Financial scammers tried to fool a bank board member: They share how the conversation went

According to a press release, Ilya Sovetov, head of the Luminor bank’s technology department, received a call from a Lithuanian phone number, in which the woman calling said she was a specialist in bank fraud prevention.

“The woman asked me if I had just tried to place a 300 euro money order. She knew my name and there was normal background noise over call centers,” Sovetov said.

The participant in the scam asked several more times if I. Sovetov had recently lost his identity card or passport, or if he had not shared his documents with people who might have used them.

“He asked me what authentication method I was using. And when I asked her to identify herself, to say what my bank’s user ID or personal identification code is, she said that she is a junior specialist, so she does not have access to that data, “I. Sovetov recalled.

The caller continued to persevere and asked I. Sovetov, who is the bank manager. It said it should also inform the client’s main financial services provider about the alleged theft of the client’s bank account. Sovetov revealed that his main bank was Luminor, then an “expert” tried to steer the conversation in such a way that it was easier to understand how much money Sovetov had in Luminor’s bank account.

“Because the alleged security expert at Luminor Bank was unable to retrieve information on the amount of money I had, I asked myself to wait until I was connected to the alleged department of cyber security and fraud prevention at Luminor Bank. Less than a A minute later, I was greeted by a man who introduced himself as the head of the bank’s fraud prevention department and asked me to identify myself. In the background, I heard the same noise from the call center, “said I. Sovetov.

However, when the Sovetov scammer asked which floor of the bank the cybersecurity department is located on, the criminals interrupted the conversation.

There has been a big jump in financial fraudulent phone attacks

Linas Sadeckas, a fraud prevention expert at Luminor Bank, cautions that financial scammers have been pretending to be bank employees lately, identifying the client’s primary bank during the interview and allegedly connecting with responsible specialists. The call continues until the account balance is known, confidential customer data is retrieved, or a transfer is made from the customer’s account.

“It is important to remember that bank employees will never ask you to provide details about payment accounts, passwords, or payment card numbers. Bank employees will also not request a transfer to the account specified during the interview. So, after receiving such a request, you should not answer any questions, try to end the conversation as soon as possible ”, emphasizes L. Sadeckas.

Scammers often take tricks to give the impression that they care about the safety of the crime victim’s funds. They can also use additional information found in external databases, such as knowing the victim’s name, phone number, and other data that give the potential crime victim a stronger impression than contacting a bank representative. .

“Scammers try to take advantage of people’s emotions and cause panic or overconfidence to make the victim more vulnerable and less attentive. So if you have received a strange call or email, do not rush to answer the questions and first assess the situation rationally. In case of doubt, we recommend contacting the bank through an official and publicly available channel and also inquiring about their payment account, notifying about the fraudulent call received, the bank employees will be happy to help in these situations “, said L. Sadeckas.

Luminor Bank fraud prevention experts advise:

• If you receive a call from a scam pretending to be a bank employee, end the call immediately and do not reveal personal information about how to log into online banking, a payment card, or a Smart-ID account in any way.
• If you suspect that your online banking logins or other confidential information related to your bank account may have been stolen, please report it to your bank as soon as possible.
• However, if you have lost funds due to possible fraud, we recommend that you contact the law enforcement authorities immediately and inform the bank, which will take appropriate measures to recover the lost funds or prevent the login details from being replaced. to the Internet bank disclosed by the customer. .