Telephone fraud - modalities

It is another of the most common ways scammers use. They basically target their potential victims by contacting them by phone or text message, pretending to be from a reputable company, such as a bank, card issuer, utility company, government entity, or customer service.

Scammers mostly target older adults, with devastating effects. Criminals take advantage of victims' unfamiliarity with technology, online banking and newer payment methods such as cryptocurrencies.

There are different variants of scams, to name a few:

1.- Investment fraud: involves complex financial crimes that are often characterized as low-risk investments with guaranteed returns. They include advanced fee frauds, Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, market manipulation frauds, real estate investments and trust-based investments, etc.

2.- Lottery/Sweepstakes/Inheritance: The initial contact in a scam of this type is usually a call, an email, a notification on social networks or an email reporting having won a million-dollar prize in which the victim did not participate. To claim their prize, the victim must pay supposed “fees” and “taxes” in advance.

3.- Trustworthy/romance: These include those designed to strike a chord with the victim. Scams of this type occur when a criminal adopts a false identity online to gain the affection and trust of the victim. The scammer uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship to manipulate and/or steal from the victim.

4.- Extortion: Occurs when a criminal demands something of value from a victim by threatening financial damage or the disclosure of confidential data.

5.- Lack of delivery/payment/products: The combination of online purchases, social networks and telephone offers create favorable spaces for scammers to publish false ads with products that they never deliver.

6.- Cryptocurrencies: Cryptocurrencies are becoming the preferred payment method for all types of scams: SIM swaps, technical/customer service fraud, employment schemes, romance scams and even some auction fraud. It is extremely widespread in investment scams, where losses can reach large figures per victim.

7.- Exchange of banknotes: This occurs when a scammer makes his victim believe, posing as a bank employee, that the money he has stored in his house must be exchanged for new banknotes, given that the ones he has have lost legal tender.

Telephone fraud preventive measures ►

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