Of all the types of scams used by cybercriminals to steal sensitive data from their victims, those that impersonate the identity of banking entities have proliferated in recent months.

“Several fraudulent SMS sending campaigns ( smishing ) have been detected that impersonate numerous banking entities. The objective is to direct the victim to a false web page that pretends to be the official website of a bank identity with the aim of stealing the credentials of access to the banking service”, denounces the Internet Security Office (OSI).

These scams generally use the same hook. Supposedly, the bank detects unusual movements on the credit card and, consequently, the bank has proceeded to block the card . And to reactivate it, personal data must be entered on a website, which is reached through a URL provided by the text messages that criminals spread massively.

To avoid this type of fraud, OSI suggests some simple recommendations, such as not opening messages from unknown senders, nor replying to them and deleting them; also, be careful when following links, especially if there is no security certificate on the site being accessed; No data of a personal nature, such as usernames, passwords or bank details, should be provided. “Remember that a bank never notifies incidents of your account through email or SMS , including a link to its website in the message”, clarifies OSI.

If, upon receiving one of these SMS, the link is accessed and the access data is provided, the scammers will have fulfilled their objective and will have a free hand to carry out different financial procedures.

For this reason, from OSI they advise contacting the corresponding banking entity as soon as possible to inform them of what has happened and cancel possible transactions that may have been carried out, block access to the account, cards, as well as to update the access data to the service of online banking. “In addition, we recommend you change the password in those services in which the same password is used as the one used to access your online banking,” adds the office.

To better identify these types of messages, the cybersecurity office has compiled a list of some of the messages that are being spread massively. These are some examples:

Santander
– Banco Santander Help Center. As of [dd/mm/yyyy] you will not be able to use your card due to changes in the security policy. Access the link to proceed with the activation [fraudulent URL].

– SANTANDER Dear customer: As of [dd/mm/yyyy], you will not be able to use your account. Until you update the new security system: [Spoof URL]

– SANTANDER As of [dd/mm/yyyy] you will not be able to use your account. You must activate the new web security system from: [fraudulent URL]

caixabank
– CAIXABANK INFORMS Action required on your card, unusual movements have been detected, activate the new security system before [dd/mm/yyyy] through the following link to avoid blocking your accounts and cards [fraudulent URL]

– CaixaBank Notification: As of [dd/mm/yyyy], you cannot use your card. You have to activate the new web security system: [Spoofed URL]

– CAIXABANK: Dear customer: As of [dd/mm/yyyy], you will not be able to use your account. Until I update the new security system [Spoofed URL]

– CaixaBank: As of [dd/mm/yyyy] you will not be able to use your card for branch purposes, activate web security to avoid blocking: [fraudulent URL]

Unibox
– New device connected to your online banking, if you do not recognize this action, check immediately: [fraudulent URL]

– [UNICAJA BANCO]: for security reasons. We have blocked your Card. Verify your account to activate access: [Spoofed URL]

– You have logged in from a new DEVICE, if you have not been your check immediately [spoof URL]

Bankinter
– Bankinter We have detected unusual movements in your application for prevention if you have not been, confirm it on our website [fraudulent URL]

open bank
– Openbank: NOTICE: A new device has been connected. If you do not recognize this access, verify using [fraudulent URL]

Ibercaja
– Ibercaja Banco [customer service]: As of [dd/mm/yyyy] you cannot use your Card. You have to activate the new security system: [fraudulent URL]

BBVA
– [BBVA BANCO]: for security reasons. We have blocked your Card. Verify your account to activate access: [Spoofed URL]

– Your card has been temporarily limited for security reasons, to reactivate it, update your information [fraudulent URL]

Bank
– We have detected unusual movements in your application, for prevention if it has not been you, confirm it on our website: [fraudulent URL]

KutxaBank
– We have detected unusual movements in your application, for prevention if it has not been you, confirm it on our website: [fraudulent URL]