Tsentralna kooperativna banka Sofia : Europol and the European Banking Federation launch awareness campaign on 7 most common online financial scams

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• Europol and the European Banking Federation launch awareness campaign on 7 most common online financial scams

17/10/2018

The banks in Bulgaria participate in an information campaign against the seven most popular types of financial frauds that online consumers come across. The campaign, organized by Europol, the European Banking Federation and private and public sector partners, is launched today and is part of the European Cyber ​​Security Month.

The campaign, which will run from the 17^th to 23^rd of October, will include law enforcement agencies from all 28 EU Member States and 5 non-EU countries as well as 24 banking associations from Europe.

The Association of Banks in Bulgaria and its members are participating in the campaign by publishing and distributing among bank customers animated and video materials containing information about the most common types of online fraud and tips on how to protect themselves. The types of fraud described in these materials are as follows:

• CEO fraud: scammers pretend to be a CEO or a senior representative in the organization and trick the victim into paying a fake invoice or making an unauthorized transfer out of the business account.
• Invoice fraud: they pretend to be one of the clients/suppliers of the user and trick them into paying future invoices into a different bank account controlled by them.
• Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: they call the user, send them a text message or an email to trick them into sharing their personal, financial or security information which could be used afterwards for criminal purposes.
• Spoofed bank website fraud: they use bank phishing emails with a link to the spoofed website. Once the user clicks on the link, various methods are used to collect their financial and personal information for misuse. The site will look like its legitimate counterpart, with small differences.
• Romance scam: they pretend to be interested in a romantic relationship. It commonly takes place on online dating websites, but scammers often use social media or email to make contact in order to obtain money and/or data and/or for extortion purposes.
• Personal data theft: they harvest your personal information via social media channels. Data can help criminals get access to bank accounts, obtain credit, or engage in another illegal activity on behalf of the victim.
• Investment and online shopping scams: they make you think you are on a smart investment… or present you with a great fake online offer.

The Internet has become very attractive to cybercriminals, who adapt quickly to changing consumer habits and the Internet environment provides new opportunities for fraud. The criminals use sophisticated tricks, tempting promises and offers to get money or valuable financial information from unsuspecting individuals. Scams featuring a long-lost deceased relative or the well-known scheme with 'Nigerian princes' are not the only tricks in the book anymore. The tactics used by cyber criminals are becoming increasingly innovative, complex and difficult to detect.

Social engineering continues to grow as the engine of many cybercrimes, with phishing being the most frequent means of doing it. Criminals use social engineering to achieve a number of goals: to obtain personal data, to operate with foreign bank accounts, to steal identity and for other illegal activities. The most effective protection against social engineering is the training of potential victims, which in practice can be any Internet user.

ABB and its members are committed to making efforts to raise public awareness of the identification of such fraudulent techniques while operating in the Internet environment and strive to support the work of all relevant institutions and organizations to protect individuals from becoming victims of financial and other crimes.

More information on the most common types of cyber fraud can be found in the following materials, as well as on the websites of banking institutions and their social media channels.

More information:

CEO/BUSINESS EMAIL COMPROMISE (BEC) FRAUD

INVOICE FRAUD

BANK PHISHING EMAILS

BANK SMISHING SMSS

BANK VISHING CALLS

SPOOFED BANK WEBSITES

ROMANCE SCAM

INVESTMENT SCAMS

ONLINE SHOPPING SCAMS

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