He wanted to invest his savings on the stock exchange. He lost PLN 100,000

The police warn that in recent months the activities of fraudsters using the so-called “grandson method”. This name is conventional because criminals also impersonate bank employees, police officers or investment advisors. As a result of the latter’s actions, a resident of the Brzeg district lost his savings.

He wanted to invest in the stock market. He lost PLN 100,000

According to the Provincial Police Headquarters in Krakow, a 52-year-old man who fell victim to a fraudster reported to Brzesko police officers. In a conversation with the officers, he explained that his mobile phone was called by a man who informed that he was an employee of a company dealing in stock market investments.

Additionally, he explained what investing would involve and, due to the fact that the entire procedure requires knowledge and experience, it would help him invest his money

– we read in the announcement of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Krakow.

At the fraudster’s instigation, the man installed an application on his smartphone that allowed the alleged consultant to remotely perform activities on the device (remote desktop application). In this way, the 52-year-old enabled criminals, among others, access to electronic banking.

A few days ago, the 52-year-old found out that transfers had been made from his account and that there were attempts to take out loans using his details. As a result, a total of nearly PLN 100,000 disappeared.

Once again, we appeal to caution when performing financial operations. Remember that fraudsters are constantly modifying their methods to extort money. Never under any circumstances install programs suggested to us by strangers on our devices. Let’s also not open the links sent to us. Let’s use common sense and be distrustful of strangers.

– explained by policemen from Krakow.

Are they calling you from the hotline? This may be a scam. Spoofing is taking its toll in Poland

Telephone spoofing involves impersonating other numbers and then calling victims from them and pretending to be someone else. Fraudsters use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology and the so-called telephone gateways, thanks to which they impersonate, for example, the official hotline of a bank, cable television or gas or electricity supplier.

What is the difference between spoofing and phishing? While phishing is mainly about “catching” our data, spoofing is more subtle because it leads to the fraudster taking control of our phone or computer. This, in turn, can lead to huge financial losses – e.g. emptying our bank account.

The scam scheme is usually very similar:

Stage 1. Obtaining information – fraudsters must obtain as much information as possible about the potential victim to make themselves credible in their eyes.

Stage 2. Telephone – the fraudster calls the victim and the bank’s real hotline number is displayed on his phone. How is this possible? For this purpose, it uses Internet telephony and the so-called spoofing gate.

Stage 3. Conversation – during the conversation, the fraudster pretends to be an employee of the selected bank. Most often he claims to be calling from the security department.

Stage 4. Application – then explains that it is necessary to install an application that will allow us to scan our device for viruses.

Stage 5. Taking over the phone – if the victim installs the application, runs it, and then provides the thieves with a verification code, the thieves will gain remote access to the phone. They will be able to log in to the electronic banking application, make transfers and authorize them.

Of course, this is just one attack scenario. A fraudster may impersonate the number of a loved one and send an SMS asking for an urgent transfer of money. In the case of elderly people, scammers may call them and pretend to be their grandson.