Over the course of the past several months there has been an increase in the number of clients who fell into lottery traps set by scammers, as reported by SEB Bank Head of Private Communications Jeļena Novaka.
Novaka explains that when signing up for a lottery and providing personal data in order to pay an alleged couple of euros of membership fee, residents end up losing larger amounts of money later on, because they basically agree to money being taken from their card at any moment in the form of “subscription fee”.
SEB Bank’s Security Office Chief Mārcis Pelcis explains this trend is very frightening – the bank receives five to eight complaints every week.
He said people fall for promises of winning a car or a vacuum cleaner by paying a couple of euros.
“Most often these are fake social network profiles of well-known electronic brands. To participate in lotteries, users have to provide their card data, because it is allegedly necessary to pay a fee, which is usually a couple of euros. However, in reality people basically sign up for a paid subscription service,” notes SEB Bank’s representative, adding that after some money starts going missing from users’ accounts.
Pelcis adds that clients not always notice money going missing.
“Because all actions are initially confirmed using Smart-ID or code calculator, which means the client authorises spending on their end, the bank basically has no way to get that money back,” Pelcis explains.
He recommends residents to check information and contact the company that allegedly organises the lottery before deciding to participate.
If the money is already taken, the payment card should be blocked immediately and a complaint should be filed to the bank to object the payment.
“Considering the high activity of scammers and their efforts to come up with new ways to steal people’s money, I recommend residents to always be suspicious and think twice if it is worth risking a couple of euros on the chance to get an expensive coffee machine or some other expensive item. If residents cannot resist the urge to participate in such lotteries, it would be best to get a second payment card exclusively for internet purchases and with a limited amount of money on it,” said Pelcis.
Information from the Finance Latvia Association indicates that in the first five months of 2023, clients of Latvia’s four largest banks have lost approximately EUR 4.3 million to various scams.
Between January and May 2023 there have been 2 701 scam cases recorded in Latvia. At the same time, 4 232 scam attempts involving EUR 3.543 million were prevented in the same period of time.
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