They present themselves as CAF operators, contact you via SMS and invite you to attract a number to receive tax assistance. But behind these fake messages there are no tax assistance centers, but scammers specialized in telephone deception. It is a well -tested fraud, in which the message received, often with a prefix 895, seems authentic and, taking advantage of the name of reliable entities such as the CAF CISL, the user is induced to recall a scam number. Once the call has been made, however, no tax help is received: on the contrary, the risk is to quickly dry the telephone credit or, in the most serious cases, their current account, if the scammers have managed to understand information regarding the latter.
How the CAF scam works with SMS
The mechanism used is based on what is called “increased rate scam”. In simple words, you are induced to call telephone numbers which, although it seems harmless, are actually special numbers that provide for a high cost for the call. In these cases, the scam number does not provide answers, but holds the user in line to download as credit as possible in a few seconds. It is a simple but effective technique, which exploits the urgency and trust to obtain a rapid gain at the expense of the victims.
Several users have already reported similar cases in various Italian provinces. The type message is formulated in a generic but convincing way, and leverages the familiarity of the term “caf” to make the scam credible, as well as on the sense of urgency. Many users have received a message of this type:
Please urgently contact our CAF Training Assistance Center offices at 895xxxxxxx for communications that concern it.
How to defend yourself from the fake CAF scam
What can you do to defend yourself from the fake CAF scam? Always remember that the authentic communications of any tax assistance center (and, by extension, of any serious body), never take place through SMS that invite you to recall unknown numbers. To verify the authenticity of a message, the safer strategy is to contact the CAF directly through its official channels, for example the institutional website or the telephone number of the headquarters to which you are really registered. We therefore recommend that you do not contact the Truffaldino SMS number, if you have to receive it.
Even if the content seems to come from a reliable body, avoid any interaction if you cannot verify its origin. Another fundamental “rule” to follow, never share personal data (e.g. tax code, current account numbers, bank details, etc.) via phone or sms.
If you have to receive a message similar to the one we talked about in the article, block the number. If you suspect that they have been victims of such an attempt at fraud, report the incident to the postal police through their official portal, so as to contribute to contrasting the phenomenon, as far as possible.
