Situations of fraud, on the Internet and face-to-face, and cyberattacks related to COVID-19 are increasing, according to disclosures made by the criminal police (PJ), military police (GNR) and National Cybersecurity Centre (CNCS). ANACOM joins these entities in warning about these situations, in asking for everyone to be attentive to the warnings of the authorities and to help in their dissemination through their network of contacts, so as to help to halt these situations and prevent the dissemination of false information.
According to the information disclosed by the PJ, GNR and CNCS, the most frequent situations involve the following practices:
- Phishing campaigns (by email, SMS or social networks) using the image of official entities like the World Health Organisation, UNICEF or research centres and laboratories of the health sector, with contents allusive to the pandemic and directed at capturing personal data of their victims or infection of their devices with malicious software;
- Dissemination of digital platforms or applications for mobile devices that appear to disclose information in real time about the pandemic (e.g. dynamic tables on contagion), but that really seek to infect the devices of the users with malicious software;
- Digital fraud schemes shared by email or via social networks, that disclose crowdsourcing initiatives for collection of donations for false campaigns for purchase of medical or personal protection material;
- Sending of false information, through SMS, namely that exceptional measures are being applied to combat COVID-19 and that all national citizens will be vaccinated, with guaranteed reimbursement of costs by the Government. For such, the user just has to pay a specific amount indicated in the SMS and the reimbursement will be made through the registration in the link that is sent.
- Swindling schemes, where people pretend to be health professionals or telecommunications operators so as to gain access to homes for fraudulent purposes.
The CNCS also warns users not to trust, nor install the app for mobile phones named COVID-19 Tracker (one of the apps most shared between users) as its ultimate goal is not to elucidate on the COVID-19 pandemic, but rather to block Android equipment through the installation of malicious software.
Therefore, it is important that people should not install apps and software unless they have previously checked their authenticity, and that everyone should be watching out for contents that circulate on the social networks, so as not to be victims of fraudulent schemes and not contribute to the dissemination of false information.
ANACOM also appeals to all consumers and users of communications services that need to contact these entities, the operators or ANACOM itself, about these or other issues, not to attempt to do so face-to-face but rather use the digital channels and telephone lines. All the sector's entities indicate their telephone contacts and email addresses on their websites.
Should you need to submit a complaint, use the electronic complaints book https://www.livroreclamacoes.pt/inicio.
