Scammers impersonate Artea bank to steal customer data

Artea bank has warned that scammers are sending customers emails and SMS messages in its name, urging them to update a required consent or confirm their information, LRT reported.

People who click the links are redirected to a fake website and asked to enter their online banking login details or other sensitive information, the bank said.

Scammers first seek to create anxiety and a sense of urgency, experts said, prompting people to act without thinking. “They create a situation in which it seems necessary to act here and now, whether that means updating consent, confirming data or logging into online banking,” Dalia Kolmatsui, head of private customer services at Artea bank, was quoted as saying.

Kolmatsui urged customers to stop and check whether a request genuinely came from the bank and to contact the bank if they have doubts.

Artea said it never sends links asking customers to log into online banking or enter their login details without prior agreement. Customers who receive an unexpected message should check the sender’s email address and should not trust it solely because it displays the bank’s logo.

The bank said the safest way to access online banking is to enter the full official website address manually in a browser. PIN2 codes should be used only to approve specific transactions.