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12h ago

Austria and Germany Issue Fresh Warnings on Smishing and Bank Fraud

Banks and police stress they never request TANs or passwords by phone or SMS.

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Telefonbetrüger haben einen 69-Jährigen in Baden-Württemberg um rund eine halbe Million Euro gebracht. Der Mann aus Immenstaad wurde Ende November von einem Anrufer kontaktiert, der vorgab, dass es eine falsche Abbuchung vom Konto gegeben habe.
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Betrüger haben von einem Ehepaar aus Duisburg mindestens 100.000 Euro erbeutet. Das Paar im Alter von 89 und 93 Jahren fiel auf die Masche des Schockanrufs herein, wie die Polizei mitteilte.

Overview

  • Austrian authorities, including the Finance Ministry and ÖGK, are alerting the public to a new wave of fraudulent SMS that mimic official messages and urge recipients not to click links or share personal data.
  • Germany’s BSI reports that attacks on bank customers continue to rise, with President Claudia Plattner urging skepticism toward suspicious messages, even as the growth rate of incidents shows signs of easing.
  • A Duisburg couple lost a low six-figure sum after a ‘shock call’ impersonating their son, and police advise hanging up, verifying via known numbers, and never handing over cash or valuables to strangers.
  • Experts warn that criminal groups are using artificial intelligence to craft convincing texts, deepfakes, and automated chats, increasing the plausibility and speed of scams.
  • Survey data underscore the scale of exposure, with around 85% of respondents in Austria reporting being targeted and roughly a quarter of German respondents encountering attempted or successful online fraud, most often in online shopping, phishing, and identity theft.