"We Are Probing Your Store": Fraudsters Threaten Merchants in the Region and Demand Money
Businessman Alerts After Employees Received Calls with Threats and a Request for Pix; in One Case, a Colleague Alone Fell for the Scam and Transferred Money from His Own Account
A warning has circulated among traders in the Campos Gerais region after a string of calls from scammers trying to scare off employees and store owners to extort money/Pix.
A businessman from the region was one of those who shared the case to avoid new victims. According to him to the Portal Boca no Trombone, the coup is not of today and is affecting companies throughout the region.
"They call, first ask to talk to the owners of the companies. When they pass to us, they say that it is for us to be calm, that they are probing us," he reports.
According to the businessman, the criminals use public information to give credibility to the threat. They go into Google, see pictures of the facade and structure of the company and go on to describe details to leave those on the other side nervous and worried.
“They have more or less an idea of what our company is like, I think they see pictures, then they say that they’re probing, that they have this in the company, that they have that, trying to make you nervous and worried,” he says.
After creating the climate of fear, comes the demand for money."There they ask for money, to make Pix, and that if not, they will shoot, or that someone will enter the store," he says.
The biggest risk is when the employee is alone
The entrepreneur points out that the most dangerous moment is when the owner is not in the store and who attends is a collaborator.
“The hardest thing is when the employee answers and we are not, because for them they end up getting very scared,” he says.
He says he has already gone through this in one of the stores and, unfortunately, a collaborator ended up falling for the coup. "In fact, we've been through this in one of the stores and a collaborator ended up falling, made a Pix of his own account. We weren’t in the store, and he was alone, and he ended up falling.”
Therefore, whenever it happens, it sends a message to the groups of the company to alert the whole team.
Guidance for trade
The statement reinforces the alert for all traders.
"Trade personnel, beware! We are getting some calls from scammers who say they are watching the store and the employees, making threats and trying to demand money. They use this conversation to scare the answering machine and make the person act out of fear.”
The guidance is clear:
-Keep calm and turn off immediately;
- Do not pass on information about the store, employees or movement;
- Do not make any payment, no Pix;
- Direct employees so that no one panics.
"It is also important to guide employees so that no one panics or falls into this type of scam. Stay alert for everyone! We will share this information and prevent more traders from becoming victims.”
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