Fraudsters are massively deceiving pensioners by posing as employees of the Pension Fund

Fraudsters are massively deceiving pensioners by posing as employees of the Pension Fund

Fraudsters in Ukraine are increasingly calling pensioners, pretending to be employees of the Pension Fund. Under the pretext of recalculating payments, they extract details of the Oschadbank card and SMS code, after which they withdraw all funds from the bank account.

This is reported by cybersecurity specialists Brama. Recently, there has been a surge of phone fraud in Ukraine, primarily targeting elderly people – pensioners.

The scammers act confidently, with personal data of their victims in their arsenal, making their calls particularly dangerous. They call pensioners, posing as employees of the Pension Fund. They mention the person’s full personal data – full name, residential address, and even the former place of work. Such tactics instill trust in the elderly, who do not suspect deceit.

Then the fraudsters claim that a pension recalculation for 2016-2018 has supposedly been conducted, and to receive the increase, a phone "reregistration" is required. It is important to know that in fact, no such recalculation has been conducted.

For "reregistration," the pseudo-employees ask for the bank card number. They mention the first digits – those standard for Oschadbank cards, thus convincing the victim that they only need to confirm the data. Then they ask for the rest of the card numbers, its expiration date, and the CVV code on the back.

At the final stage, the pensioner is asked to provide a one-time SMS code, which supposedly came to confirm the reregistration. In reality, it is a transaction confirmation code that allows fraudsters to completely withdraw funds from the account.

Pensioners are often trusting, especially when it comes to public institutions like the Pension Fund. They do not always have access to modern information on cybersecurity, do not use bank mobile apps, and often cannot consult with relatives, which fraudsters take advantage of.

How to protect yourself from fraudsters

• remember that the Pension Fund never conducts reregistration over the phone;
• never disclose full card details and SMS codes to anyone;
• inform your relatives, especially the elderly, about such schemes;
• if you suspect fraud – immediately contact the bank and the police.