The National Bank warns of a scheme of a new and very dangerous way of "phishing", where by entering data from the payment card and providing an OTP code for authorization, customers' payment accounts are taken over by fraudsters, and calls on citizens to be more careful.

The National Bank clarifies that citizens receive a phishing message (SMS, e-mail), which states the urgency of payment, package delivery, etc. and provides a link to which payment should be made.

The Bank adds that the defrauded person is redirected to a "malicious" website, where he enters his name and surname, address, serial number of the card, validity date and CVV code from the card. The fraudster uses this information to start the process of opening a Google Pay wallet.

- Once the fraudster's procedure for opening a Google Pay wallet has started, the Bank sends the victim an OTP authentication code that is intended for digitizing a payment card, which the fraudster, thinking that he needs to complete the payment transaction, enters into the "malicious" website. With the received OTP code, the fraudster completes the Google Pay registration and since then has funds in the account of the defrauded person - says the announcement of the National Bank on Facebook.

Citizens are requested from the National Bank to inform themselves and be careful about existing frauds, through "phishing", as well as to regularly follow the instructions and information provided by the banks.

- Carefully read the text about the purpose of the OTP code provided to you. If the OTP code was delivered with the intention of digitizing your payment card, and you did not request it, stop the activity and contact the bank immediately - the bank says.

They add that citizens should adjust the payment limits with their payment cards according to their usual needs and regularly monitor accounts for suspicious activities.