The Rise of Bank Fraud

Published in El Pais, 12 February 2019.

A couple of days ago I received a text message from a number I did not recognize. It stated that I have received a payment and to click the link to begin processing it. To summarize, someone who does not owe me money gave me money, seems legit right? Unfortunately, with the rise of technology and online banking, fraudsters have more ways than ever to reach out to unsuspecting victims to try and take away your hard-earned money. Having experience working at a bank in anti fraud I have seen quite a few scams and have a decent understanding of how they work. Below will be my best attempt to explain how each one works and how they are able to extract money from your account.

• Phishing emails

Here fraudsters are trying to obtain your banking information, more specifically your card number and password. There are numerous ways they do this, but the most common method is to send an email pretending to be from your bank saying your account has been compromised and to log into your account and change your information as quickly as possible. The official looking email contains a link to a website looking almost identical to the banks where you put in your information. This information is then stored and used to log into your bank account and withdraw. If you ever receive such an email contact your bank directly and ask about it. Most likely than not they will inform you it is not authentic.

• Card Skimmers

This is where fraudsters use card readers at ATM machines to steal information so that they can create their own clones of debit and credit cards. Accompanied is often a hidden camera to record you putting in your pin number. To protect yourself look for obvious signs of tampering on bank machines and compare the machines if more than one is available to look for differences. Most importantly be vigilant about your bank statements and look for suspicious activity.

• Fake Payments

This is like phishing emails as the end goal is the same, to get your banking information. Like the text I described earlier, you will be prompt with a fake payment and a link to a sight to input your banking information. The fraudsters hope the potential to earn free money will cloud your judgement. Again, nobody gives you free money so always assume messages like these are scams.

My hope is not to scare you with these scams but merely to educate you, taking simple precautions like the ones described above will make you less likely a victim of one.