An SMS pretends to come from the ASL and invites you to recall a paid number: it is a scam. Attention to prefixes 895 and the risk theft risk
Once again the SMS are transformed into a scam tool. This time, to deceive those who receive them is the fact that the message seems to come directly from the ASL and invites you to recall to receive urgent communication. But it is better not to do it.
“Urgently contacts our socio-health offices for an important communication that concerns it”: This is the text of the SMS which, in the last few days, has started circulating on the phones of many Italians. The message presents itself as an official communication from various local health companies andnvita to recall a number with prefix 895.
Numbers of this type are defined as “value added”: in practice, calling them costs much more than a normal phone call.
In fact, no ASL has sent those messages and there is no communication to receive. The reason is simple: it is yet another telephone scam.
Unlike what happened in the past, when it was easier to recognize the deception due to grammatical or syntactic errors, in this case the text is well written and precisely the correctness of the Italian leads many people to trust.
If you then consider that those who receive the SMS may be awaited real information from the ASL – perhaps for medical visits, exams or health practices – then for scammers it becomes even easier to take advantage of anxieties, carelessness and concrete needs.
How do scammers earn?
There are two methods. The first is cheap: those who call the number 895 ends up paying very high rates, and part of that money ends directly in the pockets of those who manage the scam. It is the same system used for paid services, like the old erotic lines, in which the only remaining in line generates a charge.
The second method is even more insidious: the theft of data. During the phone call, the fake operators could ask for personal information, implementing a real identity theft.
How to defend yourself?
The advice is simple: Always be wary of messages-via SMS, WhatsApp, e-mail or any other channel-which seem to come from official bodies such as ASL, INPS or Revenue Agency and which invite you to recall suspicious numbers or click on links. It is almost always a scam.
In the meantime, local healthcare companies are publishing notices on their official sites, inviting citizens to maximum prudence and not followed up to this type of messages. The goal is to limit as far as possible the spread of a phenomenon that continues to strike.
