NASSAU, Bahamas, Sept 10, CMC – The Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) is warning of an increase in the number of phishing scams reminding people that financial institutions will never ask for personal information or verification codes over the phone or on social media.
“It’s safe to say that there is indeed an uptick with respect to these phishing scams [when] compared to what we see happening last year at the same period, ”Superintendent Yvette Rolle-Davis, of the Financial Crimes Investigation Branch, told a news conference, adding that fraudsters were also targeting verification codes, persuading victims to hand them over during calls, giving them full access to bank accounts.
Superintendent Anthony McCartney, who heads the Branch, said the scammers often claim victims’ accounts are locked and direct them to fraudulent websites where they are asked to enter banking information.
“We have had a number of customers from various financial institutions affected by the scam,” McCartney said, reiterating “this is not a new or isolated incident.
“This is a scam in which scammers send out information via SMS text or a link. We’ve also seen in recent incidents that they are going to the extent of calling individuals or customers.
“Once that text message is sent out and persons respond to that text, they are diverted to a website where they are asked to enter their personal banking information or to change their credentials.”
The police also warned people of allowing their accounts to be used to move illicit funds, with Rolle-Davis saying “you may have a family or friend who’s giving you some excuse as to whatever reasons that they need to use your banking account information to transfer funds… “That itself is a no-no. And as we know with your account, the individuals who are allowing their accounts, they are, in fact, responsible for their own accounts,” she said.
Supt McCartney said that the police are also urging the public to stop assisting scammers, whether knowingly or not, adding “we also want to send an appeal to persons who facilitate or assist these scammers in perpetrating these offence.
“… we find that often times persons who come in contact with the police, they indicate that their banking information was stolen or lost. They’ve been asked by a friend to assist them from withdrawing funds from their account. Again if you want to prevent being subject to the harsh penalties of the law, we would advise you to desist from conducting such activities.”
The police say they are using technology and international cooperation to track suspects, many of whom operate across borders.
“This is very alarming to us as law enforcement as our resources are directed solely into dealing with persons, who, just by taking a little bit due diligence, can minimise or prevent themselves from being the victim of crimes,” Superintendent McCartney said.
“Once the persons are arrested, if the funds are still available on the bank account, we’ll be able to get those funds back to the individuals whose accounts were compromised,” he said, adding “we find that funds that are sent to a particular account, that information is provided to the police so we know to go directly to that account”.
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