BOV clients targeted by scam calls soliciting sensitive information

A warning issued by BOV urges its customers to be wary of scam phone calls being made by fraudsters pretending to be bank employees.

The bank informed the public that fraudsters are making calls that appear to originate from the BOV number 2131 2020. However, these are not legitimate calls and do not originate from the bank.

The callers are using a technique called spoofing to disguise fraudulent communication as coming from a trusted source.

The bank stressed that BOV employees will never ask for:

• account or card numbers in full,
• card CVV details (the three digits at the back of the card),
• card PINs,
• internet or mobile banking passwords,
• codes,
• signatures,
• one-time passwords,
• multi-factor authentication.

The bank was ostensibly responding to a social media post circulating over the last 24 hours, where a customer was targeted by the scam.

"I only suspected that it was not legitimate due to the fact that he did not speak Maltese and he told me that he could not put me through to someone who spoke Maltese. So I told him to take a note and tell his Maltese colleagues to call me. He remained polite and professional until the end," read the post by Matthaeus Grasso.

"As soon as we hung up, I called BOV and they confirmed that it was a SCAM Call."

"It's not a nice situation at all, because all these scammers need is to find four Maltese people to work with them [to make more people fall for it], since they’ve managed to make it look like they’re calling from the bank’s number," Mr Grasso added.

The bank reiterated that its employees will never ask customers for information that leads them to carry out financial transactions over the phone. It is important not to give out sensitive information over the phone, or through any links received via SMS.

The bank urges the public to be vigilant and cautious at all times. When in doubt customers are urged to contact the bank immediately. Calling the number 2131 2020 will direct them to the legitimate BOV Customer Service Centre, where they can verify any calls that they have received.