The Ministry of Justice is calling on Quebecers to be vigilant after receiving several fraudulent text messages indicating a traffic violation.
A speed radar detects your vehicle traveling at 56 km/h in a school zone limited to 30 km/h. Please resolve this violation before February 4, 2024 to avoid excessive late fees,” says a text message sent from a Quebec phone number.
“It's a sense of urgency to be exploited, a good old technique of fraudsters,” said Vincent Frechet, who received one of the texts earlier this week.
The user is invited to visit the website to pay the $15.35 bill. However, the site is similar to that of the Quebec Ministry of Justice.
Screenshot of the scam site
Félix Savard, who received the phishing message, noted, “It's the first time I've seen a scam site that mimics a real site so well.”
The person working in the IT department continued the process with fictitious contact details to better understand the project.
Fraudsters ask for name, postal address and date of birth and bank details to make payments.
“If I had entered the real data, they would have had all the information they needed to make fraudulent calls to the banks,” said Mr. Ironically, who does not own a car. Savard said.
Like Vincent Fréchette, Félix Savard wanted to publish a preventive message on his social networks.
Fishing
The Quebec Ministry of Justice also wanted to warn people against this phishing attempt, stating that it never communicates with its customers via text message.
“Citizens who receive such a message should not open any links, click on any hyperlinks, send any personal information and delete the message,” it said.
The Quebec City Police Department confirms that this tactic is currently active within its borders.
What if you think a text message is fraudulent?
– Do not click on a link if you are not sure about the source;
– If in doubt, access the site by entering the address in the search bar of your browser;
– Verify the authenticity of the message received by doing your own research on the company or person who sent the text message.
Source: Quebec City Police Department
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