APB warns of fraudulent calls impersonating banking association
The Portuguese Banking Association has warned of telephone frauds in which impostors pose as APB employees to obtain banking data.
Telephone fraud in the name of APB: scams using digital falsification techniques
The Portuguese Banking Association (APB) has issued a warning, according to a statement disclosed by RTP, about fraudulent calls made by individuals who "falsely present themselves as its employees".
In these calls, the perpetrators claim that there is a suspicious transfer or another irregular operation in the recipient's bank account. They then request personal data, banking information, home banking access credentials or authentication codes.
In certain cases, those responsible for the calls resort to spoofing techniques — digital falsification that allows the APB's general number to be displayed on the recipient's screen, conferring an appearance of legitimacy to the contact.
The APB clarifies that it does not monitor accounts or operations of private individuals and that it never contacts bank customers to communicate suspicious movements, nor does it request "personal or banking data, home banking access credentials, authentication codes or any other security elements".
Faced with these situations, the association provides several recommendations. Firstly, do not provide any personal or banking information during the call, nor share passwords or authentication codes. The APB also advises immediate termination of the contact and verification of the situation directly with the bank, through official channels.
If it is an attempted fraud, the association recommends that the incident be reported to the competent authorities.
"In case of doubt, the contact should be interrupted and information should always be confirmed through official channels", the APB emphasises.
Source: RTP