Phone scammers in the US have learned to fake real numbers of banks and departments: even very cautious users fall for the trick
'07.06.2022'
Nadezhda Verbitskaya
According to the spam-blocking app YouMail, Americans received 4 billion robocalls in May. And in many cases, they were scammers using a fake number. CBS News.
That's what happened to Joanna Ganz. Her Caller ID (caller ID) said that Chase Bank was calling. And the person on the line said there was suspicious activity on her account. She was advised to transfer money from her account to prevent further fraud.
“Everything he said seemed true to me. He used exactly the same language that the bank uses,” Gantz said.
It turned out that it was not the bank that called, but a scammer. And within minutes, Ganz had lost over $2500.
“I really never thought this would happen to me. It was my money to pay rent and bills,” Ganz said.
Last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) required all cellular carriers to implement caller authentication technology called Stir-Shaken. The goal was to prevent fraudulent calls. But since then, the number of such calls has returned to the level that it was before the introduction of the mandatory use of an identifier.
“The problem is that scammers are not sitting idly by. Instead of using random numbers, they get access to real phone numbers. These numbers are authenticated, they look absolutely normal. So they call people,” explained YouMail CEO Alex Kvilichi. He believes that technologies such as Stir-Shaken are not enough to deal with scam calls. Kvilichi says that it is also necessary to strengthen the work of law enforcement agencies.
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Gantz looked for ways to get her money back, but to no avail. A spokesman for Chase Bank said that since Gantz authorized the transfer, the bank would not return the money. Chase Bank warns customers that its operators will never call and ask for your personal information. They will only ask for it if you call them.
