Today, both our personal safety and the security of our electronic transactions are of utmost importance.

It concerns fraud via telephone call, aimed at deceiving and conducting transactions made by the “victim”. The fraudsters call unsuspecting customers on their phone, pretending to be their accountants, employees of Public Organizations, etc. They convince customers that they will receive, for example, financial aid, allowance, retroactive salaries or pensions, and guide them to proceed to an ATM in order to receive the amount or to use Piraeus e-banking in order to make money transfers to third parties or send a remittance.

How to protect ourselves:

• Do not disclose or reveal personal information (e-banking credentials, card details) by telephone to strangers, asking you to provide them with such information, supposedly to facilitate you to receive money.
• Be cautious not to give out personal information to strangers. Verify the authenticity of the caller by calling your associate at the contact numbers provided at the beginning of your collaboration.
• If anyone calls you assuming the identity of, for example, your accountant, asking you to go to an ATM in order to receive an allowance, hang up the phone immediately.
• If anyone calls you to tell you that, by going to the ATM and selecting the transactions "ONLINE DEPOSIT" or "TRANSFERS", you will receive money, you should terminate the communication. These services are deposit services and operate exclusively for transferring or depositing money to other Bank customers and not for receiving any amount from any customer or Organization!
• If, during the telephone conversation, it is mentioned that in order for you to receive money you must enter the code they are giving you during the ATM transaction in the "AMOUNT" field, terminate the call immediately. The code they are giving you is the amount that you will ultimately transfer to another customer within the Bank.
• Keep in mind that Piraeus e-banking orders for remittance or transfer to third parties are issued only to send money and NOT to receive. If you receive an e-mail, supposedly from the Bank, stating that "your e-banking is currently not functioning as a money transfer service but as a money acceptance service”, then this e-mail definitely leads to fraudulent activity. Instantly terminate communication with the fraudster and do not proceed with any action they have urged you to take.

In any case, do not rush into actions. Take your time, investigate, and consider whether an action could be harmful to you! If you realize that you have been deceived, call the Bank to report the incident and receive guidance for any further actions and instructions.

These are scams related to "voice phishing" (known as Vishing or the phishing of personal information through phone communication) and are designed to deceive us into disclosing personal information.

The most common forms of customer approaches are as follows:

• Phone call from a technician claiming to fix/upgrade the PC and its software. The fraudster methodically pressures the customer to grant remote access to their PC, and may also download a program to solve the "supposed problem" before gaining full access to the customer’s personal data.
• Goods purchasing and selling. The fraudster calls customers under the pretense of being interested in purchasing an item listed on a corresponding platform/site for selling goods. The fraudster methodically and insistently asks for the customer's e-banking credentials under the pretext of immediately transferring the money for the purchase of the item.
• Seasonal scams. The fraudsters, using various allowances or payments expected by customers as an excuse, call and present themselves as, for example, accountants, employees of electricity companies, tax officials, health workers, people interested in booking accommodations, truck owners for fuel transport, etc. In this case, too, the fraudsters methodically and insistently try to extract customers' e-banking credentials to conduct fraudulent transactions.
• Investment scams. The fraudsters attract customers by promising extremely high returns in a short period, assuring them that their investments will be safe and profitable. By enticing their "victims" to initially invest a small amount, they continuously pressure customers to invest more money so that the "investment" yields more profit. Often, they install a remote access program on the "victim's" PC, gaining full access to both their portfolio and their bank accounts.
• Loan scams. The fraudsters approach their "victims" under the pretext of disbursing loans with unrealistically favorable terms, e.g., from foreign banks with zero interest rates, etc., and ask them to pay a "small" amount to cover loan expenses so that the loan can be disbursed.
• E-mail from CEO or invoice payment. The fraudsters, knowing which company employee has access to corporate payments, notify them with an urgent e-mail as supposed CEOs in order to make a corporate payment immediately. Additionally, a company may receive an e-mail/phone call from a "partner" to change the bank account to which payments were normally made, so that future payments are credited to the fraudster.

Phishing is the malicious attempt by would-be fraudsters to steal personal information, such as web banking passwords, credit/debit card numbers or PINs, passport numbers, ID card numbers, tax numbers, etc.

– Ways to approach a potential "victim"

• Phishing E-mail
  These are fraudulent e-mails sent to random accounts of unsuspecting recipients, either by enticing them or trying to convince them that it is necessary, asking them to click on a link within the e-mail. This link leads to websites created by fraudsters, which mimic the legitimate websites of banks. Their goal is to deceive users into entering their personal information, which the fraudsters will then use to access the electronic banking environment and act as genuine customers.
• Phishing sms (Smishing)
  These are fraudulent SMS messages that, through a link they contain, ask customers to log in to Piraeus e-banking by selecting this link. They try to lure the customer into clicking the link using language such as, call a number to cancel/verify a transaction, unlock/activate your account, update your information by clicking here, etc. If customers select the malicious link, they will be directed to an environment similar to that of the bank and will be asked to enter their e-banking credentials and then the one-time codes they receive.

CAUTION!
If you enter your details as mentioned above, the fraudsters will immediately gain access to the Piraeus e-banking service and will be able to manage your money.