The Lika-Senj police department received several calls from citizens who received SMS messages in which the sender falsely presents himself as the Ministry of the Interior and warns the recipient of an alleged traffic violation. The message claims that the violation was recorded in real time and the recipient is requested to access the official e-portal within 48 hours via the attached link in order to avoid court proceedings and additional costs.
Regarding this case, the police point out that they do not inform citizens about their claims via text messages. In other words, these messages, which have started arriving on citizens’ mobile phones these days, are fake and should not be ignored. It is probably a fraudulent campaign that aims to collect data from the victims, steal their identities or “empty” their bank accounts.
How to recognize a fake message?
Such messages often have several common features:
- they come from unknown or foreign numbers,
- contain a threatening or urgent tone (e.g. a deadline of 48 hours),
- include links to suspicious or unverified websites,
- they invite you to enter personal data or pay a fine.
Tips on what to do when you receive a message like this:
- delete messages,
- don’t answer them,
- do not follow links, open and view images or attachments,
- do not share personal, financial or security information,
- in case you believe that you have become a victim of identity theft via SMS message or if you have already disclosed sensitive data such as (PIN, credit card number, OIB and others), immediately report it to the bank and then to the police.