Last week, in a single case in the canton of Schwyz, fraudsters managed to steal around half a million francs using a “remote fraud” scheme.
As a result, as they report Swiss media, reports the Telegraph, Central Swiss police forces are issuing a strong warning about the growing prevalence of remote fraud.
In this regard, Swiss media have revealed details of how this insidious trick works.
As further disclosed, the perpetrators contact potential victims by phone and claim to be bank employees.
After that, the scammers claim that the account is infected with a virus.
They claim that an unauthorized transfer has occurred and that the e-banking account is infected with a virus.
Then, they encourage those affected to download suspected virus scanning programs onto their computers.
The program is actually a remote maintenance program.
This gives criminals direct access to the victim’s computer and online banking services.
Bypassing two-factor authentication
According to Swiss media outlet Blick.ch, victims are then instructed to log into their online bank account.
In some cases, the perpetrators also installed a corresponding application on the victims’ mobile phones to bypass two-factor authentication.
After logging into the system, the victim’s screen goes dark and is covered with messages, while the perpetrators distract their victims via phone.
In this way, they gain unlimited access to bank accounts, which are usually emptied to just a few francs.
The media outlet in question indicates that stolen funds are usually transferred to Swiss bank accounts.
And to prevent something like this, Blick.ch has shown some preventive tips from the police: Banks never ask their customers to install software over the phone; Do not install programs with instructions from unknown persons; Do not share any payment details or codes; If in doubt, end the call and contact your bank via the official phone number; If you suspect fraud, report it immediately to the police. /Telegrafi/