Unexpected call
All financial institutions are constantly seeking to find solutions to avoid this type of scam. It is in such a context that fintech Revolut announced this Tuesday the launch of telephone customer support to help its customers unmask scammers. “Previously available exclusively via in-app chat, Revolut customer service is now able to reach its customers by telephone via in-app calls. Clearly, via this functionality, the call is made directly from the application. The customer thus sees directly that the call comes from Revolut.
“The vast majority of our calls to individuals will be through our app, so if you receive an unexpected call about your personal account from someone claiming to be from Revolut, hang up and verify their identity directly through the app. By speaking to someone through our app, customers can be 100% sure they are trading with Revolut and not a fraudster.” explains Woody Malouf, Head of the Fight against Financial Crime at Revolut.
“Promising” service at ING
And what about the country’s four major banks? “Since March 2024, ING Netherlands has launched a service which allows the customer to ensure that they are in communication with a representative of their bank and to check the name of their interlocutor. This service is called “Check the Call”. It is promising. More than two thirds of customers in the Netherlands know it. It should be launched in Belgium during this year”explains Alexandre Pluvinage, responsible for online security awareness at ING Belgium.
The online neobank Revolut has more than 300,000 users in Belgium
To find the best solutions, banks work in particular with teleoperators because scammers abuse their telephone numbers. “Our numbers have been protected for over a year now.”continues Alexandre Pluvinage.
-Banks also work together with the police to fight fraud together. Obviously with results in store. ING says it stops between 70% and 80% of phishing cases before the money leaves the customer’s account. At Revolut, the number of identity theft scams is “at its lowest level in almost two years.
ING bank also emphasizes the importance of customer awareness “by informing them about how they can protect themselves.” And to remember that “banks never ask to carry out a transaction with the card reader or with itsme. Or that a bank will never ask its customers to transfer their money to a so-called “secure” account.
An informed customer is worth two…
