The online scams they are increasingly refined and targeted. This is because cyber criminals know well that, to catch their victims, they must set targeted traps, capable of leveraging fear and ignorance of certain online dynamics (and not only) to be successful. Among the most sophisticated online scams present in recent times is that of false judicial summonswhich exploits the name of authorities in order to mislead victims into believing they are involved in criminal investigations. In these false warnings, criminals use institutional logos and references to authoritative figures, such as the Chief of Policewho is falsely presented as director of the “cybercrime” department. The purpose? Scaring victims, manipulating them psychologically and forcing them to pay sums of money to avoid non-existent legal consequences. To protect yourself from similar scams, it is important to recognize the distinctive elements of this scam, not to follow the instructions of cyber criminals and to report the incident to the authorities.
How to recognize the fake judicial summons scam
There false judicial summons scam is, to all intents and purposes, a phishing strategy (an online deception technique to steal data or money) has recurring elements: apparently authentic official messages (in the messages they are often used official logos, registrations of public bodies or references to the law), serious charges such as involvement in child pornography crimes and threats of registration in invented registers, such as a non-existent “Register of sexual offenders”. All of this aims to generate panic and accelerate an impulsive response.
The threat is also amplified by mention of serious consequencessuch as arrest. In some cases, scammers may even attach false documents, such as alleged arrest warrants or investigation reports, to further increase the psychological pressure on the user to contact the scammer. This is where the second phase of the scam starts: the request for payment of a sum of money to “resolve” the situation.
Regarding this scam, in an official note on its website, the Postal Police warns:
No police force ever contacts citizens directly, through e-mail or SMS, to ask them for personal data or monetary payments, with the threat of criminal proceedings against them.
How to protect yourself from false judicial summons
For defend yourself from the scam of false judicial summonsyou must adopt the following behaviors recommended by the authorities, which are actually valid for any online fraud.
- Stay calm and carefully analyze the message received.
- Don’t ignore the warning signs which include, among other things, urgent demands for payment and intimidating language.
- Do not reply to the message and do not follow the instructions it contains. This means, in this case, not clicking on any links within it, not providing personal data, not downloading any attachments and, naturally, not paying the requested amounts.
- Contact the authoritieslike the Postal Police, to report the incident.
