Many French people recently received a somewhat alarming text message from their bank.
“Only 24 hours left to activate your new digital key”: The message is technical but sufficiently alarming. Several French people recently received this SMS from their bank, accompanied by a link, which they are asked to click on. This opens a web page on which the interface for connecting to their personal account appears.
The customer number is requested, just like the secret code, with the usual keyboard. At the top, it is also suggested to download the bank application. The background is colored, the font and the text are the usual ones… In short, everything suggests that this is the real site. And yet…
This message, allegedly sent by BNP Paribas, is false. Addressed with a random phone number, this one is totally a scam. This is quickly identifiable since the inserted link absolutely does not correspond to the bank’s official website (https://mabanque.bnpparibas/). If someone completes the process by inserting their username and password in order to “connect”, this will then redirect to the real BNP site. The person will do the manipulation again, simply thinking that the first time did not work.
In reality, clicking on the fake interface allowed the criminals to recover the person’s access codes. From then on, they can then connect and execute various payments or deposits in order to empty the individual’s accounts.
If you have completed the process, don’t panic: the situation can be repaired. You should first call your bank advisor to inform them of your error. Furthermore, you must immediately go to your personal space to change your password: to do this, you must click on “Profile” (or “You” on the application) then on “Secret code” and choose a new code . The faster the reaction, the more limited the damage will be.
This scam, called phishing, is “the number one threat to individuals. In 2023, 38% of malicious cyber acts were phishing. It will be the same for 2024”, as explained to The Internet user Jean-Jacques Latour, cybersecurity expertise director at Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr.