[ad_1]
In just the past few months, Sodra, the State Tax Inspectorate (STI), commercial banks and the media have publicly warned customers that scammers are sending short messages to residents on their behalf.
By opening them and clicking on a certain link, the scammers can be made available to multiple residents, account logins. That way, they can also appropriate people’s money.
To prevent this from happening, the Lithuanian Banking Association announced that it would cooperate with the police so that the officers would even physically visit potential fraud victims and get used to it.
However, why don’t operators put in place any protection to allow, for example, Sodra or STI information to be sent only from phones with certain numbers, and if sent from other numbers, not lost?
Can you block, but too complicated?
Telia spokesperson Audrius Stasiulaitis admitted that phone number or email spoofing when sending SMS messages or making calls has actually gotten more recent.
“This is quite a popular way to send spam because it looks real: the sender is not an unknown phone number, but a recognizable portal or a bank name. But just take a closer look at the address in the text of the SMS and you will notice which is false, “commented A. Stasiulaitis.
However, according to him, restricting the forwarding of such messages, especially if the SMS is sent on behalf of international banks or the media, is difficult for several reasons.
“First, this traffic goes through the networks of other operators and, on the other hand, international companies, whose names are sometimes used by scammers, can send SMS to their customers through different operators.
Operators can block SMS traffic in advance when they sign what they will block. However, it is very difficult, if possible, to have all the cases where the traffic will be classified as spam, and when in fact it is information for customers, having been annotated, ”explained A. Stasiulaitis.
Therefore, according to him, in most of these cases it is possible to block unwanted traffic only after making sure it is spam.
Scammers are getting smarter
Jaunius Špakauskas, director of corporate communications at Bit director Lietuva, doubts that scammers are becoming more active, that they are constantly operating.
“What we can see is the general trend that cybercriminals are ‘smart’: they already know how to take care of bank account logins, as well as make particularly ‘attractive’ investment offers,” he said.
According to the Head of Communications, fraud complaints come mainly from banks that already know who to turn to and what information to provide us with. We also receive a lot of information from conscientious customers.
“After receiving the information, we investigated the fraud scheme, searched for the source of the malicious traffic, reported to the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), blocked malicious Internet links, if any.
It is our legal duty as an operator to deliver a message or connect a voice call; any blockage must have a clear basis. The law prohibits communication providers from reviewing the content of transmitted information, ”commented J. Špakauskas.
According to him, for this reason, the consumer’s own behavior remains critical and therefore considerable resources are devoted to educating them and employees.
“First of all, we have to responsibly weigh or open any links that we receive, critically appraise every message we receive, and remember that ‘free cheese is only in mousetraps,'” he said.
You won’t be by the side of every cop
Andrius Baranauskas, communications manager for Tele2, compared crime prevention in cyberspace with conventional crime prevention.
“You cannot train police where there is robbery, theft or any other crime; nobody knows it in advance. Similarly here.
We monitor those things, we have our own monitoring. After all, customer complaints are an important part of tracking. When we already receive this information, we immediately block the messages with this content ”, commented A. Baranauskas.
The head of communications assured that the company he represents was taking some preventive action, but it still happens that scammers elude them.
“Unfortunately, the reality is that there have always been and will always be people who will try to enrich themselves,” lamented A. Baranauskas.
He gave some tips on how to prevent people from being scammed:
“On the one hand, a person should know that if they haven’t participated in the lottery, there is really very little chance that they can win anything. Usually, to win something, you must first buy a lottery ticket. It is not the responsibility of the company to accept or distribute any prizes. You have to know in advance that these things simply do not exist. “
The communications manager also advised him not to open the message after receiving something on the phone and in case of the slightest suspicion, but to consult his operator immediately ”.
“Phones are pretty complicated stuff, but they do manage to cheat. Sometimes that bank writes, someone else. Like sometimes that comes in a mailbox where Microsoft Office asks you to change your password, but you look at what mail you’re sending from, you see that the address has changed, in no way related to the sender. Also with messages ”, summarized A. Baranauskas.
[ad_2]
