One of UK’s leading banks, HSBC has enlisted magician Troy von Scheibner to show Brits how fraudsters play mind games designed to gain victims’ trust and pressure them into handing over personal information.
The bank did this as Black Friday approaches, which is a season when many Brits are expected to spend a lot and fraudsters also get very active.
Fraudsters have been found to use mainly purchase scams during Black Friday. Purchase scams is where fraudsters trick shoppers into paying in advance for goods or services that are never received.
It is the most common form of APP fraud affecting HSBC customers, with 6,218 cases reported so far this year.
HSBC therefore sent magician von Scheibner onto the streets for a video designed to raise awareness by demonstrating that crooks use many of the same techniques as magicians.
Head of Fraud at HSBC UK, David Callington says: ”Fraudsters can put consumers under their spell and make them think they are giving out personal or financial information for a legitimate reason. If a deal looks too good to be true – that’s because it probably is. Use secure payment methods and only buy from sites you trust.”
Ghana
In Ghana, it is common knowledge that fraudsters, both online and even in the markets and lorry stations, use magic-like tricks to defraud unsuspecting victims.
Online fraudsters are popularly known as “sakawa” and they are said to even consult mediums to help them succeed in their trick. In exchange, so are said to make blood and other sacrifices and also agree to some terms that bring discomfort to them in exchange for loads of cash.
