Beware of new tricks by fake investment scammers

Fake investment advisors are coming up with more and more sophisticated ways to lure you into high valuations in the form of investments in cryptocurrencies or shares of large companies such as ČEZ or Agrofert. 
What is new is the attempt to persuade you not to tell the real reason for the transaction when contacting your own bank, so that the bank cannot warn you of the danger in time. So be careful.
 

How does the scam work?

• An advertisement on the internet or a fake advisor over the phone offers a bargain on buying shares or cryptocurrencies.
• They can abuse the names of well-known personalities or companies (e.g. recently names such as Petr Pavel, Petr Fiala, Leoš Mareš, ČEZ, Agrofert and others were abused). 
• They try to convince you to start putting money into an investment account, or they offer you help straight away via a program or app that you have to download onto your device. In fact, they get remote access to control your bank account.  
• They will warn you that the bank will try to stop the payment. They will force you to hide these investments from your bank, deny the true reason for the transaction and invent another, and give a false description of the purpose of the payment (e.g. vacation, etc.). The goal is to prevent the bank from blocking the fraudulent transaction in time to save your money.

How can you protect yourself?

1. Check who you are communicating with.
   
2. Don't share your account access and passwords or any card numbers with anyone. 
3. Do not install programs/apps based on a phone call.
4. Be careful what you confirm and to whom. 

It’s your money, be cautious, take your time and verify. If you suspect a scam, call us at +420 277 207 207.  For more on the topic of fake investments, please visit our website. And remember, you can invest safely in George or speak to a banker at one of our branches.