- Several scams are circulating at the moment by SMS, via WhatsApp messaging applications or email
- Each time the scam presents itself in a fairly credible way
- The only real way to protect yourself is to know the pitfalls to avoid
With the progression of the dematerialization in disordered battle the pirates understood well that it became possible, with relatively little expenses, to exploit the credulity of the Net surfers to better empty their bank account. Today’s wealthiest hackers don’t necessarily have as many skills as Mr Robot. They are professional scammers whose main activity does not consist of entering a single line of code.
Instead, the latter create interactions that are supposed to stick to the communication of brands, companies and public services to which their victims are accustomed. It is then enough, at one point in the scam, to set a trap – for example a page that looks perfectly like the official page, but which will actually collect your bank details and other sensitive data.
If the scammers are good at coding and smart, it can be extremely difficult to tell the difference between a rogue page and a really safe site where you can enter very sensitive personal data. Even if it is clear that choosing a good antivirus for smartphones and computers can save you a lot of hassle. In this article we offer you a reminder of the latest traps currently circulating on the net in order to better recognize them.
The trap of “late payment for a fine” received by SMS
Have you received an SMS notifying you of a late payment for a fine? It is most definitely a scam. The sponsors of this camp are pretending to be the National Agency for the Automated Processing of Offenses (Antai).
The website service-public.fr explain : “the principle is simple, the SMS pretext that the recipient has a ‘late payment of a fine’, the message is followed by a link leading to a fraudulent site like ‘amendes-gouv.org’, ‘dossier-antai -gouv.info’, etc. Attention ! If you click on this link, you can transmit your personal information”.
Alas, here hackers are exploiting a loophole on the side of the administration: it can actually in some cases send SMS for fines. However, in this case, payment can only take place on a single secure site: amendes.gouv.fr. And the SMS cannot under any circumstances demand immediate payment.
In addition, these SMS are required, if valid, to be sent “in the presence of a validating agent”. If you have received such an SMS do not click on any link. This one risks taking you to a phishing page only designed to empty your bank account and steal your personal data.
Instead connect directly to amendes.gouv.fr and manually enter the references mentioned in the message. If these don’t work, you’ve confirmed it was a scam (good news: you don’t actually have to pay any fines!).
Another trap: the fuel allowance scam by SMS
The other common scam at the moment is surfing on the €100 fuel check that low-income households in the first 5 tax deciles can request. The device has just been extended until the end of February, and too few users have yet requested it. As a result, receiving messages encouraging them to fill out application forms may seem credible.
However, be careful, “the DGFIP never sends SMS to promote the fuel allowance”, underlines service-public.fr. In fact, if you want to take advantage of this boost, we explain everything to you in this article. Do not click on the link of such an SMS. You will then come across a credible page in the colors of the administration.
But all the data you enter will then have only one purpose: to strip you of your money and your personal data, with a high risk of identity theft afterwards.
The SMS trap around the Crit’air sticker
Pirates currently seem to be sending mass SMS offering you to buy your Crit’Air sticker – the key to driving legally in low emission zones (ZFE). However, these are largely traps according to the service-public.fr site. Indeed, a single site ensures that you buy the right certificates.
This is the certificate-air.gouv.fr site managed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. Its price cannot exceed €3.72. Moreover, as specified by service-public.fr: “the ministry’s official Crit’Air site does not send users SMS messages to buy vignettes, nor does the government, the Ministry of Ecological Transition or the Prefecture”.
The SIM card scam, a dreadful trap
All the operators’ customers can pay the price. Scammers with personal data about you ask your carrier for a duplicate SIM or sSIM card. This service is completely normal and allows you, for example, to take advantage of the same subscription on two smartphones. Except that if a hacker has the 2nd SIM, he can read your bank confirmation SMS, among other things…
However, SFR customers are currently undergoing a more complex attack based on the fear of SIM Swapping. The hackers then send SMS directly informing that a request to change your Sim to an eSIM has been launched, accompanied by a link offering to cancel the request. When the user clicks, he finds himself on an SFR connection page.
He then enters without being suspicious of his identifiers. And finds himself trapped. From there the pirates really ask for a 2nd SIM, with all the keys in hand to do so without the knowledge of the victim. They can then carry out a second attack to empty the bank account – by directly reading the bank confirmation codes sent by SMS.
Don’t fall for the Pass Navigo scam
If you live in the Paris region, Ile-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) warns of the multiplication of Navigo pass scams. This is based on phishing emails in the colors of the transport company. The subject of the message is “Navigo Subscription Suspended” or other close headers.
When clicking on one of the links in the message, the user finds himself on a phishing page which asks him to enter his payment details. Obviously if the victim runs, it goes rather badly for his finances. IDFM specifies that normally “in the event of non-payment, an SMS is first sent before an e-mail which ‘informs the customer of the status of his contract and the steps to be taken’”.
Report the scams you receive
There are several ways to report scams you receive. You can forward any questionable SMS to 33 700. Scams can also be reported on the internet-signalement.gouv.fr website managed by the Central Office for the Fight against Crime linked to Information and Communication Technologies.
If you prefer to contact an agent directly by telephone, Info Escroqueries can be reached on 0 805 805 817 (free call from France) Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Other useful resources: the cybermalveillance.gouv.fr website offers assistance for victims of cyber-malicious acts, as well as advice for improving your online security.
If the scam comes under consumer law, reports can be made directly on the DGCCFR website or on signal.conso.gouv.fr.
