The ESB text message

The message appears to have come from “ESB” and it cannot be replied to, which gives it a certain degree of legitimacy. If you have taken my training you will know that you simply cannot trust what number is calling you or texting you, as spoofing is so common.

The message says:

You are eligible for a discounted electricity bill under the Energy support scheme.

You can apply here: https[:]//register-electric-refund[.]com

I have “defanged” that link so you cannot go to the site accidentally.

If you go ahead and click the link, you will be taken to the following web site:

The “Government” information page

That looks remarkably like the ACTUAL Irish Government Website which is here:

https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4ae14-electricity-costs-emergency-benefit-scheme/

That is, all except for the “Verify now” button at the bottom. The criminals have effectively cloned the majority of the government’s page on this scheme. None of the links work on the page that I tested … EXCEPT for that “Verify Now” button. 🤔

The “Registration” pages

Well, if you click that, the “government” now seems to want you to register for the scheme (which is automatically dealt with by the power supply companies), so you are first asked for some personal details:

When you hit “Continue, you will then be asked to provide some billing details.

Billing details?!??!!? I thought they were giving us money, not billing us?

Well, they are probably hoping that you are used to divulging your payment card details onto website.

They do validation on the card number and the page crashed on me as I was attempting to enter a potentially valid number, so I wasn’t able to find out what happened next, but presumably they will start buying stuff on your account!

So there it is … an ESB text message scam, that could just as easily be for any of the other providers, but it’s likely only going to be the ESB as they have the most customers in the country.

Let’s be careful out there.

How can L2 Cyber Security help you?

We offer a full range of training programmes, which can be delivered online or in-person.

Contact us for more information at info@L2CyberSecurity.com.

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The eFlow Text Message

The text message she received from “eFlow” was about an unpaid toll. eFlow is an Irish motorway toll operator. (narrator’s voice: It was not from eFlow 🙄).

The message reads:

eFlow: You have an outstanding fee of 6.32 EUR due from a journey made in 2022. Please pay now to avoid incurring any penalty charges via eflow-online-services[.]com

That link has been defanged, so you cannot click on it accidentally.

If you click on the link, you will get taken to a very realistic and similar looking website, to the real eFlow one. This though, seems to have nothing to do with the unpaid toll. 🤔

What do they want you to do?

They want you to update your details with them, including payment card. This is the type of thing that you can look out for. A site asking you for lots of personal data when you’ve clicked a link. eFlow already has your data, if you are a customer. They do not need you to go and type it all in again. No matter what excuse they make up. If this was really eFlow, they would have provided the details they already held on you!

What should I do?

I hope I say this enough. We really need to stop clicking on any link that might be included in text messages. There is just no decent reason to have links sent by text message. The criminals use them, because they tend to get passed a lot of spam filters. If this was sent by email or WhatsApp it would probably get thrown into the junk folder.

I think most of you that have seen previous posts from me, won’t fall victim to such a scam, but please do share this, so others will be aware of it.

If anybody has gone through with this update, please contact your bank’s fraud number immediately.

So there it is. An eFlow text message scam. Please don’t fall for it.

Let’s be careful out there.

How can L2 Cyber Security help you?

We offer a full range of training programmes, which can be delivered online or in-person.

Contact us for more information at info@L2CyberSecurity.com.

#SecuritySimplified

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What is going on here?

Earlier this week I heard on the radio a story about people getting locked out of their WhatsApp accounts. What was happening was that they were getting a text message from WhatsApp that contained a code and then they got a WhatsApp message from one of their friends to say

“Oh, hey there! I accidentally forwarded you a code that I need for my WhatsApp. Would you mind sending it on to me?”

If you then sent on that code to your friend, shortly thereafter you would find you will be locked out of your WhatsApp account.

How does this scam work?

What was happening is that your friend’s WhatsApp had been compromised by some bad guys. These bad guys now were trying to get into your WhatsApp account. They were trying to change the number associated with your account. So when that happens WhatsApp will send the original telephone number a text message to confirm it was you and by you sending on that code, then you’re confirming that the bad guys were actually you.

So that’s how they were taking over your account.

How can you protect yourself from this WhatsApp Code Scam?

Now the first thing I would say of course is that if you do get anything like that, a code from WhatsApp, don’t do anything with it unless you have specifically requested it yourself.

Secondly another brilliant protection for all WhatsApp messages is to turn on two-factor authentication on your WhatsApp account. It’s available there in the security settings of your WhatsApp. Turn that on.

So that’s it for this week. Lets be careful out there and we’ll talk to you again next week.

How can L2 Cyber Security help you?

We offer a full range of training programmes, which can be delivered online or in-person*.

L2 Cyber Security are also a partner of CyberRiskAware for online self-directed Cyber Security Awareness training and Phishing testing.

Contact us for more information at info@L2CyberSecurity.com.

*With appropriate social distancing and other health and safety measures adhered to.

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