Warning: social engineering scam

[harryopal1]

Transferwise recently changed to Wise.com. Coinciding with the change I had made a small transfer to a friend in the US. It was not received. I tried the various "help" links which were not helpful. Tried to call a Wise number but gave up after about 15 minutes of mobile costs. I then posted a message on their Facebook page.

Last night I received a call from "Wise" to help with the problems and refund the lost transaction. Asked to connect to a Wise.com/gosupport which then connected me to a remote access site to connect the laptop. I allowed access.

In the process they were using a Wise Transfer page so it all seemed legit. With slow internet and mobile phone drop outs it took an inordinate amount of time. I asked to terminate the access to my laptop which they refused saying they had to complete the process. I shut down the laptop and turned off the internet.

Long and short of it is they scammed $2700 and were lined up to take another $1000. Had there been a user friendly Wise help to deal with this I feel I would not have got into this mess. I have found a means of reporting this to Wise but am not optimistic as to the result.

Moderation note: the title of the thread was modified to properly reflect what happened as the original title may have been misleading to the detriment of wise.com.

 

[Bad_azz]

So, was it wise who was hacked or you who was scammed, I can't make it out from your post- 2 very different things.
I want to know so that I can warn my old dad as he uses it x

 

[R Cameron]

Never, ever, ever give someone remote access to your computer, it's always a scam (edit: when dealing with banks and finances).

Other best practices for dealing with banks is never give account information on a call that they made to you. If they call you, say you will call them back on their official phone number, and does that person have an extension you can reach them at. No legitimate financial institution will present any resistance to that course of action.

If you posted a public message on the Wise Facebook page, the scammer likely used that information to realize you are a potential target, and then pursued finding your contact information.

 

[harryopal1]

Well, I was certainly scammed. The Scammers used the Wise Polri system to channel the funds. Not sure how they access that. The big mistake was allowing direct access to my laptop. In the past not so unusual to deal with technical problems. When I bought this refurbished laptop from HP in the states it was delivered without drivers. Allowing direct access enabled that to be fixed. However, with scamming at a much higher level that now is not to be done.

At the heart of the matter is that the original small transfer problem could not be readily sorted due to a lack of Wise "help" links that simply did not address the problem.

The telephone direction to log in to Wise.com/gosupport was what led me to fall in. I have found a means of emailing Wise full details but can't imagine any positive outcome although I would still like to know what happened to the failed small transfer.

Ahh well, as Ned Kelly said just before they hanged him, "Such is life."

 

[harryopal1]

"......If you posted a public message on the Wise Facebook page, the scammer likely used that information to realize you are a potential target, and then pursued finding your contact information."

Yes, this is where the scammers saw the opportunity. I posted a message on Facebook after finding I could not get the original unfinished small transfer dealt with using the various "help" and contact links on the Wise site.

 

[HappyMan]

Thanks for the heads-up. I fell for a gojek scam like this once... But I didn't have anything in my gojek account. It helps to occasionally be reminded that this sort of thing can happen. .

 

[Nimbus]

Yeah, I would never allow remote access to my laptop in a million years. If they want to see it, make a zoom call and I’ll share my screen while they direct. The only exception is my employer’s IT helpdesk, and they’ll only contact me through internal Skype or Teams.

 

[harryopal1]

I think it was last Thursday I went to the Cyber Police Office at Police headquarters in Bali with a report on the scam. A 100k round trip through rather dense traffic. It seems the police and Wise are inhabiting different alternative realities. Wise take the fantastical line that they are following up and trying to get the recipient bank to return the money which, they say, might take months or not at all. With the Cyber police an officer read the report and stamped and signed a copy for me to give to Wise. I got his name, a mobile number and an email address. As I later found the mobile number and email address don't work. I might use the central police number to try and speak to the guy but I have no expectation of results from either the police or Wise. The Cyber police are mainly interested in tracking "false information"... basically anything critical of seriously important people. As for scams, based on data from the National Cyber and Crypto Agency ( BSSN ), from January to August 2020, there were nearly 190 million cyber attack attempts in Indonesia, up more than four times compared to the same period last year which was recorded at around 39 million. Realistically, is it likely the police will bother with one case losing just $2700? And as for Wise? Seasoned hackers siphon money immediately transfer from one account to another account and.... will anything happen from now? I don't think so.

