While we note an increase in Covid-19 cases in France, a vital card scam is increasingly circulating via SMS. Vigilance is required!
The page of Covid-19 is not completely rotated. Today we must learn to live with the virus. While winter is now well established and temperatures are dropping, Covid-19 is once again actively circulating in the country and, although the number of cases is obviously much lower than in 2020 or 2021, we still notice that positive tests have been increasing in number in recent weeks. Badly intentioned people then chose to take advantage of this upsurge in Covid cases to launch a new SMS scam. We will explain everything to you !
A scam to steal personal data
For cybercriminals, the opportunity was too good. Under the guise of alerting policyholders about the circulation of the virus in our country, they are in reality trying to steal their personal data and banking information. This is the famous phishing! The victims received an SMS resembling those actually sent by Health Insurance: “Health Insurance: final reminder for the renewal of your vital card, please update your information before (…) to maintain your rights. Let’s remain vigilant, Covid-19 is still here!”, can we read on this message. When the victim clicks, they arrive on a larger-than-life website on which they are invited to provide personal and banking information. The trap then closes on the victim who, despite herself, has disclosed sensitive information.
Our advice to avoid scams
It is sometimes difficult to disentangle fact from fiction with these SMS or emails which seem perfectly consistent. Here are some questions and reminders to avoid becoming a victim yourself.
- Always check the domain name of the website. We often notice gross errors…
- Urgently notify your bank to object if you discover that you are the victim of a scam
- Health insurance will never ask you for your bank details for a renewal or update of your vital card.
- If health insurance contacts you by telephone, it will only do so from these three numbers: 3646, 01 78 85 70 03, for calls to the Sophia service or 01 87 52 00 70, for calls carried out as part of “Go to” operations for vaccination against Covid-19.
When should you really renew your health card?
Unlike a passport or an identity card for example, a vital card is issued without a validity date. It therefore has no expiration date. The health card must, however, be regularly updated, at least once a year and during changes in your personal or professional situation (moving, birth, change of treating doctor, etc.). It also happens that the vital card stops working. You will then need to report this to your health insurance organization and apply to obtain a new card. In the event of theft or loss, you must make an incident report on the health insurance website to trigger the production of a new card.