In recent months, scammers have seized millions of euros through spoofing, reports TV show Kassa. The criminals used the helpdesk number of banks to convince customers to transfer money over the phone.
In some cases the perpetrators also knew how much money was in the account. As a result, victims were convinced that they really had a bank employee on the line. According to Kassa, there are at least dozens of victims. The victims were swindled for amounts ranging from 10,000 euros to 150,000 euros.
“Temporary safe deposit account
“We got a call from the ING number and an employee said: people are trying to steal money from your account,” said one of the victims in the broadcast. The Rotterdam couple were right to be suspicious. “But the woman knew things she couldn’t have known otherwise.”
The swindlers said that the couple had to increase their spending limit immediately. Then the husband and wife could transfer the money, which was “in danger because of hackers”, to a “temporary safe deposit account”.
The next day they had to come to the ING branch to deposit the money back. But there the two were told that they had been swindled. “50,000 euros, that’s a lot of money, yeah.”
At least 119 victims reported to a victim platform. This group alone is said to have been swindled for at least 2.6 million euros.
According to the victim platform, the banks have done too little to warn their customers. The victims also find it strange that some of the swindlers also seem to have had access to secret information. Such as how much money people had in their accounts. “Somewhere there is a leak or there must have been”, says a spokesperson for the platform.
Only Rabobank compensates damages
According to the TV programme, ING customers in particular have fallen victim to the chatter trick. Of the large banks, only Rabobank says it will compensate the damage. According to Kassa, customers of ING and ABN AMRO pay for the damage themselves. According to a spokesperson for the bank, ING is not liable because the customer has given permission for the transaction.
ING emphasises that it never asks customers to transfer money to another account. The bank has a special page explaining how to recognise spoofing and phishing and what you can do about it. The page states that the fraudsters may have obtained additional information from, for example, phishing emails.
According to Betaalvereniging Nederland, the reports to the banks about this helpdesk fraud have increased almost fivefold since April. From 60 reports in April to about 300 in July.