Beware of traps
Data protection advocates warn against calls from alleged data protection officers
Scammers continue to try via phone and email. Currently also a suspected data protection officer. How the perpetrator acted.
The fraudster, who is thought to be a data protection officer, wants to steal sensitive data over the phone. State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information for North Rhine-Westphalia, Bettina Gayk, warned against this scam. The North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office advises extreme caution.
The caller will pretend to be an employee of the “data protection authority in Düsseldorf” and try to get those contacted to reveal personal information. The State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information in North Rhine-Westphalia, which is the data protection supervisory authority in North Rhine-Westphalia and is based in Düsseldorf, does not ask citizens for data or data comparisons by telephone. “Please do not provide any data over the phone to data protection authorities!” appeal to state representatives.
The North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Police Office is aware of numerous similar fraud attempts. Experience shows that responsible companies and authorities provide information to the public and their customers early on about the dangers of fake messages in their names, an LKA spokesperson said. Usually, just a few reports are enough to do this, as it is likely that a large number of fraud attempts will go unnoticed by the company or the police.
The public must remain critical, especially when requests for data release – or worse, actual payments – are made via letters or phone calls. “Regardless of the contact method, great care is needed, because both letters and emails can appear very authentic at first glance, the caller can appear very convincing with imperfect information,” explained an LKA NRW spokesperson.
How does the perpetrator proceed?
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Basically, fraudsters use various methods via telephone, email, messenger or letter to contact potential victims. New scams are constantly being devised, as was done by data protection authorities in this case. They often pretend to be trustworthy and well-known brands and institutions.
The LKA spokesperson also referred to surprise call scams and the so-called grandchild trick, which is a simulated emergency of a supposed relative such as a son, daughter or grandson. Another scam is fake police officers, which are fraudsters posing as police officers.
If in doubt, those affected should always contact the authorities or allegedly affected companies through official channels – such as telephone numbers or email addresses on official sites. In this way, the accuracy of the contact or request may be questioned. “In the event of an attempted fraud, the recipient should immediately contact the police and make a report,” LKA advises.
“To make your data, passwords and online banking in general more secure, it is always recommended to set up multi-factor authentication.” The criminals then lose the second or third factor, even though they obtained the data through phishing or fraud.
dpa
