What is a “fake bank employee” scam and how can I avoid it?

Vishing is a type of phone scam in which an attacker impersonates a bank employee.

In recent months, we’ve seen an increase in cases of a dangerous type of phone fraud, in which attackers impersonate employees of banking institutions such as Caixabank to obtain victims’ personal information and empty their accounts.

The National Police and the National Cybersecurity Institute have already issued several warnings regarding this type of fraud, known as vishing (a combination of the terms “voice ‘ and ’phishing”), which consists of making fake calls in which the fraudsters, using serious voice and technical language, impersonate employees of the victim’s bank.

Tips on how to avoid being scammed

Under the pretext of allegedly suspicious activity on the customer’s account, they ask them to urgently confirm their identity. In reality, their goal is to obtain personal data, access codes or even ask the victim to authorize bank transfers or install remote management software with which they gain access to her data and device.

In response to this threat, Caixabank, together with the theater group Tricicle, has launched an awareness campaign parodying such calls. In this way, they hope to teach potential victims how to recognize and protect themselves from such scams.

Here are some of the tips gathered from the campaign :

• Be wary of unexpected calls asking for personal or banking information.
• Never provide passwords, verification codes or card numbers.
• Hang up and contact the bank directly through official channels.
• Don’t install apps or programs that a stranger recommended to you over the phone.

According to INCIBE, the number of vishing cases in Canada has increased by almost a third in just one year . Not only that, fraud methodology is also improving; Often criminals have partial information about victims in advance, such as their full name or the last digits of account details, which gives them credibility. Moreover, they often use identity theft techniques that result in the caller ID showing the official CaixaBank number.

What to do if you are a victim of vishing

• If you believe you have fallen victim to one of these types of scams, you should take some precautions as soon as possible:

• Contact your bank immediately to block suspicious access and transactions.
• Report incidents to the National Police .
• Collect evidence such as phone numbers, screenshots or call recordings if possible.
• Consult someone who offers free counseling to affected citizens.