Would you react with suspicion if you received an SMS from “Your Bank” asking you to call a number to contact the bank? Then you would probably react strongly to the text messages sent out from Swedbank.
Swedbank sends out messages that invite the customer to call a phone number included in the message. In the message, they refer to suspicious activity on the person’s account.
News24 have spoken to Adrianus Warmenhovencybersecurity advisor at NordVPN, who believes that even if Swedbank’s text messages are legitimate, there are several risks associated with their practice.
– Such messages can cause panic among customers and lead them to act hastily without verifying the authenticity of the message, says Adrianus Warmenhoven.
The risk of sending out legitimate text messages is that the fraudsters can use them as templates to create identical text messages and thus more easily deceive new victims.
– Fraudsters can easily imitate legitimate text messages, making it difficult for customers to distinguish between real and fake messages. This can lead to customers inadvertently giving away sensitive information, says Adrianus Warmenhoven.
READ MORE: Have you received a scam text message? That’s how you spot the fraudsters
Swedbank: “Balance”
Fraud against private individuals has become a growing social problem, and fraud through social manipulation was in 2023 one of the fastest growing forms of crime.
Hannes Mårdpress officer at Swedbank, tells Nyheter24 that one of the reasons why the bank continues to send text messages is that there may be limitations in reaching customers in other ways, despite the risks.
– It is of course always a balancing act where we have to weigh the measure against the risks of it being imitated in the case of fraud. We do that continuously, says Hannes Mård.
Sending text messages can feel like an effective way for banks to quickly reach their customers. Adrianus Warmenhoven believes that the method makes it more difficult for the recipient to ensure the security of the message and entails more risks than necessary.
– Text messages are not completely secure. There is a risk that sensitive information can be intercepted or that unauthorized persons gain access to it, he says.
He believes there are other ways to contact customers that do not compromise security or their advice.
– For example, sending alerts via the bank’s official app or via e-mails. Although they are not foolproof, they are a good way of contact as they can contain more detailed information and instructions, as well as have additional layers of protection such as two-factor authentication, he says.
READ MORE: This is where fraudsters find your information
Violates own advice
In order to tackle the increase in fraud crimes, the authorities and banks have formed the campaign Difficult to cheat. The aim is to give advice and guidelines to private individuals to jointly limit the problem.
According to the advice of Tricked you should not call a number that is in a text message and that fraudsters can try to rush a decision by making you anxious. Swedbank, which is part of the campaign, still chooses to urge its customers to break their own advice.
Hannes Mård believes that it is difficult to completely prevent someone digitally impersonating or pretending to be from the bank. Although they will continue to send text messages, Hannes Mård says that customers should continue to follow the advice.
– There it is important that you are aware of the risks and follow the advice we give about not clicking on links and the like from unknown senders. You can always contact our customer service and check if you are unsure, he says.
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