Criminals pose as financial institutions and send phishing emails via email or SMS. The goal is clear: theft of valuable personal data.

The deception in detail

In their professionally designed but fake messages, the fraudsters try to obtain account details, access data, passwords and transaction numbers. A simple click on a link in the fake news leads to websites that look deceptively similar to real banking websites. There, victims are asked to reveal their sensitive data.

A current case – How it can work

On June 19, 2023, a 53-year-old woman fell victim to this phishing attack. Although she initially opened the link contained in the text message and submitted some personal information, she quickly became suspicious. Her bank confirmed her suspicions and she filed a report with the Oggersheim police station.

Self-protection – How to recognize fraud

To protect yourself, it's important to recognize and respond to suspicious messages. The following tips may help you:

  • Poor German and grammatical errors: an indication of the use of translation services.
  • Foreign language: Many phishing messages are written in English or French.
  • Missing or unusual salutation: Phishing messages often contain no personal salutation or a strange salutation.
  • Urgency and threat: You are often asked to act immediately or there will be negative consequences.
  • Request for personal data: If you are asked to enter PINs and TANs, be careful. Banks never ask for such data.
  • Unexpected file attachments: Do not open them. They often contain malware.
  • Suspicious links: Do not click on Internet links in suspicious messages. Instead, type the address yourself into your browser.

Conclusion: If in doubt, ask

Even if the message seems legitimate at first glance, you should always be careful. If in doubt, it is better to contact the bank by other means, for example by calling, and ask. By being careful and informed, you can effectively protect yourself from such attempted fraud.

Also read: Beware of scams with Google Play Codes

Source:

Press portal


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )