How scammers can get a loan for you and how to protect yourself from it

The procedure for obtaining loans and credits has been simplified, leaving a lot of loopholes for scammers. The Center for Financial Expertise of Roskachestvo explains whether it is really possible to get a loan without your knowledge.

You receive SMS and messages about an approved loan. What does this mean and what to do about it?
Similar mailing lists come from both large banks and dubious microfinance institutions (MFIs). Information periodically appears in the media that unscrupulous persons easily gain access to the client databases of a financial institution, and it is these databases that become the basis for such “cold” calls and mailings. However, the message that “you have been approved for a loan for a certain amount” does not mean that the loan has already been taken for you. It happens that this is a common tactic to lure customers, which can be annoying, but is unlikely to be of interest to law enforcement agencies. does not exempt from responsibility, so arm yourself with knowledge and inform loved ones. Previously, a series of materials about data leakage has already been published on the Roskachestvo portal. In particular, we have already talked about how to recognize messages from scammers and protect your smartphone. If you demonstrate awareness and confident behavior during a suspicious call, the attackers will not pester you and continue to call. And yet, we recommend that you take a closer look at the new service of mobile operators – a virtual number. This option can be convenient when using a regular number is undesirable just for the sake of confidentiality – for registering on websites, forums, in order to receive, for example, an activation code or issue a customer card in a store.

Can I get a loan using a lost passport or passport data?
It is becoming increasingly common for banks and MFIs to issue small amounts when applying online (so-called simplified identification). And for this, only passport data, a photo or a scan of a passport are needed from the applicant. We provide such information to access various, the most everyday services: from fitness clubs to telecom operators. This means that only a leak of passport data with a passport scan is enough for fraudsters to be able to take out a loan in someone else’s name. In addition, attackers often hack into consumer websites and even government portals, then using the information received for their own illegal purposes.

For a small loan, passport data and SNILS may be enough. Registration takes place without personal presence. That is why it is so important not to reveal your data on social networks, not to fill out forms on dubious sites.

An even more deplorable situation is when a person loses his passport and does not immediately notice the loss. If the document falls into the hands of fraudsters, they can take out dozens of microloans in one day from different institutions.

Aren’t banks and MFIs supposed to check the authenticity of documents and identity? They must and check, otherwise the number of fraudulent issuances would increase thousands of times. Reputable institutions are careful to verify identity and documents, but fraudsters still find loopholes:

• Financial institutions do not carefully check customer data. MFIs and banks can engage third-party services to check documents, and they only perform a superficial check. Some MFIs do not carry out additional steps of identification, limited to passport data, and this is easily used by fraudsters.

• Fraudsters use clever ways to bypass verification. Identification and verification of documents may require a video conference or a personal meeting with the borrower, as well as, for example, a photo of the borrower with documents in hand. However, criminals have learned to bypass these barriers. With the level of availability of high technology, it costs nothing to fake photos and even videos. For a personal meeting, scammers either look for a similar person, or disguise themselves as the owner of documents, forging a signature for him.

• Fraudsters attract accomplices on the side of financial organizations. It is unprofitable for banks and MFIs to lend money to clients who will never return it. But at the same time, banking organizations are interested in profit. Some dishonest employees of banks and MFIs are interested in personal financial profit. Fraudsters can pre-process some organization on forums or TG channels, looking for an accomplice on the side of the bank, ready to approve a loan to scammers. Thus, the bank employee is included in the share.

You have lost your smartphone. Can you get a loan? Such cases are possible, if the smartphone was stolen or lost, and you did not have time to block the SIM card. If sufficient protection measures are not installed on the banking application, scammers may have time to take out a loan through the application. At the same time, it will be difficult to prove later that you did not take the loan. In the conditions of banking services, banks prescribe that the bank is not liable in the event of “the loss or transfer by the client of his own mobile phone to unauthorized persons.” All transactions confirmed from the phone are considered to be confirmed by you personally.

What precautions should be taken to avoid becoming a victim of scammers?
• Take good care of your passport. If you lose it, report it to the police immediately. Even more so if your passport is stolen. In this case, you will not have to pay a fine.

• Do not send scans or photos of your passport to suspicious sites or unknown users. If you send scans of documents by mail or via messenger, then delete the original messages. Thus, if your accounts are hacked, the data from the documents will not get to the attackers.

• Set additional levels of identification on your phone and banking application.

• Check your credit history. To do this, make a request to the BKI (credit bureau) to find out if loans have been issued in your name. This is a two-stage procedure: first, at the State Services, you need to find out in which bureau your data is located. Then, on the BCI website, you need to send an online request for a credit report. You can do this twice a year for free. You will have to pay for the rest of the requests.

Igor Pozdnyakov, legal adviser of the Roskachestvo department for consumer protection: “Due to the rapid development of digital technologies, none of us is immune from fraudulent activities. Therefore, even if you have never applied for credit funds, it is recommended to regularly check your credit history – for example, every six months (fortunately, 2 times a year is free). If an unpleasant event occurred (passport, smartphone was lost, it became known about the massive “leakage” of personal data on the Internet, etc.), it is best to request a credit report as soon as possible. By regularly checking your credit history, you will be able to timely detect a loan taken by scammers or attempts to do so, as a result of which you will be able to minimize the negative consequences. ”

Source: rskrf