MANILA, Philippines – Banks have repeatedly told customers to be extra careful when dealing with emails from scammers, pretending to be from the bank, asking for personal information such as birthdays and mother’s maiden name. But scammers have become so crafty and know how to trick customers.
Recently, a guy lost Php26,000 after receiving a call from someone pretending to be from the bank. He unwittingly sent this person the codes sent by the bank as One-Time PIN (OTP); thus, he can’t be refunded for the fraudulent transaction because in a way, he ‘authorized’ the transactions!
In a post on Facebook, Joshua Renaldee Salcedo shared that he received a call from a person who claimed to be a ‘bank representative’ of BPI Pritil, a BPI branch in Tondo, Manila, to update his account information. Since the last email he clicked from the bank was back in May 2019, the call did not raise red flags. Moreover, the ‘bank representative’ asked him to visit the bank to verify his information, so there appears to be nothing fishy about it, right?
The caller was able to gain his trust so much that when he was told to give the code sent by the bank to confirm the schedule, he gave it to the caller without really reading the entire text message. It turned out the code was for registering his account to the scammer’s device!
When he told the ‘bank representative’ that can’t actually go on the first schedule he was given, the caller readily offered to create an open schedule so he could visit the bank anytime in May 2020. He was asked for another code to confirm the new schedule. Again, he gave it without reading the full text.
The caller repeated the information and his ‘new appointment’.
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It was not until he turned on his mobile data an hour later that he read the emails from BPI saying “fund transfer was successful.” Shocked, he quickly went through the emails, only to realize his money from his two BPI accounts had been transferred to an e-wallet Paymaya account. It was only then that he realized his mistake and that the ‘bank representative’ was a scammer. The codes he had been sending were OTPs.
He immediately went to the bank but was told that he is unlikely to get a refund because the OTP serves as authorization that the transactions are valid. Because he gave the OTPs to the scammer, even by mistake, he is liable for the transactions.
They can’t also help with running after the scammers through Paymaya because that is a third-party app, he was told. Because there is a high likelihood that he won’t get his hard-earned money back, Salcedo shared the experience to warn others so that they won’t be tricked in the same manner.
All photos courtesy of Facebook/Joshua Renaldee Salcedo.
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
Recently, a guy lost Php26,000 after receiving a call from someone pretending to be from the bank. He unwittingly sent this person the codes sent by the bank as One-Time PIN (OTP); thus, he can’t be refunded for the fraudulent transaction because in a way, he ‘authorized’ the transactions!
In a post on Facebook, Joshua Renaldee Salcedo shared that he received a call from a person who claimed to be a ‘bank representative’ of BPI Pritil, a BPI branch in Tondo, Manila, to update his account information. Since the last email he clicked from the bank was back in May 2019, the call did not raise red flags. Moreover, the ‘bank representative’ asked him to visit the bank to verify his information, so there appears to be nothing fishy about it, right?
The caller was able to gain his trust so much that when he was told to give the code sent by the bank to confirm the schedule, he gave it to the caller without really reading the entire text message. It turned out the code was for registering his account to the scammer’s device!
When he told the ‘bank representative’ that can’t actually go on the first schedule he was given, the caller readily offered to create an open schedule so he could visit the bank anytime in May 2020. He was asked for another code to confirm the new schedule. Again, he gave it without reading the full text.
The caller repeated the information and his ‘new appointment’.
SEE ALSO: LIST: Bank schedule Holy Week 2020
It was not until he turned on his mobile data an hour later that he read the emails from BPI saying “fund transfer was successful.” Shocked, he quickly went through the emails, only to realize his money from his two BPI accounts had been transferred to an e-wallet Paymaya account. It was only then that he realized his mistake and that the ‘bank representative’ was a scammer. The codes he had been sending were OTPs.
He immediately went to the bank but was told that he is unlikely to get a refund because the OTP serves as authorization that the transactions are valid. Because he gave the OTPs to the scammer, even by mistake, he is liable for the transactions.
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| BPI temporarily blocked his accounts to retrieve from scammer. |
They can’t also help with running after the scammers through Paymaya because that is a third-party app, he was told. Because there is a high likelihood that he won’t get his hard-earned money back, Salcedo shared the experience to warn others so that they won’t be tricked in the same manner.
All photos courtesy of Facebook/Joshua Renaldee Salcedo.
— Joy Adalia, The Summit Express
