Phishing on all channels
Which scams are currently up-to-date
The number one gateway for phishing attacks remains the email account.
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It’s been a long time since scammers tried to fool gullible people just by email. These tricks are popular.
Gone are the days of just protecting yourself from emails from alleged Nigerian princes. Criminals now use all communication platforms to find a connection for their scams. In doing so, they are becoming increasingly imaginative and ruthless in order to obtain login data and money. From the classic e-mail inbox to messenger services such as WhatsApp to dating platforms or games: users should definitely be aware of these scams in 2023.
Gateway email inbox
While phishing methods are spreading throughout the digital space, thousands upon thousands of potentially dangerous emails still end up in our inboxes every day. These are no longer just from questionable senders, but pretend to be the post office, the railway, the bank or a similar institution. So warns the consumer center At the beginning of February, before a current scam in which Sparkasse customers are asked to enter their user data in order not to lose their account.
However, it is not always about valuable data that crooks want to steal. Because small livestock also messes up, they often try to steal money with small amounts. A scam is currently circulating that claims that UPS can only deliver a package if the recipient transfers EUR 1.95. Via a button in the e-mail, the alleged customer gets to the payment process. The consumer advice center points out that the e-mail looks serious and only the impersonal salutation and the sender indicate a phishing attempt. The recommendation: move the email to the spam folder without reply.
Current warns the consumer center also from blackmailing e-mails claiming that the recipient was filmed using the camera on their laptop or smartphone consuming pornography. If you want to prevent the release of this footage, you have to pay a certain amount in Bitcoin. The Police recommendation includes cutting off contact with the sender, under no circumstances transferring money and filing a complaint.
Hacked Accounts
In addition, social media accounts or online shops are potentially at risk. Criminals may have collected and used information about their victims before the first contact. Up to the correct customer number in the phishing mail, users can be asked to confirm their identity in one way or another or to transfer money.
In the worst case, criminals have already hacked into an account, changed the password and the user no longer has access. Then the consumer center advises to contact the provider, check his end device for malware and then change the password.
Grandchild trick on messenger services
In the analog age, the grandchildren trick already existed: criminals track down single elderly people who they know or suspect have grandchildren who they rarely see. So they ring the doorbell and pretend to be the grandson or granddaughter and engage them in conversation, which turns out the kid needs money. The fraudsters rely on the good nature of “grandma” and make off with the stolen money.
Little has changed in this approach in the digital age. Messengers like WhatsApp and Co. make it even easier for criminals, because communication is becoming more impersonal and money is changing hands more easily than ever via online banking.
The scammers pretend to have a new phone number and explain why they need money. Because this scam is still very popular, the police crime prevention of the federal states and the federal government started an information campaign. In it, she recommends two measures in particular that recipients of questionable messages should take: either ask the sender of the message for a voice message, or call the old number straight away to verify the sender’s identity.
Phishing on apps
A variety of apps that are not primarily designed for communication also have problems with scams. These include, in particular, dating apps and online games on which users, similar to the grandchild trick, first gain trust before they finally ask their victims for money.
The story about Simon Leviev, which was documented in the Netflix documentary “The Tinder Swindler”, showed that this scam from the digital world can continue into real life. He pretended to be the son of a billionaire, but for various reasons kept asking his “girlfriends” he found on Tinder for money. So he built up a whole network of victims who financed his life in the lap of luxury.