Belarusians Receive Strange Bank Statements

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Palina recently received a call from the “bank”, and they started checking non-existent loan applications. The reader of Onliner says that she has read about such schemes many times, but “in reality you find yourself caught off guard, unprepared, stressed and under pressure.” It so happened that Palina really did apply for a credit card.

— In my case, the stars aligned so that I really did apply for a credit card, but it had already been approved and the issue was not at the application stage.

However, this did not stop the scammers, they began to say that they were trying to apply for loans in several banks, clarified where the salary card was issued, and switched to a “financial security specialist” of this bank.

— It all started with innocent and general questions: did you pass on the data to anyone, where could the scammers have it, how could you apply for a loan online, but you did not receive any SMS messages, etc. During the conversation, the connection is constantly interrupted (apparently, they hang up), and therefore they offer to check something using USSD requests.

When you enter them, the screen shows that the phone has set up a forwarding of voice calls and SMS messages to another number, the last digits of which are given to you, and you, of course, do not recognize them. They scare you that the phone is tapped, and offer to switch to a secure communication channel — Telegram.

Then Palina was convinced that there are already victims of this scheme, she will soon be included in the list of victims, but the investigation is still ongoing and no one can be told about it. A couple of minutes later, another legend appears: due to the actions with the girl's accounts, she is a suspect and something must be done urgently.

— They send you an account statement showing large movements of funds in the last two days (in my case, 112 thousand rubles were credited and then written off). The “security specialist” understands everything: they are trying to set you up, and they are laundering money under your identity.

The girl was asked to turn on the screen broadcast and check the bank application, messages, etc.

— I have read many times that you cannot give out codes, even to bank employees, but they do not ask you — they are visible, moreover, they tell you: “We do not need exact data, only the essence of the message”, because in order to convey it, you need to open this message and read it.

At that moment I was lucky, because I told my boyfriend about this, and he helped me look at the situation from the outside.

I called the bank — of course, there were no requests. I immediately asked to block the cards and login to the application, called the mobile operator in case it was possible to activate forwarding with USSD requests.

My conversation with the fraudster ended with me telling him about my call to the bank and offering to come to him personally at the branch to maintain that very confidentiality that was so important according to him. They started accusing me of having already violated confidentiality and that junior bank employees were prohibited from knowing about this investigation. At this point, I hung up, and after several attempts to reach me, the calls stopped.

I was lucky, I got off with a fright and the need to reissue the cards, — the girl concludes.

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