Scam hits Sparkasse customers: criminals use fraud emergency number

Criminals use the blocked emergency number to mislead bank customers. You introduce yourself as an employee and demand meaningful data.

Kassel – Consumers must react immediately if their bank or credit card is lost or stolen in order to minimize financial losses and data protection risks. The cards can be blocked quickly by calling the bank that holds the account or the central blocking emergency number 116 116.

However, it is precisely this blocked emergency number that is currently being misused by criminals to deceive Sparkasse customers, according to a press release from the association. Fraudsters pose as employees of the blocked emergency call service and try to obtain useful information such as account numbers, PINs or TANs. WDR recently warned about a fraudulent scam by an alleged telephone provider that affected thousands of customers.

Emergency call blocking scam: How to protect your bank details

The Federal Network Agency explains that despite legal prohibitions, calls are still being purchased in which the phone number transmitted and displayed to the recipient is manipulated. Technically, it is possible in various ways to replace the caller’s actual phone number with a fake one. This process of manipulating sender phone numbers is known as “call ID spoofing”.

In the current case, telephone fraudsters use so-called call ID spoofing to appear on the called party’s telephone display with a number that is actually trustworthy. During the conversation, potential victims are informed that their account has been hacked or that unauthorized account access has occurred. Under the pretext of security, a comparison of the account details is then requested.

But be careful! “This is an attempted fraud,” warns Sandra Königstein, chairwoman of the project. “The blocking emergency number did not contact anyone via the number 116 116 – just as the police do not call from 110.” “And under no circumstances will our employees call citizens to request secret data,” emphasizes Königstein. Meanwhile, a new scam on WhatsApp can be expensive for users.

Beware of Call ID spoofing: Fraudsters fake blocked emergency calls

To protect yourself from this scam, the emergency blocking service recommends the following measures:

• Do not share personal information: Police, banks, savings banks, authorities or reputable companies never ask for PINs, TANs or account information – neither by telephone, email or cell phone messages.
• Healthy suspicion when receiving unexpected calls: No matter what stories are told or what pressure is applied, remain calm.
• End suspicious phone calls immediately: Just hang up if you have any doubts.
• Economical with your own data: On the Internet, it is mandatory to provide personal information such as address, telephone number or date of birth.
• Check account transactions regularly: This means that unauthorized debits can be identified and canceled in a timely manner.

If you have passed on your data during a telephone conversation, you should have your account and the associated cards blocked immediately and report it to the local police station, advises the blocking emergency service. In order to enable investigations into phone number manipulation, an immediate complaint should also be submitted to the Federal Network Agency, according to the authority.

However, sometimes simply blocking the card is not enough. Theoretically, fraudsters could also pay in stores with a forged signature. The Federal Police informs that the KUNO project exists for such cases. The police work together with shops and other agencies. If the stolen card is blocked by the police using KUNO, the authority shares the data with the shops and the card is then blocked at all checkouts. Recently, Amazon customers were also affected by a scam. (vw/kiba)