Several people living in Belgium have reported getting phone calls from scammers posing as Card Stop employees who try to convince victims that a suspicious transaction has happened.
The number of scams and the various techniques through which fraudsters are trying to trick people into revealing sensitive information to get money are rapidly rising in Belgium. Banking federation Febelfin and payment operator Worldline have warned people of the latest trick in the book, involving Card Stop, the company that can block bank and other payment cards in case of problems.
"More and more scammers are pretending to be Card Stop employees. They try to make you believe that a suspicious transaction has happened on one of your accounts and ask you to take action," Febelfin noted in a press release. In reality, this concerns a fraudulent call not from Card Stop but from scammers, it noted.
The victims received calls from a number starting with '04', but the scammers also use other techniques to fish for their victims' bank details such as via text message, email or social media. "The scammers advise you to download a certain app on your smartphone. This way, they gain access to your data and can often loot your bank account."
Worldline, the operator of Card Stop, and Febelfin remind consumers that they should never share data via text message, email, social media or phone. Card Stop will also never proactively call people to inform them of fraudulent transactions on their accounts.
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Card Stop will block your payment cards. Similarly, if you still have your card and you do not recognise certain transactions on your account statements, or if you have given your PIN code or response code to a fraudster, call Card Stop and your bank. "Never give out PIN or other bank codes by phone, mail, text or social media. Worldline will never ask for this kind of information."
Worldline advises anyone who has become a victim of this scam to block their card immediately by calling Card Stop on 078 170 170, to then contact their bank and change their codes for online banking, for example. Finally, it is always recommended to file a complaint with the police.
