Ugo Pascolo 17:31 pm, March 16, 2023

SMS scams are now legion. Whether it's inviting you to call a premium rate number or click on a link to enter your personal data... There are many ways to push yourself to the fault. But on Europe 1, the lawyer Roland Perez gives his advice not to be fooled! Observation and critical thinking must be at the rendezvous!

You have certainly already received an SMS that informs you of the delivery of a package that you have never ordered, or a step to take to renew your carte vitale (while it is valid for life ...) Be careful, these are not mistakes, but scams! And they are now legion, whether by email or SMS. The purpose of these fraudulent messages? "Recover your personal and banking data", or even take you a few euros, explains to the microphone of Europe 1 the lawyer Roland Perez.

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Check URL

To do this, the people behind these SMS are showing more and more imagination and expertise. No more texting riddled with spelling mistakes that puts the chip in your ear as to the reliability of the sender. From now on, messages are written in impeccable French and refer to websites just as fake as SMS, but convincing. We must therefore redouble our vigilance, do not hesitate to take a step back from the situation, and not give in to the sirens of haste. Fortunately, in addition to his critical thinking, it is possible to separate the wheat from the chaff by looking at the URL, the bar at the top of a browser that displays the address of a website. The URL "does not conform to that of the official website", summarizes Roland Perez.

In the case of an SMS referring to a late payment of a fine with a link to a site that, at first glance, allows you to quickly pay your ticket, the URL must include at the end ".gouv.fr". So if you see an address that ends in ".gouv.org", or anything else, don't go any further. And even so, the lawyer recalls that "no administration of you will ask for your bank details or passwords by email or phone".

Report scams

If the purpose of the SMS is to make you call a number, or simply send an SMS to a particular number, beware! These are certainly paid numbers! In addition, most fraudulent SMS messages are sent from numbers that start with 06, 07, +336 or +337.

And if you receive a scam by SMS, it is possible to report it by simply forwarding the message concerned to 33 700. An alert system created by telecom operators, service publishers and hosting providers, in consultation with the Secretary of State for Industry and Consumer Affairs.