BDO Unibank, Inc. is warning its clients against scammers who use SIM cards to deceive and steal their victims’ money.
In a statement, the bank said one scheme is called SIM Swapping, where scammers are disguised as telecommunications agents offering upgraded network connection in exchange for SIM cards.
More prevalent is the SIM Upgrade scheme where scammers purchase 4G SIM cards, register their victims’ mobile number, and fool their victims into giving the One-Time PIN (OTP) needed to own the mobile number.
In both modus operandi, scammers takeover their victims’ mobile number to control their victims’ online bank accounts.
BDO urges clients to call BDO Customer Care to deactivate their accounts if they get SMS notifications or emails about suspicious online transactions.
To do this, scammers identify then gather their victims’ personal information through phishing or from the internet. They mention personal information such as birth date and mother’s maiden name when they call their victims to sound convincing and credible.
Once they win their victims’ trust, they are able to convince them to surrender their SIM card or OTP to activate a 4G SIM card.
With their victims’ personal information and mobile number, scammers can more easily outsmart banks’ multifactor authentication (MFA) and transfer money from their victims’ online bank accounts to their own.
Common MFA consists of using a username and password to log in an online bank account, and receiving one-time PINs on a registered mobile number to confirm a transaction.
For protection, BDO advises clients to be prudent in sharing personal information online and to keep their social media accounts in private mode.