Nigerians have raised the alarm on how they are being swindled daily by advance fee fraudsters, popularly known as ‘Yahoo-Yahoo boys’ and other criminals.
As the internet continues to expand into every aspect of society, online scams are only growing in sophistication.
From phishing schemes to fake ticket vendors, online scams prey on different facets that drive us, like sympathy, fear, and greed.
What online scams all have in common is that they prey on their audiences’ naïveté and ignorance.
Most times, those at the receiving end are innocent and unsuspecting customers who are defrauded in the process.
Do you know that scammers do not need automated teller machine (ATM) card, cellphone to wipe your bank accounts within seconds?
THE WITNESS brings you their latest tricks and how to avoid being a victim as shared by an Instagram User, Bunaboy.
Read below:
Before now, scammers needed ATM card or mobile phone to empty bank accounts, but now they have upgraded their strategy, they don’t even need your ATM card, BVN or even your mobile phone number.
Please, let’s be very careful. There is a new HIGH-TECH FRAUD in town called the SIM SWAP FRAUD, and hundreds of persons are already VICTIMS.
How does it work ?
1). A new fraud called SIM SWAP has started. Your phone network would momentarily go blind/zero (No Signal/ Zero Bars) and after a while a call will come through.
2). The person on the other end of the call would tell you that he is calling from (your cell phone company) depending on your network and that there is a problem in your mobile network.
3). He would instruct you to press 1 on your phone to get the network back.
That’s it, don’t even think of pressing anything. Just cut or END the call.
If you press 1, the network would appear suddenly and almost immediately go blind again (zero bars) and by that action, your phone is hacked.
Within some minutes they would empty your bank account, and you won’t receive any alert.
It would appear as though your line is without network, meanwhile your SIM has been SWAPPED.
Swapping your SIM means exchanging your SIM card with theirs and thereby giving them full control of your account.
The danger here is that you would not get any alert of any transactions.
So please those of us doing USSD banking and mobile banking, let’s be very careful. Many accounts has been emptied and even some people reading this now might have almost fall a victim of this.
What do you do when this happens ?. Once you start experiencing zero bars of network, it’s best to reboot your phone, doing that ends any hacking code they are doing at the moment.
Don’t answer any call telling you they are from your bank, your bank can never call you on phone and ask you to press 1 or any other number.
Also report any case of such experience to your bank to help you secure your bank account more and track the transaction.
Please share this to your contacts, loved ones and friends. The fraud is increasing day by day. You can save someone by sharing this information.