The Credit and Commerce Bank (Bandec) in Matanzas issued a public alert on social media regarding a rise in digital scams that use WhatsApp as the primary method of attack, with two specific modalities that have led to an increase in reports in recent weeks.
The alert was created in collaboration with banking security specialists and the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), and it outlines the methods used by criminals so that the Cuban population can identify and avoid these frauds that compromise both the privacy of accounts and the financial assets of citizens.
The first type of scam is based on social engineering
In these cases, the scammer contacts the victim by impersonating a family member, friend, or coworker, using their real photo and name, and claims to need to "synchronize schedules" or "link phones."
Under this pretext, the impostor asks the victim to enter a supposed eight-digit code with phrases like: "Look, I'm going to give you an eight-digit code, please enter it on your phone and share your real-time location with me so our WhatsApp accounts can be linked."
That code is not for linking devices. It is actually the verification code that WhatsApp sends to register the account on a new phone, allowing the criminal to expel the victim and impersonate them to request urgent transfers to all of their contacts.
This fraudulent account linking technique using verification codes has been documented in several recent cases in Cuba. Bandec succinctly summarizes it: "By sharing that code, the victim hands over the keys to their digital home."
This is how the second most common type of scam on WhatsApp works in Cuba
These cases follow a more elaborate strategy and directly target the victim's money.
The criminal takes control of a WhatsApp account, blocks the legitimate owner so they cannot alert anyone, and posts a message in the status like: "I need to make an urgent transfer. I'll give cash in hand at a 1:1 rate. Interested parties, message me privately."
The contacts, upon recognizing the profile of their acquaintance, trust the offer, make the bank transfer, and the scammer disappears with the money.
Concrete cases have been reported in Camagüey where a Cuban woman was scammed through a similar scheme via WhatsApp groups.
Bandec warns that one should distrust "any currency exchange offer of '1x1' or 'below the rate' that is only offered through social networks."
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