The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) warned this Monday of a new computer scam, through “massive expedition” of messages via WhatsApp or email, demanding payment of outstanding debts to the Federal Revenue Service (AT).
According to the PGR website, “this is a criminal campaign through which, cunningly, criminals intend to convince victims that they have a debt with the Federal Revenue, which is pending payment”, scheme that has been detected and reported since the last weeks of March.
“The criminal method consists of sending written messages, by telephone or via electronic mail, to potential victims”, says the PGR, adding that the messages “are sent in an indiscriminate and massive manner, to countless recipients”, with “phone cards from national networks being used, often with the calling number hidden or pre-paid phone cards”.
The messages forward the victim to a ‘link’, where the same “you can check the details” and the text highlights that such payment is necessary “to avoid seizure”.
“With this formulation, criminals intend to lead to an urgent reaction to this message, precipitating the impulsive and unreflective payment of an amount”, warns the PGR, adding that, in the past, campaigns of the same nature were identified, claiming the payment of false debts to EDP, Social Security, the SNS and AT itself.
According to the PGR Messages include payment details via the banking systemthrough Multibanco Teller Machines (ATM) or ‘homebanking’, but this scheme has now been detected “It’s more sophisticated and aggressive.”
The PGR explains that, “once this fraudulent page has been accessed, the victim is first asked to provide their CPF and their personal access code. Once these are entered, another page is displayed, which states that there is a debt, indicating the respective amount and the method of payment (data for payment at ATMs or via home banking). Furthermore, it is prominently mentioned that the payment ‘Expires today’, with a button saying ‘Pay Now’ and also graphically highlighted ‘Avoid Seizure’ and that ‘the amount must be paid, which may result in tax enforcement proceedings and seizure of assets'”.
The PGR states that one of these false pages registered at an address belonging to the a server that provides cloud content hosting, based in Sherwood, Oregon, United States, but managed by based in Sanford, North Carolina, USA.
The latter is a service provider specialized in ensuring privacy for its customers: it allows them to browse the Internet while keeping their names, telephone numbers and addresses, among other personal data, hidden and confidential.
