Stay alert: Scammers pretend to be bank  employees and try to gain full access to your George with the activation code

Such thieves constantly improve their skills, combining different fraud and manipulation techniques. Their latest activity focused on our clients is to gain full access to their George through their activation code.

How does the scam work?

A scam can start with phishing:

• You'll get a text message, most often about housing or social security benefits etc. The text message pretends to represent the Czech Social Security Administration, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs or other institutions.
• The link from the message takes you to a fake web page that looks just like a login page to Bank ID or to your internet banking. 
  

Afterwards, you receive a call from a fake bank officer:

• Such contact is made in a few moments. The scammer will introduce himself as an employee or a bank officer from Česká spořitelna.
• WARNING: The call might be also made from a spoofed number, which means that it looks like a phone number of Česká spořitelna.
• The "bank employee" will tell you that you most probably clicked on a fake link and entered your details, giving the criminals access to your account.
• Then you will be advised to deactivate the account immediately, if you want to save your money.
• The only way to deactivate your account as directed by the caller, is to get an activation code from an ATM and share it with the caller. You are then told by the fake bank employee that with the activation code, they will "block" your account and "save" your money. But in fact, you gave them full access to your George and they can do anything with it..
  

Beware of shopping from resale marketplaces or second-hand sites, where a fake buyer sends you a link to a common shipping service (Česká pošta, Zásilkovna, PPL, DHL, etc.). This page looks exactly like the real page, but it's actually an accurate fake. It has only one purpose - to trick you into giving out your George login and activation code.

What is an activation code and what happens after it is given to scammers?

The activation code is a one-time unique numeric code that you can get from an ATM, at a branch or by calling the helpline of Česká spořitelna.

Remember that the activation code is only used to:

• Activate George on a new mobile device;
• Reset your password to George; or
• Change the payment limit in George. 

Enter the activation code only in George. When you give it to a scammer via a link or over the phone, they get full access to your George. If someone tells you that they need an activation code from you, e.g. to block your account, this is a scam. 

Using the activation code, they activate your George on any device and, from that moment, they can work in your George as if it were their own. Then they comfortably transfer your funds to other accounts, make purchases on e-shops or create virtual cards to withdraw cash. You can lose all your money within minutes.

How to protect yourself? 

1. Check who you are speaking with; the scammer can impersonate anyone. Always verify bank employees of Česká spořitelna via George.
2. Do not share your account logins and passwords or card numbers with anyone. Enter the activation code only in George.
3. Be careful what you confirm and to whom.