Since the beginning of the year until September, the Romanian Police received approximately 3,100 reports of investment fraud, over 80% of which concerned stock fraud, Chief Police Commissioner Sorin Stanica, a crime prevention specialist, on Wednesday told an event dedicated to online safety.
In her turn, executive director of the Romanian Banks Association Gabriela Folcut said that the organization is in talks with the National Communications Administration and Regulation Authority (ANCOM), the National Cyber Security Directorate and the Romanian Police to find a way to prevent phone impersonation scams.
„We are aware that we must strengthen all security measures, both at a technical and communication level. Technically we are very efficient in the beneficiary name display service. 20 banks are already part of this service, allowing someone who wants to make a payment to see, upon entering the IBAN code, who the amount is being transferred to – whether it is a natural person, or a legal person. Also, we are in discussions with Transfond and the National Bank to create an anti-fraud scheme benefiting all natural and legal persons, and I hope for a successful outcome as soon as possible with ANCOM. And yes, we are also trying to streamline the area where the customer immediately calls the bank when they notice that they have been scammed, so that the bank, to the extent possible, freezes the amount. (…) And we have set out to have a much more efficient cooperation with the Romanian Police, in the sense that they should call as soon as they receive a complaint from a customer, so that the bank can see if it can withhold the amount, if it was not transferred via instant payment, because in this case the money is gone in less than 10 seconds,” said Folcut.
The Romanian Banks Association, the Romanian Police and the National Cyber Security Directorate organized a press conference on Wednesday dedicated to the national online security awareness project #SigurantaOnline.
