Launched in 2020 by the Central Bank (BC), Pix emerged as an instant monetary transfer model. Because it is easy and quick, it has become Brazilians’ favorite. And scammers too. Between January and September this year alone, the Civil Police of the Federal District (PCDF) recorded 37,181 incidents of embezzlement and 5,443 of theft by fraud. These are the two types of crime in which scams involving Pix are the majority.
“Fraud involving payments with Pix has grown dramatically over the years. Criminals take advantage of the immediacy of Pix to quickly spread amounts from the beneficiary account to other accounts”, explains the delegate of the Coordination of Repression of Crimes Against Consumers, Material Property and Fraud (CORF) of the PCDF, Isabel de Moraes.
Faced with the increase in cases, the PCDF decided to create a campaign to prevent the population against crime. The action aims to raise awareness about the scam, with the aim of preventing people from becoming victims and providing guidance on the procedures that should be adopted by those who suffer fraud.
Crime methods are varied and change over time. But the most popular are the use of images of relatives and friends on WhatsApp profiles asking for money; fraudulent purchases made on social networks; the “phantom hand scam”, in which criminals invade the victim’s mobile banking and subtract amounts from the account; and financial pyramids, in which scammers disguise themselves as investment companies or offer debt portability.
According to the delegate, these are the techniques most used by criminals, who do not have a specific victim profile. “We are all susceptible to falling for this type of scam, but it is true that the elderly are more vulnerable. They end up being the scammers’ favorite victims, but we have all types of victims in the incidents”, reveals Isabel de Moraes.
It is important that the population protects itself by adopting some measures. “The main recommendations are to protect personal data, use strong passwords and not share them, use two-factor authentication and antivirus and always prefer to browse private Wi-Fi networks”, warns the CORF delegate.
“Another suggestion is to be very careful with images and information shared on social networks and not access suspicious links from financial institutions that offer super advantages”, he adds.
Post-coup procedures
Anyone who suffers any type of Pix fraud should always register a police report, which can be online or physically at a police station. Whoever commits the crime may be liable for embezzlement or theft through fraud, with penalties ranging between 2 and 8 years in prison and may also be classified as a possible criminal association, financial pyramid and money laundering.
“This is very important so that we can combat scams and create a prevention structure”, explains the delegate. Furthermore, the bank must be immediately notified so that the financial institution adopts the security measures created by the Central Bank.
The BC has two standardized procedures for cases. The first of these is the special refund mechanism (MED), which can be activated by the bank itself in the case of improper credit due to operational failure or by the user when they realize they have been the victim of a scam. In MED, the victim’s bank uses the Pix infrastructure to notify the institution that received the transfer. An analysis is carried out for up to seven days. If the scam is proven, the funds are returned to the payer.
The other measure is precautionary blocking, when the institution that holds the recipient’s account suspects a fraudulent situation. Preventive blocking of resources is carried out for up to 72 hours. The action allows for a more robust analysis to be carried out, increasing the probability of recovery of resources by paying users who are victims of a crime.
With information from Agência Brasília
The post Police warn of increase in scams involving Pix appeared first in Jornal de Brasília.
Source link
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS