You certainly received a few, even dozens: these SMS tell you that it is necessary to update your Vitale card, that your parcel must be released or that the taxes want to compensate you.
It’s always accompanied by a link that’s tempting to click, and then followed by phone calls: charming interlocutors, calling themselves Social Security agents or even bank advisors. Behind these credible temptations hide fake and very sexy tricks, which no longer count their victims.
“I didn’t suspect anything”
Kelly Bogna, 34, paid the price. In January, this mother, a jewelry designer, received a tidy sum of 1,500 euros taken from her. And it all started stupidly With a simple SMS: She offered me to renew my Vitale card, This Leonese says, her voice still filled with anger. I click on the link and come to a site that looks exactly like Social Security. »
You only see fire, and between its definitions. ” They offer to hand over my Vitale card for a few euros and I give my bank account details. In hindsight, I find that completely ridiculous. But it is a series of omissions: I was tired, and I wanted things to go quickly … I suspected nothing. »
The next evening, his phone rang. At the end of the line, the person introduces themselves as an agent of my bank and is part of a service dedicated to scams. The agent tells him in an angelic voice that she noticed an abnormal movement in his account: a purchase of 600 euros.
Kelly’s heart is racing, she just doesn’t understand. ” She asked me if I recently clicked on a text from Social Security, it’s a common scam, that they hacked my card. At the time, I trust her because she knows everything about me and my accounts. but actually, It’s deception. »
1500 euros stolen in less than an hour
The alleged banker told him that the thieves were trying to make several payments. The amounts are constantly increasing. She tells him that he must act quickly and asks him to open his request to validate the operations, in order to prevent these transactions. But in reality, Kelly accepts debtors and opens the door to her accounts to the scammer.
After an hour of discussion, the thirty-year-old closed in. But in the following days, she settles on the call and an abnormal transmission puts a flea in her ear. In the office of her true advisor, she realizes that a trap has been shut on her. I objected, but it was too late: 1,500 euros went. ” I’m a business manager, and I’m in the digital space, and I wasn’t born yesterday, but there… It’s done so well and it’s going so fast, that we fall into it. It can happen to anyone. »
Kelly filed a complaint and got into a confrontation with her bank, which refused to compensate her. She is not legally obligated to do so, Lyonnaise on her own initiative accepted access to her accounts. ” They say it’s my fault. I am so angry, no one is helping me. »
The principle of “fishing with nets”
Kelly’s case is far from isolated. She was the victim of a scam Explosion As explained by Jean-Jacques Latour, Director of Cybersecurity Experience at cybermalveillance.gouv.fr. ” And the more widespread this type of scam is, the more it is a sign that it is profitable. »
Cybercriminals use the same way of working every time: it all starts with an SMS with a link. The principle of information-extracting fraud has been around for years, and is based on the principle of fishing with a net: targeting a very large number of victims, at random, in the hope of touching at least some of them.
But since last year, when these waves of attacks were occasional, it has become so continuous ‘, notes the expert. The reason? “The implementation of the European DSP2 directive, which requires confirmation of a whole amount of online transactions with a secret code or validation of a bank application. So cybercriminals are blocked.”
So, something new: as soon as your information is phishing by SMS, hackers call you and pretend to be advisors because they want you to act on your accounts. Sometimes they call you using your bank’s official number. the thing that “Anyone can run a small program on their computer. People are diving every day and it is increasing. Withdrawals are often counted in thousands of euros.”
“He’s not a little local scammer.”
It is difficult to determine who is behind these cyber attacks. According to the few arrests, the French, who are between 20 and 30 years old, are working from French-speaking countries. They are organized, work in teams, and sometimes live in luxury. ” It’s not the local crook who does this in his basement. These are the people who make fraud and make business out of it. »
A great grand prize that starts with a simple SMS. But how do they access our data? ” Your phone number, which you provided on dozens of sites, Jean-Jacques Latour point. These sites may have been attacked or their data sold. Files with names, numbers and e-mail addresses, and there are a group of them circulating on darknetInternet, cybercriminals. »
For the victims, the site cybermaveillance.gouv.fr Offers support and advice. Investigations are ongoing, with regular arrests. Reflections, especially legislative, are on the table. But the system is slow in the face of hackers who are quick to adapt. “Every time a sandbox is put in, they find a way to get around it.” The best defense is vigilance.
#certificate #started #SMS #Kelly #victim #scam #phone #explosion
