From the fake PayPal refund, to the proposal of a profitable investment, to the phone call ordering you to appear at the police station. Scams don’t take a vacation and, especially during this period, those targeting the elderly and vulnerable people are starting up again.
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The non-existent refund
For some time now, emails have been arriving in inboxes that apparently seem to be sent by PayPal. The subject talks about the right to a refund resulting from a review of transactions made. The email suggests following the procedure that will then lead to the return of sums that can exceed even a thousand euros. However, the link does not lead to any official site but to other portals where personal data is requested. On closer inspection, the email itself is found not to come from the official domain. It also happens that the same email arrives to those who have not made any payment in the last year.
The package never ordered
Then there is the WhatsApp message sent from a +212 prefix saying that the courier tried to deliver a package the day before but no one was home. So an invitation to book a new delivery or to pick up the package, never ordered, at the nearest place. The procedure to follow is not the usual one used by couriers but asks to reply with an S to the request and then asks to update the message. In some cases, payment of a sum of money is also requested to unlock the delivery. Fake messages continue to arrive via SMS talking about suspicious operations on one’s account in Romania and inviting, therefore, to call numbers indicated in the SMS or click on links.
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The fake summons
However, physical scam attempts are not lacking. The latest is the one reported by the Guardia di Finanza of Rieti as part of activities to combat fraud against the elderly and vulnerable people. “Just in these hours several citizens of the Province of Rieti are receiving phone calls from a number corresponding to that of the switchboard of this Provincial Command,” the Guardia di Finanza said in a statement, “with requests, made by fake members of the Guardia di Finanza, in some cases to appear at the offices of the Corps, in other cases with requests for possession of any weapons or valuables held inside the home, which would then be physically checked by other members of the gang.”
The objective, according to what was reconstructed by the Gdf, would be to leave homes unattended through the fake summons to the police station in order to allow thieves to act undisturbed. Therefore, the recommendation is “not to comply with these summons, immediately alerting the public utility number 117 and notifying your relatives.”
