Scam Alert: public warned against fraudulent calls by individuals posing as Central Bank

The Central Bank of Malta has warned that it has received reports that some residents of Malta have received scam calls on VIBR ostensibly from the bank.

It asks the public to be on guard and notes that as it is not a commercial bank, it will only very rarely need to contact members of the public.

It reports that the caller profile where the calls are coming from shows up as the “Central Bank of Malta”, and even includes a photo of the Bank’s premises. 

The recipient is told to provide their account number or personal information to solve a problem, often linked to a threat to block credit cards. 

It is only the latest in a series of phishing attacks to be reported in Malta in 2021, with reports having come in about similar schemes targeting HSBC Malta customers.

Indeed, the Central Bank has already been targeted this year, having to issue a similar warning in January.