Flight Reservation Scam Warning Victim Loses $4280.4 in Tianjin
TapTechNews June 15th news, according to CCTV News report, Mr. Luo in Tianjin received a call not long ago saying that the flight he just booked was cancelled. The other party claimed that they could help Mr. Luo with the air ticket改签(change or alteration of flight reservation) and pay the flight delay compensation, but he needed to download the relevant software and operate as instructed.
It is reported that the victim, Mr. Luo, was required to initiate a collection to an account of a ticketing company in Alipay. Because the prompt for collection failed, the scammer asked him to download a conference software called 'Cloud Service App' and open 'Screen Sharing' for guiding operations. When sharing, Mr. Luo opened the bank App and the payment payment code, and then the money was swiped away.
After a series of operations, all the more than 30,000 yuan ($4280.4) balance in Mr. Luo's bank card was transferred away. The case-handling personnel told the reporter that this is a typical air ticket refund and 改签(change or alteration of flight reservation) fraud case.
The case-handling personnel told the reporter that the scammer will induce the victim to download a so-called official claims customer service software on the grounds that the victim's account has not opened the 'Enterprise Payment Function'. This kind of software has the screen sharing function. After the victim opens the screen sharing function, the scammer will further require the victim to operate the bank account on the mobile phone on the grounds of 'checking which bank is in line with opening the enterprise payment function' and 'the account balance to open this function should be less than 300'. At this time, the victim's bank card number, password, account balance and even SMS verification code and other information have been completely exposed on the scammer's mobile phone.
When encountering the above fraud content, TapTechNews suggests everyone:
Verify the source of information: When receiving any call or information about flight changes, cancellations or 改签(change or alteration of flight reservation), first of all, it should be verified through the official customer service phone number, official website or App of the airline. Do not easily believe non-official numbers or overseas numbers starting with '00' or '+'.
Refuse to share the screen: Under any circumstances, you should refuse to share the screen with strangers. The screen sharing function will let the other party see all the content on your screen, including sensitive information such as bank card numbers, passwords, verification codes, etc., which is extremely easy to be exploited by fraudsters.
Be cautious when operating the bank account: In the case of having to use screen sharing, do not log in to any software involving money, including bank App, payment software, etc. Avoid exposing personal sensitive information when sharing the screen.
Do not easily transfer money or provide personal information: Do not easily believe strangers or institutions that ask you to transfer money or provide personal information (such as bank card numbers, passwords, verification codes, etc.). Especially when the other party claims to be able to handle air ticket 改签(change or alteration of flight reservation), pay flight delay compensation, etc., you should be more vigilant.
Improve safety awareness: Keep vigilant against fraud behavior and improve personal information security awareness. Change passwords regularly, use complex and difficult-to-guess password combinations, and avoid performing sensitive operations on public networks.
Report to the police in time: If you find that you may have suffered from fraud behavior, you should immediately report to the police and contact the relevant institutions for appeal and rights protection. At the same time, you can also report the relevant situation to airlines, banks or payment platforms and other institutions so that they can take corresponding measures.