Bob:
A week ago, my aunt received a message about the debt for housing and communal services for $ 150. SMS from an unknown mobile number, signature "management company", the name of the employee and a link to the site. The aunt always pays the communal apartment on time, and the Criminal Code usually throws all the bills into the mailbox. She was alert, asked me to punch through the Internet what it is.
I first dialed the number from which the message came. I was told that this is an employee such and such that my aunt had a debt and it can be paid off on the website. I tried to go to this site, the browser reported that the connection was not secure. I ignored it. A regular site with the indicated head office number.
I called there, found out if the employee such and such worked for them, they confirmed it to me. I asked where the debt came from, but I was told that there were no debts. This time I typed in the name of the management company in a search engine, went to its website and realized that it was different from the first - it looks similar, but the address is slightly different.
My aunt was sitting next to me. She, as a conscious woman, found the chairman of the house, talked to him. He urgently organized a meeting of residents to warn everyone. It turned out that many received the same SMS, someone even transferred money.
Financial Culture Expert:
A message about a debt on housing and communal services leading to a fake website is a classic example of SMS fraud. The criminals got a database of residents of a house, a residential complex or a condominium, they forged the site page of the management company, registered a similar domain, which differs by one letter, number or hyphen, and began to send SMS. The scammers' calculation is simple: out of a thousand people, a few will translate something.
What to do if you receive a message about a debt?
A week ago, my aunt received a message about the debt for housing and communal services for $ 150. SMS from an unknown mobile number, signature "management company", the name of the employee and a link to the site. The aunt always pays the communal apartment on time, and the Criminal Code usually throws all the bills into the mailbox. She was alert, asked me to punch through the Internet what it is.
I first dialed the number from which the message came. I was told that this is an employee such and such that my aunt had a debt and it can be paid off on the website. I tried to go to this site, the browser reported that the connection was not secure. I ignored it. A regular site with the indicated head office number.
I called there, found out if the employee such and such worked for them, they confirmed it to me. I asked where the debt came from, but I was told that there were no debts. This time I typed in the name of the management company in a search engine, went to its website and realized that it was different from the first - it looks similar, but the address is slightly different.
My aunt was sitting next to me. She, as a conscious woman, found the chairman of the house, talked to him. He urgently organized a meeting of residents to warn everyone. It turned out that many received the same SMS, someone even transferred money.
Financial Culture Expert:
A message about a debt on housing and communal services leading to a fake website is a classic example of SMS fraud. The criminals got a database of residents of a house, a residential complex or a condominium, they forged the site page of the management company, registered a similar domain, which differs by one letter, number or hyphen, and began to send SMS. The scammers' calculation is simple: out of a thousand people, a few will translate something.
What to do if you receive a message about a debt?
- Pause before doing any money transactions. If you regularly pay for utility bills, such a message from an unfamiliar number is already a reason to be on your guard. Utilities workers should not call or write to people from their personal numbers.
- Do not reply to SMS, do not call back by number, do not follow links.
- Call the management company or HOA and explain what happened. Experts from the HOA and the management company have all the information about the debts, and some of the neighbors may have already received the same message before you.
- If you transferred money to fraudsters, file a report with the police, indicating all the information you know about the sender: number, website address, mailing time. If you sent personal information to the attackers (entered the card number, name on the front side and the code on the back side, expiration date), call the bank and block the card.
