A few days ago, the Bankier website published an article on financial fraud initiated by the takeover of accounts on social media platforms such as Facebook. Criminals use the Polish mobile payment system Blik to steal money, which is characterized by ‘instant’ settlements that favor thieves. The article included information about speculation that the Blik operator is working on new security transaction measures that could limit the scale of this phenomenon.

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"It seems that the “blikars” themselves came up with an interesting idea (as Bankier refers to thieves who use Blik codes, ed.). Discussing it on their forum, they described the idea of enabling geolocation and automatically cancelling transactions if the distance between the point of authorization and the ATM withdrawal exceeds a certain distance", wrote Bankier.

Is the introduction of such a solution really being considered? ‘The article refers to speculation circulating in criminal circles, rather than describing specific solutions announced by us. Every Blik transaction already requires conscious confirmation in the banking app, with the amount and context of the transaction visible – the specific place where the money is to be sent,’ wrote the Blik press office in response to my question on this matter.

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It was added that full knowledge of the operation and the decision to finalise the transaction lies with the user. "In practice, this type of fraud involves fraudsters taking over social media accounts and effectively manipulating the victim. Therefore, even very advanced payment security measures cannot replace raising security standards on the part of platforms that require logging in, especially the widespread use of double authentication", reads the information sent by the Blik press office.

Representatives of Polski Standard Płatności (Blik operator) declined to confirm that work on new security measures is underway. At the same time, they did not deny it, writing that every additional layer of protection makes it more difficult for criminals to operate. "Today, the first line of defense lies in the proper security of social media accounts", wrote the Blik press office.