Four arrested for defrauding 35,000 euros using the "fake bank manager" method

Civil Guard agents belonging to the “Equipo @” of this Command, specialists in combating cybersecurity, have initiated proceedings in which four people are being investigated, aged between 19 and 21, as alleged perpetrators of a crime of bank fraud committed using the well-known "fake bank manager" method.

The investigation began when specialized agents became aware of the criminal acts through the complaint filed by the victim.

“Fake manager” method

It consists of deceiving the victim by sending them numerous fraudulent SMS messages to their mobile device, on this occasion, they were told that they had to urgently call the bank, providing them in the sent SMS with the phone number they should contact, all to give it greater credibility.

After making the phone call and having a conversation with a person who identifies themselves as a bank manager, they are told that there are various operations blocked for security reasons. During the course of the call, the victim receives several verification codes via SMS, and after following the instructions of the supposed manager, these validation codes are used to carry out and validate five bank transfers.

Thanks to the meticulous analysis of the information gathered by the Equipo @ of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the rapid intervention of the agents, more than 35,600 euros were recovered, corresponding to most of the economic amount defrauded and ensuring that the beneficiary bank accounts of the transferred funds were blocked, preventing them from being subsequently transferred to other countries, thus making their traceability and recovery difficult.

Subsequent actions allowed for the full identification of the alleged perpetrators, one of whom was a resident of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with the rest being located in Seville, Tarragona, and Gran Canaria, for which collaboration was requested from the Units of those Commands, for the corresponding investigation and identification.

Security recommendations

The Civil Guard reminds citizens of the importance of exercising extreme caution with messages or calls that request personal or banking information:

• Be wary of SMS messages that warn of urgent issues with bank accounts.

• Never provide access codes or verification codes over the phone.

• Always verify the authenticity of communications by contacting the banking institution directly through its official channels.

• Ignore links or phone numbers included in suspicious messages.

From the Guardia Civil, it is reminded that citizens can file complaints telematically, completely and without needing to go to an official facility, for five criminal proceedings, Computer scams such as fraudulent charges with bank cards or other electronic payment methods, damage, theft, vehicle theft, theft from inside vehicles- and two administrative proceedings -loss or misplacement of documentation and location of documentation.

They can do so through the Electronic Headquarters https://guardiacivil.sede.gob.es/ or website https://web.guardiacivil.es/es . However, those who do not have these means can request it by phone or in person at their reference Guardia Civil Post. It can also be requested from the Cita Previa AGE App, available for Android and iOS systems.