A new scam technique is spreading. This relatively simple fraud is based on identity theft.
The technique is polished. So much so that the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention has just published a press release to warn against a scam. This allows a scammer who presents himself as a fraud prevention officer (DGCCRF) to have access to the victim’s bank account.
How does this scam work?
To do this, the pseudo-agent makes the person called believe that a fraud is taking place on his account. The victim then communicates his access codes to the scammer to stop the fraud… and voila! Another effective method: the scammer indicates that the victim’s bank card has been identified or that one is making purchases using his account… same result.
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Scammers who are not at their first try
Fans of this type of fraud are not at their first attempt: other fraud practices have indeed been reported by the DGCCRF. For example, false administrative sites can offer you, for money, to facilitate such and such an administrative procedure (application for a driving licence, gray card, birth certificate) but also to inform you about the implementation specific regulations (automated processing of personal data files, accessibility of establishments open to the public) through fake emails in particular.
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Warnings from the DGCCRF
The DGCCRF therefore calls “with the utmost vigilance ” because “ the DGCCRF – ResponseConso service never calls for an initiative from a consumer who has not requested it beforehand.The organization also recalls that ResponseConso respondents never ask people who contact them to have access to their account at the moment, nor to communicate their credit card number.
With regard to “false administrative sites”, the DGCCRF wishes to inform consumers of the existence of certain sites which can reproduce the graphic charter, use the same colors (blue, white, red) or use the “Marianne” logo of the sites officials. All this has only one goal: to recover your private data in order to extort money from you.
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