The National Road Safety Authority (ANSR) has issued a warning about a new email fraud attempt that is circulating, associated with the payment of a €120 fine.
The ANSR say that it does not send fine notifications via email and asks the public to be aware of possible fraudulent schemes.
According to ANSR, recipients of these email messages are informed that they have been fined €120 euros for a traffic violation and are requested to make payment via a link included in the email. However, this is a 'phishing' scheme, used to steal users' personal details and banking details.
The emails associated with this fraud look very official and state that the fine must be paid by the end of February. The sender of the email message uses a false identity and includes a link that redirects victims to a fraudulent website, where they are asked to enter banking information.
The ANSR stresses that it never sends fine notifications by email and that all official communications are made by physical mail. Therefore, it warns drivers not to click on any links included in these emails and not to make any payments through the resulting pages.
Anyone who receives one of these fraudulent messages should report it to the police.
You can always check the credibility of an email sender before opening any suspicious message, for instance they often have a strange email address, made up of random combinations of letters and numbers, often associated with foreign website domains. Many of these fraudulent emails contain grammatical and spelling errors, which may indicate that it is not an official communication.
To avoid falling victim to 'phishing' schemes, such as this fraud involving the payment of fines, experts recommend not providing personal or banking details on unverified pages and always be suspicious of messages that call for urgent action, such as immediate payment of an amount.
Using security software and spam filters can help reduce the risk of receiving these types of messages. Keeping your system up to date and using two-factor authentication for online banking can also help improve your digital security.
'Phishing' schemes are increasingly sophisticated, imitating communications from legitimate entities to deceive citizens. In recent years, there have been several fraud attempts related to false notifications of fines, taxes and even telecommunications services, so it is essential to be alert and informed.
In case of doubt, citizens can always contact ANSR through official channels to confirm the authenticity of any communication received.
The best way to avoid falling for fraudulent schemes is to adopt a critical and cautious approach. Digital security starts with prevention and attention to detail, thus avoiding financial losses and possible identity theft.
Source https://postal.pt/ - photo courtesy of Depositphotos.com
