“You have been fired from work.” A fake e-mail message that citizens and residents received recently, aimed at catching them electronically, to defraud their bank accounts using a new trick.
Financial fraud by "dismissal" letter
The message "You have been dismissed from work" is used to deceive by hacking their smartphones and falsifying their business mail, to notify them that it has been decided to dismiss them from work, and that they must click on a link below the message to find out the reasons for dismissal, and their total financial dues.
How to handle a fraudulent dismissal letter
A number of those who received these messages reported that the majority of them reviewed human resources departments and information security specialists at their business entities before interacting with its content, and made sure that the link was “fake”, targeting fraud and theft of money from bank accounts, while others responded to the message link until it became clear to them that it was fraudulent. This confirms that scams are now approaching victims by asking them to provide personal or professional information about them, after reassuring them and notifying them of the sincerity and safety of the sending party.
Fraudsters take advantage of information available on social media
An information security specialist stated that "most of the information that fraudsters rely on in these messages is already on the personal pages of the victims, on social media."
Complaints affected by fraudulent messages
Citizen Salem Al-Mulla, an institutional liaison coordinator in an oil company, stated that he was finally surprised by a message on his work e-mail, which read: “Respected Mr. Muhammad Al-Mulla.. We regret to inform you that it has been decided to dispense with your services with the company for administrative reasons. We invite you to review the link Below to find out its details, as well as to know your entitlements and the requirements for disclaiming responsibility from work.
This is what Moza Saeed Al-Amiri, an official in the Human Resources Department at one of the major water companies, was exposed to, as she stated that she was more calm in dealing with the message, for the sole reason that she received it on an official holiday, but it was on her desk, inside her workplace, She does her job in the Human Resources Department concerned with these matters, and therefore she did not pay attention to them.
Nasser Saleh Abdullah, an account officer at a contracting company, confirmed that as soon as he received this message, he could not control his mind, and he clicked on the link attached to the alleged “dismissal from work” message to clarify the truth of the matter and find out the reasons, but he was surprised that the link referred him to a page. Others ask him for personal data and his bank account number, which information is already registered with the Human and Financial Resources Department in order to deposit the monthly salary of any employee.
A study conducted by the “Function Five” technology solutions company confirmed that phishing attacks have recorded a remarkable development in recent years, making it difficult to distinguish between deceptive email messages and those actually legitimate messages, after they were previously characterized by primitiveness, intuitive errors, and the use of unfamiliar language. Quite convincing.
