There are many ways that fraudsters use to extort money from people, but one of their favorites is still the BLIK scam. Cybercriminals invent hundreds of stories to arouse emotions in the victim and extort the BLIK code from him.
mBank warns customers against fraud. It’s not a friend who asks for PLN 50
mBank is now warning against the currently widespread fraud. Bank specialists warn customers in messages not to share or show anyone BLIK codes that are used to perform transactions (online payments or ATM withdrawals). It only takes a moment of inattention to lose a significant amount of money.
The fraud scheme usually looks similar. A friend who finds himself in an unpleasant situation and urgently needs a small loan writes to the victim on one of the instant messengers. Then it asks for the BLIK code and declares that it will refund the money soon. “Hey, I need to borrow PLN 50. Can you give me the BLIK code? I’ll pay you back tomorrow” – reads a sample message from mBank’s announcement.
The problem is that we can never be sure that someone we know or close to us is actually contacting us. Cybercriminals take over accounts in social media and instant messengers and then send requests to borrow a small sum of money to friends of people whose accounts have been taken over. If the victim swallows the hook and sends the BLIK code, fraudsters use it to withdraw a significant amount from an ATM (e.g. PLN 500 instead of PLN 50 or PLN 1,000 instead of PLN 100). One extra zero is easy to miss, so committing such a transaction inadvertently can result in you losing a significant amount of money.
mBank reminds in the message to never trust requests to transfer money if we receive them in messengers. In such a situation, it is best to call a friend to make sure that he is the one you are asking to borrow money from. Funds can, in turn, be sent, for example, by quick transfer to a telephone number, rather than by entering the BLIK code. We should always carefully read all messages that we approve in the bank’s mobile application.
Source: Gazeta
Mabel is a talented author and journalist with a passion for all things technology. As an experienced writer for the 247 News Agency, she has established a reputation for her in-depth reporting and expert analysis on the latest developments in the tech industry.
