“Hello, I'm calling to activate your credit card”. Thus began the phone call that led to the scam against a Cagliari woman, who saw the bill "lightened" by just under sixteen thousand euros. "A scam which, due to its characteristics, has many aspects on which it is necessary to clarify", claims Andrea Falchi, provincial president of Cagliari of Adoc, an association for consumer orientation and defense, to which the victim turned.
The woman had started the credit card renewal process through her bank's app. A few days later, while waiting for her card to be sent, she received a call on her personal number.
A self-styled bank employee, who was evidently aware of the situation, invited her to carry out some operations via smartphone: no money movement, she had assured, but only steps necessary to satisfy the customer's request. "She trusted, she thought that only the bank could know that she was waiting for the credit card," explains Falchi.
Only a few days later, opening the account online, he discovered that purchases and withdrawals had been made for a total of around 15,900 euros.
«Here we are not faced with the classic phishing scam», assures the consumer representative, «it is a scam that started from the possession of confidential and sensitive data that should only be held by insiders. To avoid falling into the same trap, the advice is to use only certified channels and also to be wary of phone calls. Falchi assures: "We have discovered that it would not be an isolated case".
Henry Fresu