Another day another scam this time it is an sms scam which claims to be sending you a voice message, this is not the case at all and has another unusual twist to it. Check the URL up top for 4smilesdental, then as seen in the image you will be asked to download a voice message app which is not required and you will see that if you can’t download the app you should allow it by changing the settings, clearly malware that will be installed on your phone.
As usual if you get a strange sms which this one is albeit appearing to coming from an Irish number you can spot that the text is all over the place and if you get such you should delete it straight away, I have checked this number out and it just answers with nothing else going on. A quick check on tellows and Who called me also lists the number as trouble.
Updated – Again this scam is going on we first brought this to the banks attention back in April 2020 before any of the media did, Some media think this is new regarding the identifier when in fact it is almost two years old.
We are all aware of the scams going around with the banks of late and some we have reported on before but this one took interest today when it came through on my phone via SMS. Yes there is SMS going around too and some without or without an identifier on the SMS ie a sender or reference on top and if you are a BOI customer you will understand the problem here.
— Jim O Brien Tech 👨💻techbuzzireland.com (@techbuzzinfo) April 22, 2020
As seen in the tweet above if you are a customer of BOI you may already have an SMS on your device in a thread such as I do from BOI which is fine and legit but the text now continues in the same thread giving it a more genuine look and as if it came from your bank and if you click on the link in the SMS it lands you on a page identical to BOI which is then where the scammers will catch you out and you have handed over all your details.
BOI perhaps did not understand the question here as they include another party in the conversation as it was me who got the text but contacted me via DM and then got the message and are now looking into the matter, best thing to do is for those whom maybe a new BOI customer is delete the current threads to start with and also check the identifier on top too and do not open any link sent via SMS no matter what is says or how good it may appear.
With the latest HSE cyberattack we have been warned that scams are most likely going to get worse and they have already started, We we be taking a closer look at that later plus the more common ones with couriers as I have just finished up on a series of such that takes a closer look and why this is happening and how to spot them straight away.
This scam is a new one on me though and rather worrying, we have seen this before but personally I have not got it until now and this was used in other instances to try get money from people, This time around like the HSE attack they are seeking bitcoin for payment and a hefty sum of money but is there any guarantee if you did pay it you would be fine afterwards, the answer is simply NO. This email is simply called sextortion or blackmail however it does not give you any option to respond to it or pay and after checking the bitcoin abuse database this does seem to be relatively new and the main thing to keep note of here is just ignore this and block the source and hand over nothing if you get anything like it and report to the Garda. Nothing has happened here in this case with all the options given to me. Furthermore evidence of this being a scam is the amount of spelling errors in the email which is pasted below.
email sample of sextortion blackmail and seeks bitcoin
Hi, stranger!
I hacked your device, because I sent you this message from your account. If you have already changed your password, my malware will be intercepts it every time.
You may not know me, and you are most likely wondering why you are receiving this email, right? In fact, I posted a malicious program on adults (pornography) of some websites, and you know that you visited these websites to enjoy (you know what I mean).
While you were watching video clips, my trojan started working as a RDP (remote desktop) with a keylogger that gave me access to your screen as well as a webcam.
Immediately after this, my program gathered all your contacts from messenger, social networks, and also by e-mail.
What I’ve done? I made a double screen video. The first part shows the video you watched (you have good taste, yes … but strange for me and other normal people), and the second part shows the recording of your webcam.
What should you do?
Well, I think $900 (USD dollars) is a fair price for our little secret. You will make a bitcoin payment (if you don’t know, look for “how to buy bitcoins” on Google).
BTC Address: 122F3j5EfUKnuKjFY54pCE43C793eVPSTY (This is CASE sensitive, please copy and paste it)
Remarks: You have 2 days (48 hours) to pay. (I have a special code, and at the moment I know that you have read this email).
If I don’t get bitcoins, I will send your video to all your contacts, including family members, colleagues, etc. However, if I am paid, I will immediately destroy the video, and my trojan will be destruct someself.
If you want to get proof, answer “Yes!” and resend this letter to youself. And I will definitely send your video to your any 19 contacts.
This is a non-negotiable offer, so please do not waste my personal and other people’s time by replying to this email.
This morning we had two calls from the same guy who claimed to be FRANK MURPHY from Amazon PRIME services and saying our Amazon Subscription should be renewed at a cost of €79.99 These calls are automated though,however on the second call we got an operator called Frank Murphy who claims to be from Amazon but obviously not who then asked for some information which you can guess by now is credit card details. This scam has been going on a while in the UK. Earlier in the year this was happening here in Ireland but now seems to be back in action.
