The Postal Police has discovered a new scam, spread via SMS, of phishing type that deceives users by promising a win of a Samsung Galaxy S9+
Many users in recent days are receiving an informative message from the electronics store chain MediaWorld. The text of the SMS proposes a new MediaWorld promotion that would allow you to win a Samsung Galaxy S9+ by connecting to the link attached in the message.
Obviously this is a hoax, or rather a trap created ad hoc by a group of cyber criminals to scam users. There is no Samsung smartphone as a gift. In fact, the link leads to a counterfeit portal through which we “give away” our personal data to the creators of the scam. In this way the hackers collect our most confidential information and then use them to create false identities for their illegal actions on the Net. To warn of the new computer scam, specifically it is a hacker attack type phishing, was the same Postal Police through its Facebook page “Commissariato di PS Online”.
How the new MediaWorld scam works
Obviously MediaWorld has already declared itself extraneous to the facts and warned its consumers that it has never carried out a campaign via SMS to give away a Samsung Galaxy S9+. But here’s how the scam works in such a way as to recognize it and not fall into the trap of hackers: we are initially contacted by an SMS informing us of a new MediaWorld promotion that allows users to register on the company’s website to participate in the final extraction that allows you to win a Samsung Galaxy S9+ as a gift. To win the phone we will have to register by pressing on the attached link, which obviously does not take us back to the official website of the store but to a fake portal generated by cyber criminals in a very similar way to that of MediaWorld. All the data we enter on this malicious site will be stolen, including credit card information. Yes, because in order to win the prize, we will only have to pay the shipping costs, which are our responsibility. Obviously, this is an excuse for us to enter our credit card details.
How to defend yourself from this kind of scams
Defending yourself from this kind of scams is very simple, and there are only two tips to put into practice. First, we avoid believing everything we receive via SMS. For a hacker is really very simple via message pretend MediaWorld or any other store or even our bank. To know if there are active promotions of a store that contacts us on the smartphone we go to the official website of the company and look for the same promotion that surely if true will be sponsored online. In case we don’t find it we can also contact the customer service and ask for information to an operator in the flesh. Finally, remember not to put our data and our most sensitive information lightly into sites and applications of which we are not sure of the reliability.