Sevastopol police warns: remote scammers continue to steal money from gullible citizens

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Bank cards have become a part of the life of most modern people everywhere. Their use is considered the most convenient way to receive wages and social benefits, as well as to make settlements. At the same time, remote scammers also keep pace with technological progress and steal money from bank card holders. The Sevastopol police spoke about such a recent incident.

49-year-old local resident received a call from an unfamiliar citizen who introduced himself as a security officer of a financial institution and reported allegedly unauthorized actions with the funds in her bank account. To “prevent money from being written off,” the stranger demanded to immediately tell him the SMS password received by the woman. Caught off guard by an unexpected call, the victim followed his instructions, as a result of which more than 158 thousand rubles in savings were debited from her account. Currently, employees of the internal affairs bodies are taking all the necessary measures aimed at identifying and searching for a criminal , — said the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the city of Sevastopol.

In order to avoid such crimes, the Sevastopol police recommend taking the following precautions:

When receiving such calls, it is necessary to remain calm, reasonable and critical of the words of a stranger, no matter who he appears to be. It should be noted that attackers may know banking terminology and have some information about you (for example, they will contact you by name and patronymic), as well as make a call from a phone number identical to the number of the bank serving you, or send a scanned copy of a fake ID of a law enforcement officer. However, it should be remembered that real employees of banking institutions and law enforcement officers do not ask for confidential bank card data, do not require the transfer of funds to a «reserve account» and do not insist on obtaining a loan under various pretexts.

Only remote scammers can handle the above requirements. In this situation, we recommend that you immediately stop the telephone conversation and contact the bank that serves you to make sure that everything is in order with your savings.

If you have suffered from fraud, then you must immediately contact the nearest territorial division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia or report it by phone 102.