Be careful, Banco de Portugal warns you of phone scams in your name – Human Resources

The Bank of Portugal (BdP) has received dozens of complaints about a phone call scam that uses the identity of the central bank and its employees to obtain credentials to access bank accounts.

“We have intercepted several users who have accessed Banco de Portugal, indicating that they are being contacted on behalf of Banco de Portugal through text messages and even phone calls,” said BdP Information Systems Manager, Carlos Mora, in Lusa.

According to the person in charge, the complainants received messages signed by a number imitating the identity of the Development Bank (spoofing) and suggesting that access to the accounts might be compromised.

Affected customers are then forced to call a phone number that mimics the Bank for Development and Progress helpline and whose “service level is very similar” to that of the central bank itself.

“This is the topic that concerns us most at the moment, because the level of service is very similar to our user support service, and in a way, people are encouraged to make these kind of errors because people end up presenting themselves as employees of Banco de Portugal.” Carlos Mora added.

After this call, victims are asked to install an anti-virus-like program on their mobile phones to verify the compromised information, and are asked to access their bank accounts.

The indicated software acts like malware and ends up removing access credentials from user accounts.

According to Carlos Mora, the BDP has already received “several hundred calls” in its call center and dozens of calls in the regional network, leading officials to believe that it is “a movement that exists in society.”

There are several recommendations, including suspending the sharing of personal or bank card data, not making suspicious transfers, or installing suspicious programs on a cell phone or computer.

Anyone who receives a call on their cell phone whose dialed number is supposed to be a BdP number should report the case to the authorities and contact Banco de Portugal, which can be done via email at [email protected] or via Call the number 213130000.

BdP said it was cooperating with the authorities and had reported the cases received.