Here’s how not to fall for the ‘forgotten money’ scam

Yes, it is true that there are R$6 billion to be saved, because they were forgotten in the bank accounts. Faced with this, many scammers take advantage of the situation and fall victim.

In fact, complaints about the forgotten money scam have been happening since last year, when the Central Bank of Brazil (BC) launched the System of Receivable Values ​​(SVR).

When the fraudster manages to make the victim, he gains access to the personal data of the citizen, leaving him in a vulnerable and precarious financial position. Check below for the safe way to recover your forgotten money and the precautions you should take so you don’t fall for the scam.

How is the blow applied?

Scammers communicate through various means. The message can arrive via SMS, email, WhatsApp or even phone calls. However, the most common way to apply this particular scam is via WhatsApp.

Therefore, you are sent an alert about forgotten funds and a link that should never be clicked. In the message, the scammers impersonate British Columbia officials. When the victim clicks on the link, the criminals automatically gain access to their personal data, passwords, etc.

Moreover, along with the link, a spyware can be downloaded without the user realizing it. Using the personal data and passwords of the victims, fraudsters can, for example, apply for loans from financial institutions and make online purchases.

How do you know it’s a scam?

BC never contacts a citizen to alert them about forgotten funds. Therefore, the query is made only on the official website of the bank. during SVR It is possible to query and order in a secure manner. No one will have access to the forgotten money, only its owner.

This means that any message that arrives through any means of communication warning of forgotten money is a scam. BC also states that it never requests access passwords from individuals, nor does it send links.

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