A few years ago, when security experts said that the day would come when fraudsters would be able to successfully impersonate relatives, it sounded like science fiction. Well, that day has come and the stories are coming in.
And now it's not just a few cases anymore, says telecoms provider Bite.
"This is one of the most popular [ways]. They call and say 'hey, mum, hey, dad'. Depends on who picks up. They say I'm in an accident and such, that there's been an accident and they urgently need help. It pulls you into it emotionally, then [the person] doesn't listen to the end," Reinis Pudāns, internal security process manager at SIA "Bite Latvija", said about the methods of scammers.
Only a few days ago, a call was received from a strange number and the voice of a friend desperately saying that there was a problem with the police and they desperately needed to transfer money.
The call was from a number registered in Latvia. "Yes, it works. It's very simple. Any number is entered and called from," said Reinis Pudāns.
The company cannot confirm whether the voice in this case was generated or whether the fraudster's voice was similar enough to that of a friend. But technically, it can be done. But it requires more effort. Voice samples are needed. Most of the time, the caller and tries to be vague, but specifically say that they urgently need to transfer money.
Mobile operators try to block the numbers of potential fraudsters. There is currently no common regulation for all operators on how to block fraudsters' numbers.
Each company has developed its own guidelines and mechanisms, but they cannot provide complete protection.
The total amount defrauded from the Latvian population each month so far has reached €1 million. Now the banks say the amounts are getting higher and the total amount defrauded is €1.4 million every month.
