In addition to having deposits and applications frozen, investors at Banco Master – which had the liquidation decreed by the Central Bank on Tuesday (18) – they have to worry about a wave of scams aimed at those waiting for the reimbursement of the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC).
Advertisements on social media and apps promise “immediate liquidity” or “anticipation” of payment of the guarantee, exploiting the anxiety of those who had Bank Deposit Certificates (CDB) issued by the institution and are now prevented from moving the funds.
Private entity that guarantees the reimbursement of investments and deposits of up to R$ 250 thousand per person in the financial institution, the FGC has reinforced that it does not authorize intermediaries, does not charge fees and does not offer any mechanism to speed up payments, warning that any promise of advance payment is a scam.
Security Engineering Manager at Check Point Software Brasil, Fernando Falchi states that the FGC guarantee is automatic, and any credit offer linked to payment represents a warning sign of fraud. Any communication, he emphasizes, can only be made through the FGC application, the official reimbursement channel.
“Cybercriminals always use haste as a weapon. Verification, carried out on the official channel, is the best antidote to digital scams”, he highlights.
Risks
In the vacuum of information and in the absence of an exact deadline for the start of payments, fraudulent offers have emerged claiming to be able to advance the guaranteed amount. Many of them present themselves as specialized companies, lawyers or financial consultants.
Fraud in the name of the FGC is divided into two types: data theft and abusive credit. The most common scams are the following:
1. Phishing and information theft: scams that aim to capture personal and banking data through:
- Fake pages that imitate the FGC website or app;
- Malicious links sent via WhatsApp or social networks;
- Fake attendants, who ask for codes and passwords;
- Fraudulent applications that install malware.
In these cases, a wrong click allows fraudsters to capture credentials, take over bank accounts or install malware (invading program) capable of monitoring cell phones and computers in real time, including passwords.
2. Predatory Lending:
Another practice detected is the offering of supposed “advances”, which in fact hide credit operations with very high interest rates. The investor, believing that he is anticipating the payment of the FGC, ends up taking out a loan that can consume a large part of the amount to be received.
Pressure on investors
Banco Master, known for offering CDBs with yields of up to 140% of the CDI (Interbank Deposit Certificate, with a rate slightly lower than the economy’s basic interest rates), was liquidated after months of difficulties. Founded by Daniel Vorcaro, the bank accumulated a credit portfolio considered high risk. The liquidation also resulted in the arrest of executives in Federal Police operation which investigates the sale of the institution to Banco de Brasília (BRB).
With the closure of activities, investors with investments of up to R$250,000 began to depend exclusively on the FGC to recover their money. The process, however, is not immediate and requires formal steps — which created room for fraud attempts.
The correct procedure, according to the FGC, involves the following steps:
- Initial registration on the FGC application, the only service channel;
- Wait for the list of creditors, sent by the Central Bank, which takes an average of 30 days;
- Enabling the reimbursement request in the application, when the FGC releases this stage;
- Finalization with biometrics, document sending and digital signature;
- Payment, made within two business days after completing the order;
- No other way of requesting, accelerating or intermediating payment is recognized by the FGC.
- Recommendations to avoid scams
The main guidelines to avoid falling for fraud are as follows:
- Use only the app and the official FGC website and information from the Central Bank;
- Never provide personal data or codes to third parties;
- Be wary of any promise of facilitation: the FGC guarantee is automatic;
- Check URLs and avoid downloading apps via sent links;
- Activate two-factor authentication and keep antivirus updated;
- Confirm information before acting, especially when faced with messages that create a sense of urgency.
