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Energy price flat rate: scammers cheat user data

2022-09-13T14:33:46.060Z


For the payment of the 300 euros, you should confirm your data: Consumer advocates are now warning of such SMS and e-mails, which supposedly come from banks and authorities.


Enlarge image

The federal government's energy price flat rate is really coming - but those authorized to receive it do not have to verify their data

Photo: IMAGO/Michael Bihlmayer / IMAGO/Bihlmayerfotografie

E-mails and text messages are currently circulating on behalf of banks and authorities with supposedly good news: the recipients only need to quickly verify their contact details and they will then be paid the energy price flat rate of 300 euros decided by the federal government.

This is fraud, warns the North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center.

For the payment of the lump sum, no bank or authority requires a response from the beneficiaries.

The money is paid out via wages or salaries.

The link in the messages suggesting otherwise leads to fake websites designed to appear to belong to a savings bank, for example.

Personal data should then be entered here.

This is justified with an examination of the identity and the right to payment.

One of these phishing e-mails literally says: »In order to be able to determine your identity and the right to a payment, we need confirmation of the data you have already provided when creating your current account in one of our branches.« Striking in the otherwise comparative neatly worded mail is a spelling mistake: Instead of »Homepage«, it says »Homapege«.

The email belongs in the spam folder

The Verbraucherzentrale NRW advises not to reply and never to click on the link in the e-mail.

Messages like this should be moved to the spam folder and the SMS senders should be blocked.

Anyone who has already entered their data should report it to the police.

The messages have so far been sent on behalf of the Sparkasse, the Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

However, other supposed senders are also conceivable.

It is conceivable that the perpetrators could do fraudulent business with the stolen names, addresses or account data and pretend to be someone else on the Internet.

In this case one speaks of identity theft.

pbe/dpa

Source: spiegel

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