Cyber ??scams on the Internet are the order of the day and are increasingly sophisticated. Alleged messages from our bank or a courier company, false raffles in which we have supposedly won, fraudulent charity campaigns… We have to refine our skepticism and pay maximum attention when detecting these frauds to avoid being victims of deception In the net.
And any routine habit can play tricks on us. Often, the rush or urgent tone of many of these communications makes us lower our guard and that is when criminals get hold of our personal information.
This is the case of one of the latest fraud alerts that INCIBE (National Cybersecurity Institute) warns about. This is a case of smishing through which you receive a supposed SMS from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) warning you of a fine.
This cyber scam consists of receiving an SMS impersonating the General Directorate of Traffic. The message informs the victim that she must review her violation record due to a traffic ticket, through a link attached to the message. The message in question also has spelling errors that show that it is not an official communication. By accessing this URL, the user is directed to a web page that imitates that of the DGT, even using the entity’s corporate logos.
There the user will encounter a warning message about problems paying the fine. You are then asked to fill out a form where they ask for personal information such as name and surname, address and other information. Once this form is completed, the victim is redirected to a verification of their false road record, where a fine is recorded in their name with all the data previously provided.
This is when the user accesses a new section where they must pay the amount of the alleged violation, with a fine of 35 euros. By filling in your credit card information, criminals thus obtain all your financial banking information.
