The Bank of Portugal (BdP) issued this Wednesday, October 22, an alert to help citizens identify messages and telephone calls with false job offers that, in reality, correspond to financial fraud.
On a page published on its website, the central bank lists a set of “warning signs” that citizens should be aware of if they receive a message or phone call “with an online job offer that promises high pay”.
In many cases, the objective of the contacts is to convince recipients to make payments or use “their account as a ‘mule account’, that is, as a pass-through account for amounts obtained fraudulently”, says the central bank.
“The fraud attempt begins with a message or telephone call, possibly from a foreign telephone number, with a job offer that you did not apply for. This is an online job, which you can do from home and promises high income. These offers can also be advertised on social media, especially on WhatsApp or Telegram, through advertisements or direct messages”, states the BdP.
Afterwards, a person can be invited “to join a chat group (for example, on WhatsApp or Telegram), in which they will obtain more information about the job offer”, with instructions appearing on these social networks about the work tasks to be carried out.
“They promise you high remuneration for simple tasks, such as watching videos on online platforms (for example, YouTube, TikTok or Tripadvisor), following certain pages and profiles on social networks or writing reviews of hotel establishments on online accommodation platforms. The tasks may also consist of transferring amounts received in your account to other accounts. In these cases, they intend to use your account as a ‘conta-mula’, that is, to launder capital obtained through illegal activities”, explains Banco de Portugal.
According to the banking supervisor, in many cases criminal networks require people to pay “a registration fee to the ‘company’ with the promise that it will be returned to them, plus a commission” as soon as the first task is completed.
The alleged work may also “involve ‘prepaid’ tasks”, in which targets have to “advance a certain amount to access supposedly more lucrative tasks”.
Some of the schemes, says the BdP, may be linked to fraud with crypto assets.
“To gain your trust, criminal agents may pay you the amount corresponding to the first tasks, typically small amounts”, but, at a certain point, “the amounts required to access certain tasks increase and payments are no longer made”, and if the target person “confronts the fraudsters, it is likely that they will no longer be contactable and eliminate any WhatsApp or Telegram groups and alleged ‘company’ pages”, warns the central bank.
In this notice, the BdP warns of the importance of citizens being suspicious of “opportunities to make easy money”, recommends that they not click “on links of unknown origin”, nor join suspicious groups, suggests that people protect “their personal data” and that they “never” make payments in advance.
When any situation raises doubts, a citizen should not share personal data, recommends the BdP.
If a person detects unauthorized movements in their account, they should “immediately contact their bank or other service provider”. If you are a victim of fraud, you should report “the situation to the nearest criminal police body (PSP, GNR or PJ) or to the Public Prosecutor’s Office”, the central bank also recommends.
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