The Central Bank of Armenia has warned residents of the country about an increase in phone fraud and phishing attacks. According to the regulator, fraudsters are actively using international numbers with codes +63 and +212, sending messages via SMS, iMessage, and RCS.

Fraudsters often impersonate telecommunications company employees and convince users to change smartphone settings, allegedly to improve connectivity or enable 5G. In some cases, citizens are offered to install third-party applications or click on links that could give criminals access to their devices and banking data.

The Central Bank emphasized that mobile operators and banks do not require such actions over the phone. Users are advised not to disclose passwords, confirmation codes, or card details, not to grant remote access to their smartphone screen, and to block suspicious numbers and mark such messages as spam.