Fake SMS Demands Alta Bank Loan Payments, NBS Warns
Messages from the sender AltaPay tell borrowers to pay loan installments into Postal Savings Bank accounts. The NBS says it notified the bank and asked for tighter monitoring of incoming funds.
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) warned Alta Bank clients on November 4 not to pay loan installments based on SMS messages sent in the bank’s name. The messages ask borrowers to settle their loan obligations into specific accounts at Postal Savings Bank, while according to a statement from the office of Governor Jorgovanka Tabakovic, instructions on loan repayment come exclusively from the Deposit Insurance Agency.
What do the fake Alta Bank messages say?
Citizens contacted the NBS after receiving SMS messages with the alphanumeric sender ID “AltaPay”. Some borrowers report that messages also arrive from unknown numbers. The content is the same: a call to pay loan obligations into account numbers at Postal Savings Bank. The media outlets that carried the statement did not publish those numbers.
The warning covers clients of Alta Bank ad Beograd in bankruptcy and clients of Alta Group doo Beograd. This is how the NBS addressed the public:
“We urge citizens and all clients of Alta Bank ad Beograd in bankruptcy and Alta Group doo Beograd not to make any payments based on such or similar SMS messages, or possibly emails of similar content. Citizens who have loans with Alta Bank ad Beograd in bankruptcy will receive clear information and instructions in good time on how to settle their obligations going forward, exclusively from the Deposit Insurance Agency, which has taken over management of the bank.”
That is what the NBS stated in its release. The message is plain: no payment should be made on the strength of an SMS or an email, no matter who it claims to come from.
What has the NBS done, and who should borrowers turn to?
The central bank says it immediately notified Postal Savings Bank a.d. Beograd about the account named in one of the messages it was able to examine. It asked that bank for appropriate measures, including enhanced monitoring of suspicious transactions, that is, of inflows to that account.
The NBS advises borrowers to wait for notice from the Deposit Insurance Agency, which has taken over management of the bank. The Agency will tell them which bank and which account number to use for future installments. The statement puts it this way:
“Citizens who have loans approved by Alta Bank ad Beograd in bankruptcy should wait for a notice from the Deposit Insurance Agency about the bank and the account number to which they will pay their loan obligations in the future, and should not under any circumstances act on suspicious SMS messages from unknown senders, or possibly emails of the same type.”
Why are the messages appearing now?
The Commercial Court in Belgrade issued a ruling the day before opening bankruptcy proceedings against Alta Bank, and the Deposit Insurance Agency was appointed bankruptcy trustee. Postal Savings Bank is the same bank through which, as we reported earlier, deposits of up to 50,000 euros are being paid out, and now its name also appears in fake loan messages.
Bankruptcy does not release borrowers from their obligations. Interest, repayment deadlines and the variable portion of interest tied to EURIBOR and BELIBOR remain in force, Novosti reports. If the loan portfolio is sold to another bank, only the account number for payments changes, and clients are notified in advance. If it is not sold, the Agency continues collection on behalf of the Republic of Serbia.
