Scammers in Latvia have adopted a new method to pull people into scams – one pretends to be a police officer and the other pretends to be a bank worker, warns Citadele Bank.
Bank clients in Latvia have started receiving calls from Russian-speaking callers who pretend to be police officers informing them of suspicious activity on their account.
«We receive more and more reports from our clients about calls like that. Scammers work in teams in an effort to convince residents that theft has taken place or a loan has been taken on their name, and that they need to act fast to recover their money,» says Citadele Bank IT Secueity Office manager Roberts Birzgalis.
Sometimes scammers tell residents that another person will take the phone or they receive a second call – this time from a scammer pretending to be a bank worker and confirms what the «police officer» said. Then scammers ask residents to perform operations using their Smart ID, MobileSCAN or provide internet banking access or payment card information.
«After acquiring data, scammers immediately transfer residents’ money to other accounts,» adds Birzgalis.
residents must remember that bank workers and police officers will never call residents over the phone and will never ask residents to provide access to their bank accounts.
«If callers exact pressure, act insistent or start behaving annoyed or aggressive, residents should drop the call and contact their bank using official channels or mobile app chat,» stresses Birzgalis.
To convince their victim, scammers can call in another person to join the call. This person then «confirms» what the first one has told the unsuspecting victim.
Although most of the reports mention scammers speaking Russian, Birzgalis says there have been cases of scammers using Latvian language as well.
Banks urge residents to be careful and pay attention, so they can avoid becoming victims of different scams and lose money.