An (apparent) call from BT
Malicious people are becoming more and more inventive, unfortunately. So, if someone calls you from a phone number similar (or even identical) to that of BT Call Center (0264 30 80 28), you can figure out for yourself if we are the people from BT, or not. Simple, we will never ask you for your card details over the phone.
Recommendations:
- Do not respond to actions (for example, do not give card details);
- Interrupt the call;
- Write us an email here: contact@btrl.ro.
Scam on Facebook
Improve your life by investing (a certain amount) in BT or The best program to generate income with a minimum deposit – this is how a series of false advertisements on Facebook, which also use images of the bank and representatives of the BT Group, as well as our brand (Banca Transilvania, BT Asset Management), committing brand infringement.
Also, it urges you to open certain links, for various reasons: to respond to a questionnaire, to have access to a “platform”. These are not ads generated by BT and we always report them promptly.
Our recommendations:
- Read carefully the text of the BT ads from Facebook;
- Look even at the link they contain, it is usually hard to decipher. But DO NOT access it;
- Report those ads to Facebook, it would help us a lot to limit their spread together;
- If you have suspicions, write to us here: 0264 30 80 28, contact@btrl.ro.
Phishing
Those e-mails that seem to be from us (or from other companies), with certain expressions that attract attention and with "approximate Romanian", are not from us.
Usually, they have a subject that catches your attention: Important message, Account suspension, and they can make you think either of some overdue payment or a possible garnishment. These messages usually contain a call for immediate action, such as urgently accessing a link because, otherwise, they claim something (negative) will happen, like the closure of your bank account. Once you access the link, you are asked to fill in data such as: name, address, card details, CVV2/CVC code, personal identification number (CNP), phone, and even the authorization code received via SMS/email/app notification. Once provided, the fraudster has access to your money.
Deepfake
Deepfake is the technology that allows ill-intentioned individuals to take information falsification to the next level by generating videos with people doing and saying certain things, even if they NEVER did or SAID them.
Pentru a fi cât mai convingători, atacatorii folosesc tehnologia deepfake în promovarea tentativelor de fraudă online, în special prin intermediul postărilor sponsorizate pe social media. Cum ne apărăm pe noi și pe cei apropiați nouă de atacatorii cibernetici poți afla de pe BT Blog.
Crypto Scam
Someone offers you an investment in cryptocurrencies you can't refuse. After a while, you are contacted to withdraw your profit and you can only do this by installing a certain application? It might be a fraud.
Through an application that facilitates remote device access, hackers can see your personal information and bank data in real-time when you log into a platform. We talk extensively about how crypto scams work on BT Blog.
Flubot
It is a type of SMS fraud that infects your phone by asking you to download an application. The app is actually software intentionally created to cause technical defects (malware).
This malware takes control of your phone, giving malicious people access to personal information or your bank accounts. It also sends infected messages to your personal contacts, without you knowing, in order to get them to install the app as well. More information can be found at BT Blog.
Smishing
Phishing can also come through SMS (Smishing). It may seem like it is a message from BT, but it is not. It usually contains a link which, once accessed, asks for your personal or card details.
Vishing
Vishing is related to the phone. It is when someone who pretends to be what they are not calls you with a problem that they say can be solved at the moment you communicate details about your bank account, for example. Also for your protection, if someone calls you from abroad and you do not know the number, it is better not to answer.
Fraud through well-known shopping websites (OLX.ro, lajumate.ro etc.)
Buyer or seller, fraudsters are also present on well-known shopping sites and here is how they proceed:
- The fraudulent buyer contacts the seller under the pretext of purchasing a product and, at some point, proposes moving the conversation from the respective site to another place, such as WhatsApp. The fraudster (buyer) informs the seller that they have paid for the product and sends a fake link to receive the money. Upon accessing it, the victim is asked for the security details of their bank card, including passwords.
- The fraudulent seller posts ads with fictitious products, which attract attention through affordable prices and give you the feeling that it is your lucky day. For the payment of the product, the buyer (the victim) is directed to a link, which leads to a phishing page (which looks very similar to "official" shopping websites). The buyer is asked for the security details of the card, including passwords.
Card cloning (skimming)
Physical cards can be cloned. In other words, the data stored on the card's magnetic stripe is copied through special electronic devices. Once stolen, the information can be used by criminals to withdraw money from ATMs or for online shopping.
I am X from BT…
Yes, we, #peopleofBT, often communicate with clients by phone. Sometimes we call you when needed, just as we are available nonstop at the phone number 0264 30 80 28. However, if someone calls you saying they are X from BT and signals a problem in the relationship with the bank, insisting that it can be resolved immediately if you take measures by communicating confidential information, such as user codes, passwords, authorization codes, you should be suspicious.
Since "creativity" is high in this field, wrongdoers can ask you, for example, to install the Any Desk application on your computer/laptop and even help you remotely to do it. Be very careful, we are not the ones.
The big winner
A prize is welcome, but it is not true. The big news – that you have won, for example, a phone – can also come by e-mail from a stranger, who asks you in return for personal data and the payment of a fee for the transfer of money.
Method The accident
A phone call from a stranger giving bad news about someone in the family, but also offering a paid solution, is often a scam. Certain fraudsters, pretending to have an official status, contact randomly chosen people by phone and demand money to resolve a serious situation (hospitalization, for example) – usually an imagined traffic accident – involving someone close to the person they are calling.
Pass it on to 25 friends…
Do you know those messages, received by e-mail or on social media, that announce a contest where you can win something you haven't even dreamed of? They are those links that contain a link and must be sent to friends, to as many friends as possible… Unfortunately, they are from the same “dangerous” category.
Overnight heir
An email from a stranger announcing that a friend or someone from family makes you rich overnight through an inheritance is another method of scam. Because it will surely ask you for personal data or the payment of a fee for the transfer of the money fallen from the sky.
Money carrier
A person asks you to transfer some money and offers you an attractive commission? It may be a scam. A money mule is a person who receives and transfers, on behalf of and for other persons, money received illegally, in exchange for a commission. Check very well the announcements with attractive messages, received by e-mail, seen on certain employment websites or from social media, such as: Do you want to make money easily?, Do you want to make money from home?
Sometimes, these advertisements even use trademarks to create an appearance of legitimacy. How does the scenario work? The new employee (the carrier) will be urged to communicate the bank account or to open an account at the bank. So far, nothing unusual. However, the carrier will receive in their account an amount of money transferred from another bank and will receive instructions on how to transfer the respective money, minus the negotiated fee, which is about 10% of the received amount.
