retired woman avoided falling into “uncle’s story” and even managed to get crooks to deposit money into her account | the Chronicle

With digitization driven by the Coronavirus pandemic, much of our data is now on the web. From work and play to more personal and financial issues, everything is subject to the growing wave of cybercrime haunting the most vulnerable. While it’s common to hear older people fall for online scams, this Russian grandmother challenged the stereotype and won an award.

The 70-year-old woman, citizen of Cheliábinsk, got a call from a man who said he was a representative of his bank. The crooks informed the foreign language teacher that someone was trying to steal the money from his account, and they asked him how much he had saved in the bank.

Having received similar calls on two other occasions, she admitted to the phishing attempt. Instead of hanging up, however, the old woman have decided to play their game and informed the crooks he was guarding 8 million rubles on your account -10 million pesos-. In truth, the woman I only had about 50 rubles in its name, equivalent to 65 pesos.

“I said the first amount that came to my mind: $ 8 million. I don’t know why this amount“the woman, whose identity remains anonymous, explained to local media.”So the person I was talking to started to rush say that every second was precious, and suggested that I go to the bank, withdraw all the money and transfer it to a secure account. In addition, he asked not to hang up to keep in touch“he added.

Seeking to twist the cybercriminals’ plans, the retiree said incoming calls to her phone were paid and she wouldn’t know how long her current balance would reach. Without stopping to wonder why a millionaire ran out of phone balance, scammers rush they offered him a refill: “Almost immediately they transferred me 500 rubles. Apparently they were gonna keep me hooked for a long time“the woman commented.

When the “clerk” called her back to insist that she go to an ATM, she asked him which bank he represented. “When he named it, I got the sclera and I told him the 8 million was in another organization, and that he only had 50 rubles in his bankshe says. After a short silence on the other end of the line, the old woman heard a grocery chain before the thief cuts off the call.

What is phishing and how to avoid it

With the method of Phishing, cybercriminals trick people into steal personal information. Impersonating trusted people, businesses or institutions, crooks convince victims to surrender voluntarily Passwords, bank details much more.

While email phishing is prevalent, calls and texts are also used. The Ombudsman’s office Buenos Aires detected that in the province a 200% increase in complaints of virtual scams so far in 2021. “There has been a noticeable increase since the start of ASPO, where online activities have increased dramatically and with them their respective threats and risks“he explained Arturo Pozzali, Deputy Defender and Defender of banking clients.

The Buenos Aires Ombudsman has generated a simple phishing prevention manual available here, where they list precautionary measures such as avoid suspicious links, be careful with the file download and verify that the domains are genuine (check for spelling mistakes or changing lowercase to uppercase).