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If you receive the message “5,000 free gas grills for your dad” on your cell phone, you are advised to beware, as it is an online scam and not a nice Father’s Day gift, warns Consumer Protection Minister Astrid Eisenkopf (SPÖ).
Sunday, June 12 is Father’s Day—on this occasion, hardware store OBI is said to be giving away thousands of gas grills. This made you believe the chain of messages created by cyber crooks that are currently spreading from cell phone to cell phone like a contagious virus.
Warning: Never click on the link
According to the consumer protection advice in the country, just clicking on the link in the message can cause serious damage. As a result, attackers can view and use all passwords, messages and documents on the user’s device for fraudulent purposes.
Consumer protection advisor Eisenkopf advises those affected to delete installed applications from the cell phone and change all passwords. If bank details are entered, the bank holding the account should be contacted to avoid further damage, according to Eisenkopf.
Online mock lotteries are on the rise
The number of these fake lotteries on the Internet is increasing. A few months ago, scammers on the online WhatsApp news service tried a similar scam. At the time Milka was said to be ditching the chocolate boxes. However, those who clicked on the link were not rewarded with sweets, but instead got malware on their mobile phones. The link address ending in “.ru” for Russia should have raised eyebrows, but many users fell victim and spread the news in good faith.
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