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Thus, a Vilnius resident lost 4,000. 3 thousand euros were stolen from the accounts of other victims. euros or slightly less money. Scammers in Lithuania do not invent the bicycle. Time-tested methods are used for deception. Only the details change: in this case, an offer is sent to “update the Smart ID profile”.
Valerija Kiguolienė, Communications Manager of the Lithuanian Bank Association (LBA), has named the five most popular fraud schemes, the actions of which so far help scammers empty the pockets of Lithuanians who have lost surveillance.
Data theft
This is known as “phishing” or fraud to obtain illegal data illegally, and is one of the most common forms of fraud. Through email, SMS, and phone calls, scam artists pose as representatives of well-known and legitimate organizations, such as law enforcement officials or bankers, and seek to impersonate personal Internet banking data.
“Be very careful with any request or suggestion you receive from a stranger. Don’t forget the main recommendation: never reveal your personal Internet connection data to anyone and never “, – V. Kiguolienė advises on how to protect yourself.
Investment fraud
Chances are many of you have received unexpected calls from strangers, who often portray themselves as “investment experts” in Russian. Arrogant interlocutors generally offer to “invest” in gold or oil, citing an exceptionally favorable economic situation.
According to V. Kiguolienė, accredited investment experts do not offer their services by calling strangers:
“Therefore, it is better to reject such calls immediately. However, if you continue the conversation, ignore the pressure of the caller you will really feel, do not be afraid to appear rude, do not be persuaded to download computer programs. It is very important If you are tempted to cheat once, don’t forget that you may have to deal with fraud in the future. “
Commercial fraud
Another popular fraud model is a bogus business manager, bogus bills. To pretend to be the head of a company or falsify an invoice, scammers find out about the company’s structure and processes in advance, and often through internal correspondence. They make letters and communication as convincing as possible and encourage the victim to transfer the company’s funds to the account of a supposedly trustworthy partner and, in fact, a scammer.
“Clear and consistent internal processes can help in these situations. Create a verification request by email. Pags. Payment requests sent. This may be the four-eye principle, a necessary call to control for an authorized contact person. For payments that exceed the established limit, install an additional procedure to verify the account number and the beneficiary.
Avoid too much detail when advertising your business – don’t share information about internal processes and procedures. Update antivirus programs etc. technical security measures ”, – the advice was shared by the LBA communication manager.
Fraud in the supply of goods
The fourth model of fraud is luxury brand products at a ridiculously low price. Also unprecedented e-stores with loud ads. These are typical cases. Payment will generally be requested by advance order. At that time, it would be naive to expect to receive the product in general, especially as promised.
According to V. Kiguolienė, if the offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is: “Be sure to verify the information and don’t rely on arrogant advertising, especially one that requires taking advantage of the offer here and now.”
Romantic scams
Scam artists often seek to profit by manipulating human emotions and feelings. In cases where a new correspondent friend, a foreigner, introduces himself as a soldier serving a secret mission and after a time requests “small” services, for example, to pay customs duties for the delivery of his belongings, To make another financial order, it is not uncommon in Lithuania.
In more difficult cases, virtual lovers have “married” on websites that provide that service to build trust. When the truth becomes clear, the situation is particularly painful, as romantic scammers often don’t waste time working: communicating with a potential victim can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
The LBA representative points out that communicating online is excellent, but you should be careful with money transfer requests: “Also, do not provide your payment cards, online bank details, copies of personal documents, do not place junk orders on another person’s name. An apparently innocent act can make you part of a money laundering plan, and money laundering is a crime. Ignorance does not exempt one from responsibility.
More practical advice
It is important to critically evaluate all the information received through electronic channels and by phone answering some questions.
Who do I contact? Strictly do not trust the information received if it did not reach your phone or email box in response to your request, such as the official address of the bank’s customer service department. If you receive an email with an unusual offer, a request from an unknown recipient, be especially careful. And if you present yourself as a representative of a well-known company, service or other institution, apologize and end the interview and find the necessary contacts of the specified organization on the Internet, call and check if that person works there and if the circumstances described above were true. .
Is there any attempt to affect me emotionally? A story about a troubled relative, a self-imposed request from a manager to transfer money from the company, repeated calls from a “manager” inviting to invest, requests from a new friend or online friend to help solve temporary financial problems. All of these fraud scenarios involve emotional pressure. When you notice it, ask for the certainty of the whole situation.
Do I use an official bank address? Visiting fraudulent websites that mimic the official websites of financial service providers can be a hassle. They are attracted by messages and letters with indications of supposedly institutional documents or commercial situations. Don’t use links – just enter the website address of the bank or government agency in your browser. The specialists also recommend using only the official mobile applications of banks: they integrate authentic emails. Bank website address.
Do I approve the operation that I want to carry out? One of the most popular smart tools for logging into your online bank account is the Smart-ID app. Paying it is quick and easy, but it is also important to remember that this is not a game, but access to your money. When making a payment, carefully read which action you approve each time: both the service name and a brief description of the transaction are displayed on the screen. Never enter your PIN if you are not sure it is correct. Also, always check that the control code displayed on the phone screen matches the code displayed on the website or in the bank window.
Isn’t the proposal too good to be true? We should double check all the proposals that sound great. An example of this is the billboards that invite you to visit virtual stores that offer products of supposedly known brands for semi-finished products. In addition, websites are now very active in communicating with the user, offering their visitors permission to display messages. However, there are a number of cases where scammers take over websites trying to send messages through them. Therefore, when browsing the Internet, you need to take care of antivirus programs and keep in mind that if the offer sounds suspiciously good, you better avoid it.
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