Be Cautious of Spoofing and Vishing Scams: Fake Phone Calls Where Attackers Pretend to Represent National Institutions or Authorities

July 24, 2025

We want to alert you to a new phone scam method in which criminals disguise themselves as representatives of national institutions or authorities to gain the victim’s trust.

Attackers call victims and introduce themselves as representatives of a well-known national institutions. They then deliver the “good news” that the victim owns old shares from the 1990s coupon privatization period, which have significantly increased in value over time. Under this pretext, victims are persuaded to follow the attackers’ instructions to “claim” the money.

In reality, these shares do not exist. The real purpose of the call is to trick the victim into installing fake apps that visually resemble official ones from the impersonated institutions, but are designed solely to steal personal and banking data.

Recommendations:

• Do not install apps or software at the request of unknown callers, especially if the request is urgent and explanations are vague.
• Never share sensitive information (personal, authentication, or banking data) over the phone following suspicious calls, even if they appear to come from trusted institutions.
• Always verify the authenticity of calls from authorities or institutions through a separate communication channel, especially if sensitive data is requested.
• Report such calls to the organization whose identity is being misused, to help raise awareness about the new fraud scenarios used by attackers.
• If you have shared card or banking app access data, immediately notify your bank. If you have suffered a financial loss, file a complaint with the Police (in person, e-mail: petitii@politiaromana.ro or online https://politiaromana.ro/ro/petitii-online and notify DNSC (call 1911, email: alerts@dnsc.ro or via the PNRISC platform: https://pnrisc.dnsc.ro/).