Cyber criminals are finding a new way to steal data from their victims.
A scam is on the rise, the police are issuing urgent warnings.
Munich - During the corona pandemic *, online shopping is booming.
Because many stores are closed, customers are choosing to do their shopping from the comfort of their own home.
Order a sweater, book or DVD quickly.
In the lockdown, sales by mail order companies rose sharply, with industry leader Amazon alone recording a 38 percent increase in sales in 2020.
Mandatory for online orders: The dispatch notification from the deliverer, who informs about the imminent arrival of the ordered goods.
But the Upper Palatinate Police Headquarters warns that cyber criminals are using fake SMS messages for their scam.
The hackers can install malware on the mobile phone, steal sensitive data and gain access to the mobile phone.
SMS with package announcements can be forged
The criminals falsify the notification SMS of reputable parcel deliverers in order to gain access to the mobile phones of their victims.
If the recipients click on the supposed confirmation link in the short message, the hackers download malware onto their victims' cell phones.
As the LKA (State Criminal Police Office) Mainz warns, the fake link ends with "duckdns.org".
“This malware forwards sensitive data unnoticed, spies on the contact list of the injured party and then independently sends SMS messages with the malware to various phone numbers, which can cause additional costs,” warns the agency.
For a woman in Rhineland-Palatinate, damage in the three-digit range had occurred.
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SMS with malware in the inbox - what should consumers be aware of?
The Upper Palatinate Police Department warns you to be careful when sending SMS with the ending duckdns.org.
First, consumers should clarify whether they are expecting a package at all.
If you do not order, you will not receive an SMS with a shipping confirmation - if you do, the confirmation link in the SMS should not be clicked on.
The police inspection also advises setting up the third-party block with the mobile phone provider.
The block prevents payments from being processed via the mobile phone bill.
Consumers can also counteract the fraud software in the settings of the cell phone.
By deactivating the ability to load unknown apps, the criminals are stopped.
For consumers who clicked on the confirmation link in the fake SMS, there is a need for action more quickly.
The Upper Palatinate police recommend putting your cell phone into flight mode.
Those affected should then check whether the sending of SMS incurred costs and, if necessary, contact their mobile operator.
The Upper Palatinate Police Inspectorate recommends that victims of the scam report to the local police station.
(
jjf / dpa
)
List of rubric lists: © imageBROKER / Sonja Jordan / IMAGO