Mobile phone app users, be careful!
Scammers are now using phone calls to pretend to be banks– acquiring money from mobile phone applications like Zelle, a bank application owned by the Bank of America.
It seems like the scam works like this: A phone number, claiming to be a bank transaction contacts the users of the mobile phone app, asking to send money and transaction details into the users’ own apps.
The users are bound not to be suspicious about this, because apart from the phone call being very convincingly sounding like actual banks, the users will send them to their own bank accounts via money-sharing apps.
However, this method, upon investigation is a scam, as users start to report their money vanishing into thin air.
According to Director Bogdan Bodesatsu from BitDefender’s threat investigation, “These attackers gain the trust of the victims. They know they’re talking to the bank because they’re calling from their bank numbers on their cell phones.”
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Victims have also reported that the phone calls sound like actual bank calls, even using the bank’s jingle or music when put on hold for a much more convincing effect.
Clearly, the scammers know that the first step to scamming is to gain the victims’ trust. Unfortunately for a lot of victims, sometimes it’s a little too late to notice.
A case in Chicago shows a bank application user tricked into paying $3,500 into her own Zelle account and then finding out her account has been hijacked.
The victim, No scene Brooks, said the unfortunate event was very painful. She said, “You just save the hard-earned money and rob you of it. You just don’t know what to do and you’re lost.”
The same scam was experienced by another user named Darlene Chelsea, who was also scammed $3,500.
The Bank of America assures that they’re on the case, and have credited both Chelsea and Brooke the $3,500 they’ve lost. Together with I-Team, Zelle and Bank of America will do preventive measures in notifying their users about these fraudulent acts.
“They must not provide confidential account information to unidentified individuals. Bank of America and other legitimate companies do not require sensitive account information such as Passcode or verification code.
Various measures have been taken to proactively warn clients about fraud to ensure security and avoid fraud: We contact our customers regularly on how to do this,” the Bank said.
Experts have some suggestions for things you can do as a user to keep yourself safe.
First, make sure to create one password for each service and make it as different as you can guess. Next, whenever a bank or institution asks for confirmation, hang up and call yourself and most of the numbers will be spoofed, and lastly, never give the code you received over the phone to a stranger.
The Bank of America also has a Client Security service center on their website, which you can access right here: How to Identify a Bank Scam to Keep Your Account Safe (bankofamerica.com)