After being asked to press 1he said calls are recorded for training and quality purposes which is utter bullshit and once telling him the same back he then hung up, Above is the two numbers you need to watch out for and just block them on your house phone or mobile phone. Other incidents on similar scams would be to download software onto your PC and this gets them access to everything, Amazon never ask for such information or call you either to renew subscription so be aware it has already cost people millions. These calls came in on our senior posters house phone but we will try record them in full should they come back or call my mobile as I have call recording software on it,that will be interesting.
There is a new message going around now claiming that will start charging you money from Saturday. In a stupid message going around it asks you to send the message to 10 contacts to show you are an avid user and if not you will be charged 0.01p per message, It also claims if you send the message on to 10 people your logo will become Blue, Again this is rubbish
In this time of crisis there is many scams going around so be vigilant if you get any messages and feel free to contact us if you want for any assistance with such as we keep an eye on these scams and give you full details rather than the scant information you might read elsewhere. This is not the first time we have seen this message or a similar version of it and is just a hoax. You can report messages HERE and they clearly state they will not be charging for messages. This is just a heads up and going around en masse in many groups this morning.
Say that you have to pay to use WhatsApp (WhatsApp is a free app. We will never ask you to pay to use WhatsApp and you don’t have to do anything to use WhatsApp for free.)
To report such messages on WhatsApp do the following below..
On Android: Simply go to WhatsApp > tap More options > Settings > Help > Contact us.
On iPhone: Simply go to WhatsApp > Settings > Help > Contact Us.
Whats App responded to my question and the info supplied however rather scant..
Hi,
Thanks for your message.
WhatsApp Messenger is a free messaging app and will no longer charge subscription fees. Please read our blog post for more information.
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. We’ll be happy to help!
Waking up to a scam is nothing new these days however getting up this morning I had several messages from followers regarding a Viber scam then yet I go the message myself and also a DHL scam which is something to take more interest in as it leads you to a website imitating DHL to give a payment of sorts.
The DHL one begins with an sms looking for a small fee to get your item delivered. DHL will not ask you for this information and if there is any issues with a package they will call you,they have a system in place anyway for dealing with transactions. This site is only trying to get steal your information which looks legit and some might be caught out here given the small amount they seek
The Viber group message going around is to join a group but leads you to a sex site but you are offered the chance to block or open the link so use your head and just block it and pass it on also if you have any of your kids on the app I would advise you to check their phone or block the number in question.
Just a little tip for you folks to take note of another scam,although not new this has also an email attached which they will expect you to reply to, and claiming that you have the Euro Millions,dont fall for it some sadly do,you may also get a missed call from this number so do not call it back..
The number is +905488764571 which will be in the form of an sms sent to your phone and you will be requested to send an email to euprounit@outlook.com. the number may vary so keep an eye on the prefix.
The SMS will look like this..
YOUR NUMBER HAS BEEN SELECTED FOR €1,000,000 EURO IN THE EUROMILLIONS MOBILE PROMO FOR CLAIMS EMAIL(NAME AND MOBILE NUMBER) to euprounit@outlook.com .The number appears to be originating in turkey.
We have had some news on an sms scam thats now starting to go around involving a redirect to the Meteor Mobile account login,this will ask you to fill in your credentials on a false page trying to imitate the meteor login and then redirects you to interflora which is a real website..
We have spoke to interflora ourselves and they have confirmed this is an ongoing issue and they are looking into it immediately.They have initially thought it was a random sms sent that a current customer sent by mistake,this is not the case.We also informed Meteor.
You will get an sms stating you have been sent flowers and requested to follow a link to your meteor login page ,here is what the page looks like which is badly rendered.
Here is what the proper meteor webpage really looks like where you enter your login details
For security reasons we can’t publish the full contact number but it begins with 085 ,we also rang this number and they have told us they have had several calls about this,the number was probably just picked at random.
If you are a Netflix user there is a phishing scam alert on the cards for the estimated 175,000 users in Ireland.
According to the ITsecurity firm Smarttech.ie, the fake message will ask users to click on a link to update their credit card details, or face termination of their Netflix account.
The email will look like this.
Common sense should pre-vale here and just ignore it,these scams are not new but becoming more commonplace especially of late,so just delete the mail and move along folks.
