The case came to light after the suspect was captured on Monday, April 20, in a shopping center in zone 17 of Guatemala City. The arrest was carried out in compliance with a court order issued in Chiquimula.
The detainee, identified as Alex Y., is investigated for his alleged participation in fraudulent use of credit or debit cardsafter being linked with this type of maneuvers to obtain personal data.
The deception: a text message
According to details shared by the Public Ministry (MP), the first contact with the victims seemed like a common call. He suspect posed as a telephone company worker and warned them that their number would be suspended for lack of use.
To “avoid losing the line,” he asked them to follow a supposed verification process. That’s where the text message came in: it sent a link that, apparently, was part of the procedure.
The MP explained that this link was key in the fraud. By opening it, the victim allowed the deactivation of your telephone linewhich gave the attacker control of the number.
Although the authorities have not detailed the entire technical process, Victims of similar cases agree that, From there, everything happens very quickly.
How they accessed bank accounts
With the number in his possession, the next step was to take advantage of the password recovery. Many banking services send verification codes by text message, and those codes They reached the attacker directly.
Thus, I was able to enter the accounts and carry out unauthorized transactions in a matter of hours.
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What a victim experienced
A person who went through a similar situation told this medium that he did not realize at what moment lost control of his number. This type of fraud is known as SIM swapping.
He realized something was wrong when his phone stopped working. When going to a agency of your operator, They informed him that his chip had been disabled and replaced after a request made, supposedly, by himself.
According to him, he asked to see the document that supported this procedure, but they did not show it to him.