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The number of fraudulent text messages pretending to be family emergency calls has risen sharply recently. According to RTR, there were more than 1,000 complaints about text message scams in May—the highest number in months.
Messages with the so-called “family trick,” i.e., alleged emergency calls from children or grandchildren, are particularly common.
Increase in scam text messages with daughter, son, and grandchild tricks
The perpetrators use familiar-looking messages such as “Hi Mom, my cell phone is broken. Write to me on WhatsApp” to obtain sensitive data or money. “Three-quarters of all complaints in May concerned this area,” says Klaus M. Steinmaurer, Managing Director of RTR’s Telecommunications and Postal Services Division.
Particularly perfidious: the fake messages can appear in the existing SMS history with banks, authorities, or services such as PayPal. The reason for this is the manipulation of the sender identification by the perpetrators—a technique that also misleads gullible users.
What to do if you suspect fraud?
“If my child is in an emergency, many people react immediately—and that’s exactly what fraudsters exploit,” warns Steinmaurer. The emotional closeness to the person supposedly affected leads many people to act uncritically.
RTR advises people to always check the content of messages carefully and to contact them directly via official channels, such as customer hotlines, if they are unsure. Feedback to unknown numbers via WhatsApp or SMS should be avoided.
Reporting protects others
Suspicious messages or calls can be reported on the www.rufnummernmissbrauch.at platform. There, RTR also provides information on current scams and offers tips on how to protect yourself from digital deception attempts.
- source: vienna.at/picture: pixabay.com
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