Tech

scammers pretending to be counselors on the phone

Phone scams have become commonplace, and the latest was carried out by two 19-year-olds, who posed as Netflix advisers, among other things.

scam call
Credit: rokastenys / 123RF

The Versailles court (Yvelines) has just tried two 19-year-old men for fraud. These latter pretended to be Netflix advisers, health insurance advisers or even banking agents. Their goal was simple: to obtain the bank details of their victims. Unfortunately, 38 people would have fallen into the trap.

To put the too gullible victims in their pockets, the young people each time pretended a malfunction or fraud on their accounts, and asked for their bank details to be able to solve the problem. This practice is quite common. At the end of last year, it was bogus Crédit Agricole advisers who emptied the bank accounts of the French.

Also read – This farcical scam uses ChatGPT to drain your bank account

Phone scams can drain your bank account

In total, the two young people would have amassed a total of 85,000 euros using the victims’ bank cards. The authors would also have taken the opportunity to buy branded t-shirts, tickets for football matches, TVs, smartphones, a sofa, electric scooters and even a Dior ring.

The good news is that the two young people have been arrested. The police probably managed to trace their trail by tracing the line used for the calls as well as the IP addresses, which were in their name or that of their mother.

Both authors tried to minimize the facts, but it didn’t really work. In their smartphone, the authorities found screenshots of several bank accounts, with the personal data of their owners. The public prosecutor requested two years in prison against them, including 18 months suspended probation, a fine of 1,000 euros and an obligation to work.

The parents of the authors were also sanctioned with 120 day-fines, since they would have benefited from the money resulting from these scams. These were prosecuted for concealment of fraud, 20,000 euros and a television having been found at their home. The case was adjourned until April 17.

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