What new tactics are scammers using to steal sensitive information from victims?

This Thursday, the Judicial Police issued an alert against new methods used by fraudsters to obtain sensitive information from victims in order to carry out banking procedures in their names without their consent.

The Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) pointed out that some scammers now impersonate company or foundation officials to convince victims that they will receive social assistance. In the same model, they also offer fake jobs.

“The aim is to obtain sensitive information without the knowledge or awareness of the affected person in order to process credit in financial entities; these cases mostly occur among the elderly population,” the OIJ report said.

Another trick is to offer students scholarships or loans by asking them to download an application form on their mobile device and enter their personal data, a copy of their ID and a selfie holding their ID.

“Once people enter every detail requested, anti-social elements take advantage and conduct credit procedures,” the Judiciary Police explained in a press release.

In this sense, the OIJ reminds citizens that “under no circumstances” should they provide personal information, identity documents or photographs to third parties, as they could be used to commit such crimes.

“If you are a victim of this or any other type of scam, please go to the nearest OIJ office anywhere in the country and file a complaint accordingly,” he concluded.

been: Scammers rent bank accounts from third parties to commit fraud

Digital fraud is on the rise in the country. According to a report by the General Supervisory Authority for Financial Entities (Sugef), bank customers lost £4.199 billion in 2021 and only recovered £355 million.

Meanwhile, during 2020, a total of €3.243 billion was stolen and €867 million was recovered.

According to the Costa Rican Banking Chamber, between October 2021 and February 2022, more than 3,000 complaints Fraudulent products related to phone calls from fake bank officials, through deception Link Malice and other scams.

The first advice for victims of fraud is to immediately inform the bank and file a complaint with the Judicial Investigation Authority (OIJ), as this type of fraud can lead to multiple crimes.

For example, the Criminal Code provides for the crime of impersonating electronic pages, and anyone who impersonates a legitimate website on the Internet and harms the interests of third parties may be sentenced to one to three years in prison.

If a person impersonates a legitimate Internet site and obtains confidential information of a natural or legal person for his or her own or a third party’s benefit through deception or mistake, the penalty is increased from three to six years.