TESTIMONY. Ameli, Netflix, Lydia… Fraudulent SMS circulating at the moment

SMS scams are common and often carried out by experts. So much so that it is more and more complicated to disentangle the true from the false to manage to avoid scams.

“Since the beginning of the month, I have been invaded by fraudulent SMS under many pretexts,” says Laure, a thirty-year-old from Paris, tired of having to stay on the lookout. Generally, scammers choose to bet on urgency to push potential victims to fall for the trap.

“Some text messages are particularly anxiety-provoking. According to those I receive, I have no health cover, no bank account and a lot of packages and messages are waiting for me. They could make you want to click immediately”, reveals the young woman, aware that all it takes is a moment of inattention to be fooled.

Despite everything, there are tricks to be able to spot them that you should try to keep in mind. “There are sometimes spelling, syntax or typographical errors such as missing capital letters, for example. You have to pay attention to these details”, explains Laure.

These text messages usually contain a redirect link to the site that will allow them to put their plan into action. “The site to which they are redirecting is not an official site, you can see it just at the URL”, reveals the young woman. Some websites are sometimes convincing and it is important to always be wary of them: scrutinize the smallest detail.

While Laure keeps abreast of scams and has the knowledge to spot them, not everyone does, and there are many victims. “I regret that these evil people use trickery to rob people,” she said.

There is still a mystery that this technophile cannot solve. “I wonder how these people got my number, and if they pass it on to each other. That would explain why I’m getting so many right now,” she wonders.

Discover in our slideshow the list of the most frequent fraudulent SMS at the moment to avoid, like Laure, falling into the trap.