Clients of banking entities in Nicaragua have reported being victims of scams by people who use text messaging or emails posing as employees of financial organizations to zero out their accounts.
The journalist and specialist in psychology, Erick Jarquín, pointed out on his social networks that he fell into the “trap” of the impostors. “If you receive a message from Banco LaFise out of nowhere asking me to verify your transaction consumption, never open this link, I went to the cashier to withdraw cash and there was only 6 dollars of the amount that was in total balance,” lamented the communicator.
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He added that when he went to the bank, his emergency card was blocked, but “the bank says that if I opened the link, they cannot answer for the lost money. On the other hand, in the movements of Banca Net, payments appeared to pages such as Doctor SIM, RECARGUER, NETFLIX LITE, among other payments, services that I do not use».
«They left me without money, thanks to Jehovah of armies who had previously paid the monthly fee for the specialty and I occupied a large amount. Thank you Jehovah because you allowed me to pay; I would have cried like a baby if everything had been stolen from me, ”said Jarquín.
He pointed out that it is unfortunate that not even bank cards can save money. “I’m already afraid to leave money in the account. As a customer and citizen, I will give you some advice: do not leave money on your card because it goes and the next day there is nothing », he recommended.
Doctor scammed by an alleged Bancentro agent
Another of the robbery victims was the doctor Carlos Gutierrez Gomez, specialist in pediatrics and originally from Masaya. The doctor reported to Article 66who two months ago received a call supposedly from Banco LaFise Bancentro, saying that a woman was making a transaction with his card, which according to him, was a “distraction” to rob him.
“The scammers told me to go to a link they sent to report the fraud and block the card. At that moment I got nervous and entered the link; then they told me to get into my account », he recounted.
“Later he told me to report it to the Police and to make a group of friends —on WhatsApp— and to send 50 by 50 the same link for them to enter. I started doing that, but then I realized it was a scam, I checked my account online and it was at zero, “explained the doctor.
bank not responding
Upon arriving at the Bancentro branch in Masaya, Dr. Gutiérrez pointed out that no response was given to him, because the bank’s policy is that customers should not provide any information by telephone.
“But the Bank had to respond because they have the information on who and how they got my money, which was more than 1,500 dollars, but they remained silent,” he reproached.
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For Gutiérrez, the bank is responsible for these thefts, because “they know all the personal data of the client and all the banking procedures. Fraudsters take all the information from the bank. The bank must respond, however they do not.
For its part, Banco LaFise reminded its clients through its social networks that “never” any of its agents will make calls to them through WhatsApp. “If you receive a fraudulent call, close it and report it immediately,” the statement says.
What to do in the face of these robberies?
In an interview with the digital platform Nicaragua Investiga, the lawyer Blanca Parrales called for recourse to legal instances to demand the lifting of the “bank secrecy” that allows knowing where the lost amount was transferred.
“There must be an investigation process, you must resort to the corresponding instances so that the bank requires you to provide that information. I would have to exhaust the administrative part of the investigation records», remarked Parrales.
To date, none of the scam victims have received any solution from the bank authorities; The only thing left for them to do is recommend to their relatives not to open any message supposedly from the bank, much less answer calls related to it.