 

[R Cameron]

The telephone direction to log in to Wise.com/gosupport was what led me to fall in.

Check that address again (in your browser history), if they had hacked Wise's site to control that page, Wise would be very concerned and would be at fault. But that's quite unlikely, more likely that you went to an unofficial site that may have sounded official at the time, like https://wise.gosupport.com. It's also possible you suffered a man-in-the-middle attack, but that would require they already had malware on your computer prior to the phone call.

 

[harryopal1]

I am not sure if "Hacked" was the right term regarding the Wise site. After receiving the instruction and believing it was a "WIse" representative I made the mistake of allowing access to my laptop for the return of the apparently missing original small amount. It seems they used the Wise web system to transfer funds from my account to another bank. As I said I don't really expect anything to happen either with the Cyber Crime group or Wise and now really just want to forget about it. However, should there be some future development of interest I will post the information.

 

[rabbit_39]

One piece of information everyone should know these days is how domain names work. Anything that isn't ???.wise.com when dealing with the official company site that is www.wise.com is NOT official.

Whatever the company's official website is, if the email/DM/post/etc gives you a link that directs you to anything else BUT the official company's domain, you are being scammed.

 

[fastpitch17]

One piece of information everyone should know these days is how domain names work. Anything that isn't ???.wise.com when dealing with the official company site that is www.wise.com is NOT official.

Whatever the company's official website is, if the email/DM/post/etc gives you a link that directs you to anything else BUT the official company's domain, you are being scammed.

Just remember that the link may say www.wise.com it may in fact lead to a different address so make sure you check what address is in your browser before continuing.

 

[free2readme]

Transferwise recently changed to Wise.com. Coinciding with the change I had made a small transfer to a friend in the US. It was not received. I tried the various "help" links which were not helpful. Tried to call a Wise number but gave up after about 15 minutes of mobile costs. I then posted a message on their Facebook page.

Last night I received a call from "Wise" to help with the problems and refund the lost transaction. Asked to connect to a Wise.com/gosupport which then connected me to a remote access site to connect the laptop. I allowed access.

In the process they were using a Wise Transfer page so it all seemed legit. With slow internet and mobile phone drop outs it took an inordinate amount of time. I asked to terminate the access to my laptop which they refused saying they had to complete the process. I shut down the laptop and turned off the internet.

Long and short of it is they scammed $2700 and were lined up to take another $1000. Had there been a user friendly Wise help to deal with this I feel I would not have got into this mess. I have found a means of reporting this to Wise but am not optimistic as to the result.

Holy crap!
And this is now 14th Jun 2021 when I am reading this. (someone I know who is a lawyer shared this site with me). THIS is exactly what happened to me 3 days ago (on friday).
I wrote on Wise.com facebook page(which is verified) and then, out of the blue I get a call from US number (2 people on the phone sounded indian) and I wanted to get a proof of ownership of my business account. So they were promising that. And once I was remotely connected, my main screen was blocked-I couldnt see what they were doing. It seemed strange.
I got ripped off as well...
(I couldnt upload all files. It says they are too large even though they are only few kB).

When I saw them transferring money to themselves, told them in the phone and they pretended as if I dont know. I turned off the computer and I canceled the call. The conversation on the facebook is very strange to this day.

 

[free2readme]

One piece of information everyone should know these days is how domain names work. Anything that isn't ???.wise.com when dealing with the official company site that is www.wise.com is NOT official.

Whatever the company's official website is, if the email/DM/post/etc gives you a link that directs you to anything else BUT the official company's domain, you are being scammed.

I looked at that. I am always very focused on the hyperlinks because it is true what you say.
However with wise... I couldnt see anything wrong.
Not on Facebook (they are verified), not on official site. Everything looked ok. It was even https://wise.com
So, I am really puzzled where has it gone all wrong. How were these scammers able to intercept and know exactly what phone number to call. ?

