About 12 customers of the National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCB) have lost approximately $18 million in a smishing and phishing fraud attack over the last 10 days.
Dane Nicholson, NCB's Manager, Special Investigations, Fraud Prevention Unit, confirmed the development with The Gleaner this afternoon.
He says the internal systems of the country's largest commercial bank are safe.
Nicholson explains that customers are being asked to click on links sent via text or email disguised as NCB's.
The scammers capture the personal information that the customers input.
Victims reportedly get a follow up phone call disguised as NCB's with requests for a token code that customers are required to input to access certain services.
The scammers use the code to add themselves as beneficiaries on the customers' accounts after which they transfer funds.
Phishing is a cyber fraud in which scammers try to trick persons into clicking a link that was emailed. Smishing is similar except that the link is sent as a text message.
There's also vishing in which the fraudsters pretend they are associated with a legitimate company and telephone persons seeking personal information.
More details to come.
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