A new wave of scams is going through the peninsula, with numerous reports especially in Lombardy and Lazio: these are fake SMS sent on behalf of the ASL. The message may seem apparently authentic, as it uses a language that might seem to belong to the health sector. In reality, however, the SMS comes from a fee number – often a delivery that begins with the prefix 895associated with services with very expensive special rates. The content is deliberately generic and alarming: he invites those who receive him to call for alleged «communications concerning you», Leveraging a sense of urgent and official to push the person contacted to immediate action. The risk? Beyond lose money due to high ratesyou could too expose your personal data to attacker. In this article we explain in more detail how the scam works, what behaviors to adopt to protect you and how to report episodes similar to the competent authorities. The alarm was launched byATS (Health Protection Agency) of the Metropolitan City of Milan, but also by other local health companies of the Lazio Region.
How the ASL’s fake message scam works
The trappola message presents itself crediblely: simulates the identity of local health entitiesthe so -called ASLtaking advantage of the trust that has always been put in these institutions. The formula used is deliberately vague: «There are communications concerning you», Without further details. In fact, the goal is to generate a sufficient concern of concern that pushes the people contacted to recall the indicated number, which, as reported by ATS herself, is associated with increased rates. The Prefix 895 in fact falls into the category of value added numbersthat is, those numbers that, unlike the standard ones, imply much higher costs to be the responsibility of those who call. In some cases, only one phone call may also cost tens of euros, depending on the time spent in line and the tariff conditions applied by your operator.
In addition, scammers could score a real identity theft. If, during the conversation, sensitive data such as the tax code, the number of health card or others are requested Identification informationthe user who falls into the trap could deliver valuable information for scammers, who could use them to try access to public services or perform financial operations on behalf of the filed victims.
How to defend yourself from the fake ASL SMS scam
For Defend yourself from the fake ASL SMS scamfirst of all, remember that the authorities never use generic SMS for urgent communications, and above all they never invite you to contact paid numbers. The real communications of ATS take place through official channels, such as signed letters, protected online portals or institutional telephone numbers. If you receive a suspicious message, the first step is do not respond and do not recall the number indicated. It is also fundamental Avoid clicking on any links contained in the text, if these are present.
In case of doubts about the authenticity of the message, you can check directly by contacting the ATS of the Metropolitan City of Milan through the official contact details reported on their institutional website. If you have already received an SMS of this type, we invite you to report it immediately to the postal police. Reporting to the authorities The incident is important because this contributes to creating a control network and allows the police to collect useful elements to trace those who designed and implemented the deception. Ats herself officially claimed to have “already taken over the report and collaborates with the competent authorities for the identification of the managers».
