Beware of this new card fraud scam

Once again, cunning fraudsters have come up with a new trick to charge money to their victims' credit or debit cards. They do this in a particularly sophisticated way, in three steps:

• First they call their victims from a phone number of the card issuer. They do this by means of Call ID spoofing. This means that they tamper with the call ID so that the display on the called phone shows the phone number of the card issuer rather than their own phone number. Victims are thus tricked into believing the call is from a representative or agent of their credit or debit card company.
• The victim is then told on the phone that apparently some fraud has been detected on the card. This is a scam, which is connected to a fake e-mail message sent to the recipient (e.g. from a streaming service).
• The victim is then told they can reclaim the amount themselves if they act immediately. To do this they must pass on the code which will be sent in a few minutes, The refund would then be triggered immediately.

In reality however the code is used to verify a payment. The fraudsters can use it instantly in the background to make a purchase or debit money from the credit or debit card.

So take care: Never pass on a code. Your credit or debit card provider and your bank will never ask you for a verification code in such a way.