Febelfin warns for help request fraud
23 November 2020 - 7 min Reading time
A loved one who urgently asks for money? Very often fake!
The corona crisis and the many digital contacts are an opportunity for fraudsters to defraud people. They pretend to be a loved one of their victim via email, SMS or text messages and urgently ask for financial help. The damage adds up quickly. That is why Febelfin emphasizes one golden rule: do not just transfer the money. First call the loved one involved yourself via his / her known number and ask some control questions to which only you know the answer. In many cases it will quickly become apparent that it is an attempted fraud.
- In the case of help request fraud, fraudsters impersonate someone they know/dear to their victim. They ask for financial help via email, text or text messages.
- This new fraud technique has been booming since the second half of 2020.
- The corona crisis seems to be exacerbating the phenomenon: many people keep in touch via social media and other apps.
- As with many new forms of fraud, seniors are strongly targeted.
- Be wary of such messages. Never just transfer money without actually talking to your loved one. Call his known number and check whether the request for help is genuine.
- Febelfin will distribute a video on social media with a testimonial showing which tricks fraudsters use. The video also offers tips to see through the scammers.
How does it work?
The scammers often act in the same way. They make contact with their victim, posing as a close friend or relative. How? For example: they steal the username and password of a person's social media account (WhatsApp, Messenger, …). Using the digital contact list, they can send a message to their friends or relatives.
The fraudsters naturally make up an excuse to explain to the victim why they are suddenly contacted by an unknown number. For example: “Sorry, I lost my smartphone. This is my new number.”
After some small talk, the victim is soon asked to transfer money to a certain account number, because the 'dear one' urgently needs to pay for a large purchase or is having a bit of a financial difficulty. Usually it concerns amounts between 250 and 2,000 euros, sometimes even more. The victim is often asked to transfer additional amounts over several days.
It seems real, but it isn't
The fraudsters go to great lengths to make everything appear credible. It is even possible that the message was sent from a known email address or mobile number. Scammers can sometimes take over (hack) the existing email address or mobile number of a loved one. They also try to make their victim believe that they are really talking to a friend or family member through the tone/terms used.
So the messages come across as realistic. Consequence: the victim naturally wants to 'help' his family member or friend and tends to transfer the money immediately. Do not! Because when you contact your real family member or friend, it often turns out that nothing is wrong. And the scammers? They've been running out of money for a long time.
Seniors are targeted
We see that this fraud technique has been on the rise since the second corona wave. The elderly are particularly strongly targeted. Possible explanation? Due to the corona measures, they now use social media and other apps more often to stay in touch with their families. Fraudsters eagerly capitalize on this.
Willy Notelaers, board member Seniornet Vlaanderen: “I experienced it myself. My friend Herman supposedly sent me a message from Kiev. He had been robbed: lost all his papers, money and bank cards. He needed money to pay for his plane ticket, about 1250 euros. I was immediately wary, but I played the game for a while and asked how I could get him the money. An almost immediate response: via a Western Union office in Kiev. Then I asked a control question: the real Herman had had to leave early at our last meeting, for a specific reason. So that's why I asked... Never got an answer from the fraudster again.”
How can i avoid it?
Anyone who suddenly receives a message from a loved one via an unknown number may not simply proceed to payment. Check is the message:
- High pressure and strong insistence on prompt payment? This is almost always a sign of cheating. Call the sender yourself first. Didn't call? No money! So only pay after you have personally spoken to and recognized your loved one.
- Ask control questions whose answers aren't in previous emails, chats, or social media. So ask things that only you and your loved one can know.
- A scammer makes excuses why he or she cannot speak to you verbally: the phone has fallen into the water, the new number has not yet been connected for voice connections, he/she is sitting in the silent compartment of the train, or he/she is is easily accessible and says that it is indeed very strange that your call does not come through.
- Be wary of a new mobile number, even if it has a photo of the person you know. Only replace the old number after you have spoken to and recognized that person orally.
- Strange payment link? Don't click on it until you've spoken to and recognized the acquaintance who sent the link. If the payment request seems ok, check carefully what amount you are paying and to whom before you approve the payment.
Febelfin will distribute a video via social media in which request for help fraud is further explained and tips are given to outsmart fraudsters.
I've got scammed
Please follow next steps immediately:
- Call Card Stop on 078 170 170.
- Contact your bank as soon as possible.
- File a complaint with the police.
