammer asks the citizen to key these incoming codes into the phone.
- The citizen keys in the real codes sent by the bank. (The scammer determines which number was pressed from the tone of the keypad.)
- As a result of these steps, the scammer empties the money in the account through internet/mobile banking, withdraws a cash advance on the credit card, or immediately requests what is called an instant fast loan.
- The scammer completes the process by transferring the money to his own account or to intermediary accounts.
You may have seen the fraud scenario described above many times on television, in newspapers, or on the internet. You may even have experienced this yourself. This is because this method appears to be an effective way to make quick money by exploiting a point where we are all humanly vulnerable.
So what should be watched for in this type of fraud case?
Scammers call the citizen from the same number as their own bank
The only difference between this number and the bank's real phone number is that there is a code such as (+1) in front of the number. If an extra code appears in front of the number, caution should be exercised, and information should absolutely not be shared in such cases.
The scammer correctly states the citizen's national ID number, address, and mother's and father's names
First of all, this type of fraud stems from the fact that the identity information of 50 million people was shared on the internet; the risks arising from this information being obtained by others have spilled over into the banking sector, affecting alternative distribution channels (internet banking and mobile banking). Although it is not possible to log in using only this information thanks to two-factor authentication (a password the customer knows, plus a code sent by SMS), this information increases the likelihood of intercepting the code sent by SMS.
He states that, due to the possibility that the card and account information has been compromised, the card and accounts need to be blocked to prevent purchases, and that a separate code will be sent for the cancellation of each transaction
Banks' security departments monitor all financial transactions carried out through the bank around the clock using certain criteria and filters, and call customers to request transaction confirmation for transactions identified as risky. Before obtaining this confirmation, depending on the risk of the transaction, they ask certain security questions to make sure they are speaking with the real card or account holder. They then give the transaction details and ask whether the transaction was made by the customer. If the customer does not confirm the transaction, they close the card if it was a card transaction, or block the passwords and accounts if an unauthorized transaction is detected on the account through the internet/mobile banking channel. At no point in the process of blocking the card do they ask the customer for any password, nor do they ask the customer to key a password into the phone. Because of this type of fraud, even genuine confirmation calls made by bank security departments can now be regarded by customers as fraud. As a result, fake transactions or card fraud that could otherwise be detected through customer feedback to the bank can no longer be identified, and the transaction-confirmation process is obstructed.
The scammer asks the victim to key these incoming codes into the phone. The citizen keys in the real codes sent by the bank. The scammer transfers the money from the account to his own account or to intermediary accounts
The scammers' goal is to obtain the password and codes needed to log in to the citizen's internet/mobile banking. Having the advantage of holding the national ID number, they attempt to reset the password known to the customer. The scammer needs the verification code required to recreate the internet/mobile banking password sent by the bank via SMS. The scammer asks the victim to key this code and the passwords sent to the citizen by the bank into the phone. In this way, by resetting the internet/mobile banking password, he takes over the victim's account.
After logging in to internet/mobile banking, the scammers' target is to seize the money in the customer's account, withdraw a cash advance from the credit card, withdraw what is called an instant fast loan, and transfer this to their own accounts or to intermediary accounts.
At each step of these transactions, the bank sends a code to the mobile phone. This is the situation in which victims see codes arriving on their phone one after another. In this way, having convinced the victim that many transactions have been carried out on their cards and accounts, the scammers deceive them by claiming that a separate code will be sent for the cancellation of each supposedly completed transaction.
The fraudsters are highly organized and are thoroughly familiar with every detail of banking procedures. In this type of fraud case, while banks generally should not share a citizen's banking information with third parties, banks typically assume that the citizen did share it, and place the entire responsibility on the defrauded citizen, which is why such incidents cannot be prevented.
So what should we do to avoid falling into this type of situation?
- Do not answer calls from numbers you do not recognize. In particular, calls from a series of private numbers are used to create a corporate company image. Such numbers should be treated with caution.
- No prosecutor or police officer calls someone and demands that they come to a particular place. They may say, "come to the Police Headquarters." You can go to the Police Headquarters yourself and look into all the details there.
- Research the current fraud methods being used by scammers at regular intervals, and stay informed about such methods.
- Do not call phone numbers that reach you through channels such as email or SMS.
- For matters such as banking where your private affairs are involved, have the authorized staff verify the accuracy of the number you are calling.
- When you are going to contact places such as banks, use the phone number on the back of your card.
- Do not have conversations that require entering private information in public or in a loud voice.
- If you suspect that this method is being used against you, report the situation to the authorities.
