Financial Security Tips. Part 1. Vishing Scams

Hello to all Lime’s Lasses and Lads,

It’s here, it’s for you . . . so get ready, make a start to Master the Art to be Online-Smart.

Online-life is great! Business hours around the clock, services and shops that never stop. Connect with colleagues and chat to friends. Do banking or apply for a micro loan from Lime. Follow the news and stay ahead of the trends.

The web offers everything you need . . . but BEWARE THE SCAMMERS, they are cunning and full of greed. Your personal info is what they want to loot, and you must learn to spot them and give them the boot. They lie and they cheat, their offers sound so sweet – but just one dodgy link can let your money-boat sink.

I’ll advise you on how not to take their bait. For improving online safety, it’s never too late. We’ll be sharing the fraudsters’ scams, so you can foil their nasty plans.

I thank you for your precious time. On Thursday, I’ll post Part 2 online!

Until then, have a great time.

Love and Light from Lenny and Lime

Financial Security Tips. Part 1. Vishing Scams

New types of scams continue to emerge. Fraudsters lure you into providing them your personal and confidential information. To do so, they use many channels at their disposal. These usually include email, SMS, phone call, malware, or remote access.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve been scammed in the past. Learn how they roll and how to spot them fast.

Scam-spotting

With a scam or a lie, some of these may apply:

What you are offered or promised sounds too good to be true . . .
The offer takes you by surprise . . . the prize relates to a competition you haven’t even entered
You’re given very little time in which to respond
You’re asked to confirm some of your personal details in order to secure whatever it is they are using as bait
The information and instructions reach you via a free email service, such as Hotmail, Aim, Yahoo or Gmail
You are promised large sums of money for very little (or no) effort
You’re asked to make a payment before they are able to “release” the promised money, prize, or service

The OTP Vishing-scam

It goes (something) like this . . .

You receive a phone call from someone who says they’re from your bank, lending institution or service provider. They ask for your bank card details including your OTP.

You’re asked to update or verify your details, and, in some cases, you even receive an (unverified) SMS, stating your bank will soon be in touch to update or confirm your details . . . not too long after this, you receive a call

Stop, take a look, and listen:

There’s a sense of urgency about the phone call which rattles you a bit, and which prevents you from thinking clearly
You are told they’re from the fraud department, that funds have been fraudulently taken from your account, and you need to confirm your details so the funds can be returned to your account
You’re asked to update or confirm your bank account number, PIN, or password over the phone
You’re asked to confirm an OTP for defrauded funds to be returned to your account
You’re asked to call them back to confirm that you’re speaking to someone who’s genuinely from the bank. The fraudsters then intercept the call you place to the bank’s call centre. from the bank’s call centre to the fraudster)

Well done! You’ve reached the end of Part 1 . . . but wait, there’s still a lot to come!

Lenny’s back on Thursday with Part 2 . . .you’ll learn of more scams and what you should (and shouldn’t) do!