Duplicate card? This is just an excuse to access our account

The woman lost PLN 110,000, believing that she was actually protecting these funds against theft. Unfortunately, as it later turned out, the 37-year-old was a victim of brazen manipulation using the “bank employee” method. The criminals not only threatened her and persuaded her to make transfers, but also to personally hand over the cash to the “courier”.

This entire criminal activity started with one phone call. The caller, pretending to be a bank employee, informed the woman that someone tried to get a duplicate of her ATM card. This is classic manipulation – called spoofing and social engineering. The fraudster creates a sense of threat and puts pressure on time, all to make the victim stop thinking logically.

Immediately after this call, the 37-year-old received another call. This time she was called by a “consultant” who presented a solution to the problem. To protect your savings, they should be transferred to a designated account as soon as possible, the so-called “technical bank account”. There, the savings will be beyond the reach of the person trying to get a new card and will be completely safe.

However, this case is distinguished by something else: exploitation physical element of cash collection.

The injured party withdrew and transferred the funds to the provided account. As it was established, the woman gave part of the withdrawn cash personally to a man posing as a “bank courier”.