Banco de la República (the Central Bank of Colombia) reports Increase in Cases of Misuse of its Name and Image to commit Fraud and deceive the Public

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Sistema de Atención a la Ciudadanía Servicios ciudadanos digitales
Banco de la República invites citizens to take extreme security and control measures to avoid being deceived and become a victim of crime.
Publication Date:
Thursday, 16 de November de 2023
15:50

Beware! In recent months, the number of reports by victims of scams or frauds has increased. Citizens have alerted that criminals are using the name or the image of Banco de la República or its officers asking for money in exchange for some transaction or alleged profit.

Banco de la República invites citizens to take extreme security and control measures to avoid being deceived and become victims of crime through different and sophisticated fraud and swindle methods. Please bear in mind that Banco de la República does not intermediate or offer financial products of any kind to the public.

These are some of the methods used by criminals to ask people for money. Please note that none of these processes, services, requests, or requirements are part of Banco de la República’s institutional functions: 

  • Request for money to be deposited in alleged accounts at Banco de la República or other banking entities, so as to unblock and access profits from an account in a foreign bank.
  • Calls from so-called staff of Banco de la República requesting to make deposits to receive profits from investments abroad.
  • Calls on behalf of Banco de la República informing that there is money deposited in your name, but that, in order to receive it, you must first make a payment or transfer.
  • Fraud schemes in different digital applications to deceive users with quick investments and/or profits. The name of Banco de la República or its officials is used so that a purported account of the institution is used to make a deposit in order to withdraw the profits and the invested amount. In this type of scam, QR codes are also offered to make transfers to different payment apps.
  • Deceiving people who have accounts abroad by stating that, in order to enable their money transfers to the country, they must deposit a certain amount of money to activate an account with Banco de la República and thus unblock such transfers.
  • Sending letters with Banco de la República’s logo to those wanting to collect their trading profits abroad for the alleged activation of an account with the Bank, as a requirement to access those resources.
  • Sending messages via WhatsApp and e-mail using the name and logo of Banco de la República, requesting the deposit of money to unlock other resources.
  • Calls to persons with investments in fake entities abroad (such as Barclays-London) indicating that profits have been deposited in an account at Banco de la República and that, in order to withdraw them, a deposit must be made beforehand.
  • Messages with numbers of alleged accounts at Banco de la República to deposit money and claim international money transfers.
  • WhatsApp calls and messages on behalf of Banco de la República charging "insurance" for probable "currency devaluation" in the event of receiving profit transfers abroad.

Don’t be deceived! Be suspicious if you receive letters, WhatsApp messages, e-mails, or calls on behalf of Banco de la República offering services or requesting payments or transfers. If you have been subject to any of these conducts, please report it to the competent authorities through the different channels that the Public Prosecutor's Office has enabled for this purpose.

In case of any irregularity or concern, please contact us through Banco de la República’s Citizen Services System (SAC in Spanish), national toll-free number: 01-8000-911745.