The fraud call always sounds reasonable. That is the whole technique.
Nobody falls for an obviously fake call. They fall for a calm, helpful one that arrives at a moment when the story makes sense.
There is a common idea that people who lose money to fraud were careless. In practice most of them were busy, and the call arrived at exactly the moment the story sounded plausible. That is not carelessness. It is a well-practised technique meeting an ordinary Tuesday.
The one rule that covers almost everything
No bank, no payment app and no genuine support agent will ever ask you for your OTP, PIN or CVV. Not to verify you. Not to reverse a charge. Not ever.
What the calls usually sound like
- Your account will be blocked today unless you complete verification. Urgency is the point. It stops you checking.
- We have detected a fraudulent transaction and we are reversing it. Read me the code to confirm. Reversals never need a code from you.
- Your KYC has expired. Install this app so we can help. The app is remote-access software, and now they can see your screen.
- You have won a refund or cashback. Just scan this QR code. Scanning a QR sends money out. It never brings money in.
Worth knowing
The QR code one catches careful people. A QR code is an instruction to pay. There is no such thing as a QR code that receives money into your account.
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