Women More Likely to Fall for Scams: Latest Statistics from the Banking Processing Center
Banking Processing Center Reveals How Scammers Target Belarusian Cardholders
The Banking Processing Center has released data on the frequency and methods scammers used to deceive Belarusian bank cardholders in the first quarter of 2023. According to the Center’s analytics, criminals closely monitor news trends and skillfully impersonate various roles, from law enforcement officers to virtual acquaintances on social media.
Rise in Fraud Cases, Decline in Successful Operations
Most fraud involving bank payment cards in Q1 2023 involved the use of card details. Thus, such crimes in Belarus have completely moved online: no skimming attempts, i.e., stealing data from the magnetic stripe of a card to counterfeit it using special devices in ATMs, were recorded in Q1 2023. In this regard, the experience of our country is noticeably different from the global one: all because Belarusian banks once abandoned cards with a magnetic stripe in favor of contactless chips.
In Q1 2023, the number of detected fraud cases increased by 27% compared to the same period in 2022. However, the total number of successful fraudulent operations decreased by 40%, and their total amount decreased by 3.4 times. The same applies to the average amount that was stolen from the cardholder’s account: if a year ago it was about $50, now it is $25.
Another clear trend was the reorientation of criminals to the use of payment services and systems registered in Belarus. In particular, they became more interested in holders of cards of the Belcart payment system.
Main Methods: Social Engineering and Phishing
According to the results of the first quarter, the main share of fraud falls on social engineering – about 70%. Criminals acted mainly through online marketplaces, calls on behalf of banks, financial and other organizations, messages on social networks, phishing emails.
For greater persuasiveness, scammers used various tricks: for example, they called or wrote in messengers on behalf of banks to warn about the alleged possible blocking of the mobile application in official stores and offered to install a “new version”. The link to this version hid programs for remote access to the user’s device, with the help of which criminals gained full control over his accounts and funds.
In addition to bank employees, criminals often posed as law enforcement officers and, under the guise of preventing a crime or clarifying data, tried to find out the identification number of the passport, place and length of service, salary level and other information necessary for processing a bank loan.
In Q1 2023, a fraud scheme with loans, which holders independently issue and then transfer the received credit funds to scammers, became especially active. In this case, criminals manage to convince holders that they are participating in the exposure and capture of scammers among bank employees.
Attempts continued to use the scheme common on dating sites or apps: a client is persuaded to meet and offered to buy tickets to the cinema or an event, paying for them via a phishing link. At the moment when a person agrees to the payment, his account details fall into the hands of scammers.
Demographic Breakdown: Who Do Scammers Target?
According to statistics, women are more trusting of scammers’ arguments: they account for 57% of successful deception cases. In 91% of cases, criminals choose economically active people aged 18 to 64 as the object of their interest, in 5% – holders over 65 years old. 4% of attacks were on card users under 18. 20.5% of fraud cases were recorded in Minsk, 79.5% – in other regions of Belarus.
At the same time, analysts note cases of such a phenomenon as “friendly fraud”. In this case, the criminals are the bank card holders themselves or their relatives. First, they pay for the necessary goods or services, and then try to return the money for it under the pretext that their card data was allegedly compromised.
For more information on online safety, visit the USA.gov Online Safety guide.
