Fraud attempts by text message or email are increasing with the imminent arrival of the check promised by the Legault government to help citizens cope with inflation.
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Several Quebecers have received, in the last few days, text messages inviting them to click on a link to accept a “transfer of $ 500 offered by the CAQ” or to confirm the claim.
“When I saw the text message, on the spot, I said to myself that it looked like. What tells me that’s not true?” asked a citizen.
These are fraudulent “phishing” type messages intended to collect the personal or banking information of people who click on the link.
“Unfortunately, the fact that scammers continue to do this kind of thing means that there are still people who click on these links, give their ID and maybe send money” , said a cybersecurity consultant.
Faced with the situation, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) made a publication on Twitter on Tuesday to invite the population not to click on the link in the text message.
“A fraudulent text message is currently circulating saying that an amount of $400 to $600 has been sent to you from us. This is a fraud”, can we read in the publication.
The sums of $400 and $600 promised by the CAQ to help Quebecers, who are hit by inflation, should be delivered before Christmas.
However, the government never sends money by text or email.