As of: March 23, 2024, 7:06 a.m
By: Carmen Mörwald
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Vodafone has introduced a security measure designed to make telephone fraud more difficult.
But this only applies to some customers.
Kassel - Fraud doesn't just take place via phishing emails - as in the case of a classified ad scam - or SMS: sometimes it happens right on your doorstep.
In recent years, many cases have been reported in which supposed Vodafone employees rang their customers' bells and thus gained access to their apartment or house.
In the end, valuables, the bank card or cash were missing.
As a company, Vodafone can't do anything about it other than warn customers about the scam on their own doorstep.
But now they have introduced an innovation that should at least protect against data misuse on the phone.
This is a six-digit service PIN that cable landline customers need to make calls to Vodafone customer service.
Six-digit PIN against data misuse: This is how Vodafone's innovation works
So if customers have questions about current contracts or problems that arise in the future, they must have their service PIN ready.
This will be requested at the beginning of the telephone call.
If the six-digit number is given, customers can be put through to customer service.
Vodafone's website explains: "This is the only way we know it's really you talking to us."
To counteract fraud, Vodafone has taken additional security measures.
The innovation affects all customers.
© Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
It goes on to say: “In this way, we protect your data from unauthorized access.” When asked, Vodafone confirmed
to IPPEN.MEDIA
that the introduction of the service PIN increases protection against unauthorized access to personal data.
This serves “to clearly identify the contract owner”.
“This way the employee can be sure that the caller is really our customer,” explains the telecommunications company.
Vodafone is putting an end to fraud: This is something to keep in mind with the innovation
In fact, the service PIN was introduced in summer 2023.
However, the last emails with the assigned numbers were not sent until March 2024.
Vodafone explicitly points out that only cable landline customers who have a direct contractual relationship are affected by this innovation.
Mobile or landline business customers do not receive a six-digit PIN.
From grandchild tricks to blackmail – cases of cybercrime in Germany
The number of criminal cyber attacks in Germany remains at a high level.
According to a report from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), 136,865 such cases were registered in 2022.
This was a decrease of 6.5 percent compared to the previous year, but the BKA expressly does not see this as a sign of a trend reversal.
Cybercrime continues to be one of the phenomena with the highest potential for damage in Germany.
According to the 2022 economic protection report, the cybercrime damage calculated by the digital association Bitkom amounted to 203 billion euros nationwide and is therefore around twice as high as in 2019.
Source: Federal Criminal Police Office
Customers can find the number in the “MeinVodafone” customer portal or in the service app on their smartphone.
It can be reset there, but not changed individually.
In order to make the innovation as effective as possible, Vodafone advises against passing on the PIN to third parties.
However, it should be noted that a person of trust can always be authorized.
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In principle, however, you should always be careful when querying data.
The Sparkasse, among others, has already warned of fraudsters who have posed as employees of the credit institution's security department.
Furthermore, a woman from Munich became a victim of telephone fraud after the person posed as a savings bank employee on the phone.
(cln)
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at her own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.