I have been reading in the Australian news for the last few years about all of the various scams that people are falling for through their banks, including the banks themselves it seems. But I am not sure exactly how these days, as at least here, there is an authentication process required for all transfers, which means it has to be approved in a different application (or online using single-use passwords). So, how are people having money extracted multiple times?
For example,
That is 20-30 transactions.
So much for their AI checks.
This is from one of the latest articles I read today, and for this to happen to me, I would have to have approved every one of those transactions through an authenticator application attached to the bank. I even have to authenticate online purchases, whether I am using a credit card or a bank account to pay for something. This means signing into a secondary application, putting in passwords and approving. There is even a code given on the site that is also given on the application, to ensure it is the same transaction.
You'd think, that with all the centralized collaboration and legislation, secure transactions should be a given. There should be almost zero chance of anyone losing their fund, even to hackers - unless they give away their details, and then approve the transfers personally. At that point, you'd have to either be pretty compromised or, pretty stupid.
But, it might not be "stupid", it can also be complacent or, gullible. For example, if my in-laws got the message below which says that "Hi mum! My phone doesn't work, so I got a new one. Send me a text message in WhatsApp if you get this..." Would they reply?
Sent to my phone ^
Maybe.
They aren't as scam-wary as the younger generation and are likely to be more vulnerable to being compromised, because they are also not paying that much attention. Would they recognize that their kids would never write that way to them? That their daughter wouldn't speak that kind of Finnish - that is Google Translate Finnish. That is how I might write it.
Maybe, maybe not.
But then, where would it lead from here and how would it end up that they would give their "daughter" their bank account details and then, keep approving transactions. It would be weird. Not impossible (they are mid-70s), but weird.
So, where are the benefits of centralization? If crypto is such a danger because of all the scam, the centralized banks should at least be secure. I was reading an article from Australia a few weeks ago where some banks were banning transaction to Binance and a few other exchanges, because that is where the scammers were generally moving their funds to. But, that is after they got access to the funds from the banks themselves, through their checks and balances. If anything, the ability to move funds securely through crypto without the banks being able to get it back is proof that it is a more secure system than the centralized banks themselves.
But, high fees, massive charges for international transfers and banks that make billions yearly in profit, and they still can't seem to protect their clients from fraudsters. Yet, they won't change their technology to make it secure, because doing so would open them up to all kinds of problems with the way they operate, because it becomes transparent - and remember, they also host the government accounts too.
Literally, in Australia at least, if you get an SMS from your bank, that appears in the same chain as all the other SMS communications from that same bank, it might be a hacker. So, you are meant to call the bank's central helpline and then ask for a callback from them to make sure that you are talking to the actual bank. But, hackers can spoof those numbers too and even checking them, they can show up as legit. Great security system fellas.
I think they thought 2FA security meant, 2x Fuck All.
Obviously, the best line of defense is to remain vigilant and up to date with at least the latest basic scams that are being run. This way, when you see them, it is a reminder that they are happening and be more aware - trust no one.
Verify everything.
If you do suspect something is dodgy, assume that it is and do the due diligence, rather than relying on automated banking systems to do the job for you, or the banks to back you up if you do get scammed. From what I hear, the amount of hurdles that have to be jumped through for even a chance of reimbursement, can be quite extreme and take a very long time.
Be aware.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