 

[harryopal1]

I looked at that. I am always very focused on the hyperlinks because it is true what you say.
However with wise... I couldnt see anything wrong.
Not on Facebook (they are verified), not on official site. Everything looked ok. It was even https://wise.com
So, I am really puzzled where has it gone all wrong. How were these scammers able to intercept and know exactly what phone number to call. ?

Free2readme, Sorry to read of your experience. How much did you lose? To avoid the hackers accessing your computer again, Google. How to block outside access to your computer - and add the system. i.e. Windows 10. Otherwise the thieves may return and just go through your computer using material for identity theft,

As the trend is to use less cash and more digital transactions it seems the numbers of ingenious ways of relieving you of your money have multiplied.

 

[R Cameron]

I looked at that. I am always very focused on the hyperlinks because it is true what you say.
However with wise... I couldnt see anything wrong.
Not on Facebook (they are verified), not on official site. Everything looked ok. It was even https://wise.com
So, I am really puzzled where has it gone all wrong. How were these scammers able to intercept and know exactly what phone number to call. ?

They are watching Wise's Facebook page looking for targets. You posted there publicly for the world to see, they realized you could be a good target, and they searched your Facebook profile and other online records to find your phone number.

It's not a very sophisticated scam, but I can see how it can be easy to fall for. Hopefully Wise is aware, at the least they should post a pinned warning on their Facebook page telling people not to post customer service issues.

 

[harryopal1]

I just checked the transferwise and wise facebook websites and no prominent CAUTION not to post any contact information on the sites.

There is a link to an independent "transferwise scam victims". Otherwise plenty of complaints about service. Most of these service complaints I would not regard as scams. There are however other people who have also been scammed by people using the Wise system to take money.

As we are increasingly being pushed to non cash but digital payment systems it seems ingenious scammers are breeding like lice.

 

[free2readme]

Thank you so much for replying people. I sincerely appreciate this. To be honest, I wasn't expecting any reply on here.
I lost 1500 eur.
My phone numbers are not on Facebook. So I dont know how they got them. I did not give them any phone number contact information in the Facebook Wise chat.
So, Instagram "wiseaccount" (approved), is also a scam fishing account?

This puts me so much in doubt if Wise is even real? They were recommended by one UK company that deals with helping you opening a company.

Harry-I dont use windows. Maybe more difficult for them to come back?
I mean they really only used gosupportnow. But the worrying part is, what all have they done when they blocked my main screen from seeing.

The wiseaccount on IG is asking me for membership number. At first I didnt know there was such number for wise account. Now, that I know, I am even weary to give this number away.

 

[Pak Tani]

€1.500 is a lot of money, what a shame. This type of scam is actually quite common and scammers often pretend to be from all kinds of well known companies like Amazon, a bank, Microsoft, the IRS or anything else that suits their heinous intentions.
Since this is a common practise, there are many videos online that explain the scammers' modus operandi. Often these videos are amusing to watch when the scammers are being hacked back and their identities are reveiled.
An interesting video is for instance this one of Jim Browning: Other well known youtubers dealing with this subject:
Kitboga
Scambaiter

 

[R Cameron]

This puts me so much in doubt if Wise is even real? They were recommended by one UK company that deals with helping you opening a company.

Wise is very real, I have done dozens of transfers with them accounting for 6-figures USD. Only very minor which they helped solve promptly.

I'm sorry to say, you have no one to blame but the scammers and yourself. You may not have your phone number on your Facebook account, but the scammers got it somewhere quickly, potentially somewhere else you've shared it publicly, or from databases of personal information that have been hacked from companies (and governments) and shared widely in criminal circles.

The verified Facebook and Instagram accounts are almost assuredly legitimate, but it's still not the best place to get customer service, use the official support channels on their website. And never, ever let someone use remote access on your computer. If someone insists they must, tell them you will get back to them, and call the most tech savvy person you know and explain what's happening and ask their opinion. If you think you've made a mistake and someone has access, physically cut off internet as quickly as you can, pulling the power plug out of your internet modem should work a treat.