A 50-year-old fonopedic suffered financial damage amounting to 57 thousand reais, becoming a victim of fraud involving a fake bank manager in the city of São José do Rio Preto (São Paulo state). This incident was officially registered with the Civil Police this Thursday (the 1st).
According to the incident report, the victim received a call from a woman who claimed to be her bank account manager. The suspect stated that a registration authorization needed to be completed and warned that account blocks might occur if the procedure was not followed, especially considering the expected arrival of funds under a medical contract.
At that time, the fonopedic explained that she was accompanying her father, who was in the hospital, and could not personally visit the bank branch. The alleged manager advised her to log into internet banking via a computer and follow a step-by-step instruction provided during the call.
After following the instructions, the victim's computer froze, and the messages she exchanged with the scammer disappeared from the screen. When she tried to use the banking application on her mobile phone, she was unable to do so and began receiving system error messages.
Unable to manage the funds in her account for several hours, the victim went to the branch and discovered that numerous transfers via Pix and bill payments had been made without her permission. Part of the money was sent to two women preliminarily identified by the investigation.
This case was registered as theft by fraud using an electronic or information device at Pulantai Delegacia Sectional de São José do Rio Preto. The incident was forwarded to the 3rd police district of the municipality, which is conducting an investigation to identify and locate those involved.