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Scammers promise victims a supposed reimbursement of costs. Anyone who receives such a call should hang up immediately.
If the phone rings and someone answers with the words, “Hello, this is ÖGK Cost Reimbursement. We need your IBAN and BIC so that we can carry out the transfer.” Then this is not a reason to rejoice but rather an attempt at fraud. Therefore, hang up. There has been a recent increase in fake calls and phishing emails in the name of Austrian Lotteries, the City of Vienna, and the Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK).
People pretending to be ÖGK employees are putting pressure on people over the phone to get their bank details. “The ÖGK never asks for bank or credit card details over the phone and doesn’t send refund links by email or text message,” says the health insurance fund. If you get a call like this, don’t get involved in a conversation and hang up. Genuine refunds are only processed after prior written communication or digitally via the official “Meine ÖGK” app. The ÖGK has now set up its own website for warnings, where those affected can report attempted fraud or ask questions if they are unsure in individual cases.
(No) lottery win
The Austrian Lotteries has issued a similar warning. The company warns against alleged prize payments, for which recipients have to disclose personal information such as bank details in order to receive the money. The Lottery states that it has never requested customer data by email or demanded advance payments for prize transfers and will not do so in the future. “Anyone who has mistakenly already disclosed their bank details or, in some cases, even transferred money, should contact their bank immediately.”
Fake parking ticket
In scams carried out in the name of the City of Vienna, fraudsters send out alleged discounted parking fines. The collection agency COEO-Inkasso is supposed to collect “parking fines” on behalf of the city and offers recipients a “settlement with a 50 percent discount.” According to the City of Vienna, there is no cooperation with the collection agency—which does actually exist and also warns against these phishing emails on its own website. This is a case of “misuse of coeo Inkasso.” Reports of such fake collection demands have also been received from Linz and Bregenz, among other places.
Recognizing and responding
How can you recognize a phishing attempt? If at least one of the following characteristics applies, caution is advised:
- The text of the email indicates an urgent need for action
- Threats: “If you do not respond, we will have to block your account…”
- Request for sensitive data such as IBAN, BIC, or credit card details
- Emails or text messages are often impersonal and contain spelling mistakes, or have links to fake websites
- The email appears to come from a well-known company or organization, but the request seems unusual
What is the best thing to do if you receive such a text message or email?
- Do not follow the instructions contained in the message under any circumstances.
- Do not click on any links or files contained in the message.
- Do not disclose personal data such as passwords, credit card details, or account information under any circumstances.
- End the call immediately.
- Delete the text message or email immediately.
What you should do if you have disclosed your login details or bank information:
- Contact your bank/block access to your bank account or credit card.
- Check your transactions.
- Use new passwords and PINs after unblocking the account.
- Activate two-factor authentication (2FA).
- End all active sessions.
- Secure evidence: save screenshots, email headers, date/time, sender address, and received text messages.
- Check whether other user accounts are affected.
- source: derstandard.at/picture: pixabay.com
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