A large number of Swedes have recently received an email purporting to come from the Police Authority, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and Europol.
There, the recipient is accused of child pornography, pedophilia, cyber pornography and various types of sexual crimes. Allegedly downloaded or viewed illegal images and videos of minors. In addition, it is stated that the police secured images from the recipient’s webcam and chats.
Several hundred thousand kroner
The email, which is signed by the national police chief, ends with the recipient having 48 hours to respond – otherwise they accept the charges and will be arrested. When TV4 Nyheterna makes contact with the sender, the answer is that you have to pay several hundred thousand kroner to avoid the legal process and from being exposed in the media.
Jan Olsson, criminal inspector at the police and an expert on fraud, says in Nyhetersmorgon:
– I can state that the reason why you see this coming and going is that it is still profitable for those who send them out here. It is someone or a few who choose to pay. That’s why they never stop sending.
“Absolutely perfect email”
He says that the fraudsters can easily, without cost, create credible emails with the help of AI and reach a large number of people around the world.
– There doesn’t need to be a lot of people doing this for it to be profitable. If it is one in 10,000 who falls for the trick, then it is clear that they will continue with this, says Jan Olsson.
– It can be detected if you look at the language of the older variants that are sent around. But today, when you have Chat-GPT, there are ready-made software products that produce absolutely perfect emails and sms and other things. Then it gets worse when you don’t even see that there are spelling mistakes or poor sentence structure.
Warning: Malicious code – do not click
The fraud expert also warns against clicking on the file at all.
– They are not always just looking for credit card details. Sometimes they also want to plant malicious code. It can be about Ransomware, i.e. extortion situations, where you simply lock your files and other things, says Olsson and continues:
– Don’t click and don’t do as they say. Thinking after a few seconds before just.
Who is behind this?
– Most often they are international individuals. I don’t want to say it’s leagues. It can be both.
The police’s tip: How to protect yourself against phishing
Tips and advice on how to protect yourself against phishing
Never give out card details or personal information.
Be suspicious if you receive an email or text message asking you to click on a link and provide sensitive information, such as codes and personal information. Never follow such instructions. No banks or serious companies send such messages. If you are unsure, call your bank or the company.
Have unique passwords for your most important services, such as your email, bank and e-identification.
Never allow anyone to remotely control your computer or phone.
Source: Polisen.se