Overview
- New reports describe fake fixed-term deposit offers that use polished websites and PDFs to trick savers into wiring money to criminal IBANs.
- Banks must compare the recipient name with the IBAN, yet transfers can still be released despite a mismatch, which offenders exploit once warnings are ignored.
- Police in Hamburg warn that PayPal guest checkouts can pull funds from a victim’s IBAN without an identity check, enabling fraudulent direct debits.
- Consumer groups log a flood of lookalike bank emails that copy logos, set short deadlines, and threaten account blocks to capture logins and TAN codes.
- Another ploy sends money to a victim first and then pressures a return to a different account, which can make the victim pay twice unless the bank and police are notified at once.