Scam alert! Cuban bank warns about fraud in buying and selling dollars and CUP

Popular Savings Bank of Cuba has issued a scam alert in recent hours, warning users about an increase in fraudulent attempts.

Scams are aimed at people who participate in the buying and selling of MLC (Free Convertible Currency) or CUP (Cuban Pesos) through non-face-to-face contacts, such as phone calls or chat on social networks.

working style scammers in cuba

Scammers are sending text messages pretending to be the official PagoXmovil service. In these messages, the victim is assured that the requested operation has already been performed, which induces them to make the transfer and fall into the trap.

It is important to remember that all official TransferMovil SMS are sent from the PagoXmovil service and never from private mobile numbers. If you receive an SMS from PagoXmovil that comes from a private number, do not proceed with the transfer and contact TransferMovil to verify the operation.

Tips from TransferMovil to avoid becoming a victim of scams

The banking institution shared tips to avoid becoming a victim of scams:

1. Do not share your data with strangers or untrusted people, whether on social networks, in groups or through private messages.
2. Do not transfer money to strangers for nothing.
3. Do not pay through the link without knowing the destination and its details.

Data such as card owner name, expiration date, PIN and access code, card with metrics, personal data from PagoXmovil messages and identification cards (number, folio and volume) should not be shared.

Neither ETECSA (Transfermóvil), nor If someone from any of these organizations asks you for this, you may be a victim of a scam or fraud.

The application, the “star” of electronic commerce in Cuba, also reminds users that “PAGOxMOVIL on most phones does not allow you to answer or make a call, since it is an informational SMS, a product of the operation.”

Cuban Bank customers talk about scams

BPA received several comments on its institutional profile. “They almost did the same thing to me: They sent you the whole TransferMovil message and everything,” one person wrote.

“A friend was scammed of 1000 MLC, and in person (the scammer was very shameless, sitting in his living room). He went to the police with his identity card and they did not take action on the incident despite giving it to him on a plate,” said another user.

“This scam has been going on for over a year and now the bank has found out? What efficiency! Do you know how else they scam? Even if you are there in person, they give someone else’s card and when you make a transfer, they never deposit the change in CUP or MLC through the transfer. At that time, the person who is showing his face says that the person who is going to make the transfer is someone else and the transfer never comes,” someone else explained.

It is important to remain alert to the increase in scams in Cuba, especially in the purchase and sale operations of MLCs and CUPs. That is why the Banco Popular de Ahorro (BPA) has issued this notice to warn users about these fraudulent practices carried out through phone calls, chats on social networks or even in person .