Beware of Scammers: The Latest Letter and INPS Scams

The new scams very often pass through the new means of communication, exploiting each method to try to deceive the others. But what if scammers start using an old but extremely well studied method, so much so that it seems real?

The scam of the letter

One of the methods, which seems to be gaining ground among scammers lately, is that of letters. These are letters that report known companies or public bodies as senders e theoretically “safe”which require citizens to pay a certain amount sum of moneydue following various tax assessments.

One of the entities that is most often brought into play for these scams is the Ministry of Economic Development – ​​Italian Trademark and Patent Office. The scam is extremely credible, given that the aspect of the communication is decidedly similar to the official ones, complete with the letterhead and signature of the official who takes charge of the solicitation.

All seasoned with personal data of the victims, payment deadlines, amount to be paid and a fictitious reference that indicates the period that that payment covers. In order to be able to recognize such a scam, one can look at the payment bank details who is asked to make the payment. In fact, very often it is a Polish IBAN.

The INPS scam

Another entity, known to all, which is often brought up to try to deceive the unfortunate victims, is the INPS (National Social Security Institute). Whether we like it or not, sooner or later everyone has to deal with INPS, given the vastness of the services that the institution has to regulate and which affect everyone’s life.

In fact, through the INPS, services pass such as the payment of pensions, the single allowance for children, the various bonuses provided by the various governments, tax breaks and much more. However, at INPS citizens often find themselves giving more than receiving, just think of mandatory contributions that employers must pay, in relation to work performance.

It is not so strange therefore to receive one communication from INPS, given the many relationships that bind the institution to the citizens, whether it is a question of giving or receiving. In fact, it often happens that, due to some counting error, the INPS finds itself carrying out checks that lead the citizen to have to pay a certain amount, not previously paid.

But what if the letter received, it seems in all respects sent by the INPSbut is it only a perfectly believable copy?

In fact, in recent days, an electronic letter has begun to spread, sent by email, by INPS (at least apparently). The contents of the letter, refers to the payment of 2022 taxes, stating how it happened an error. But the error is not what you think.

In fact, the error does not refer to a less than due disbursement, but to an INPS error in the request for the amount to be paid. In other words, it is as if the INPS, in 2022, asked you for more than it should. Due to an error in the automatic systems, the citizen would have found himself paying 400, 500, 600, 700 euros more.

And therefore, the fake INPS, having repented of the error, will show itself ready to return the stolen goods. But unfortunately, despite having already tried to automatically disburse the sum to the citizen’s account, due to an error in the computer systems, it was not possible to complete the procedure.

The error specifically, would concern the bank details provided and, to fix it, just click on the button “continue on the dedicated page”, entering the correct data on the page that will open. Obviously, by entering the data, fraudsters would have free access to the citizen’s current account, which will be completely emptied.

The email is extremely well thought out, risking deceiving even the most attentive observers. Even the INPS logo will be affixed to it and the site to which you will be redirected by clicking on the link will be very similar to the INPS page itself.

How to avoid being scammed

We must always look for new methods, for stay behind all scam attempts perpetrated. Although in this specific case, it is not a very simple process, it is still possible to be able to avert the danger.

When you receive the email, first check the email address. The official address of the INPS, must always end with @inps.it while fake addresses, since they can’t use the same address, tend to add up letters or symbols after the @. Often, the added symbols are similar to the letters that make up the word “inps”, so that at a quick glance it is not possible to clearly distinguish the deception.

The most important thing to know though, which could help you with this scam as well as others, is that entities like the INPS, the Post Office, the banks never ask you to enter your bank details via email. And above all, access to the official websites of the institutions must always take place from their home page and through a recognized identification method, like SPID.

If you do not recognize all these factors but still have doubts, we advise you to verify the truthfulness of the communication. you will lighthouse, by contacting the institution in question directly or by contacting the Postal Police.