This is how the scam that empties your account works and how to recognize it instantly

Let’s explain to you What is the fake SMS scam from the DGT with a fine to pay?a type of scam that for years the DGT itself warns. In this case, the scam is based on the attackers impersonating the DGT and trying to take you to a fake website where they can steal money from you.

In addition, we will also teach you how to identify this type of deceptionwhich is something very important to be able to know that they are trying to scam you and be able to avoid it.

What are these types of scams?

This scam falls within what is known as smishinga type of phishing which is used through text messages. Literally this means “fishing via SMS” and it is a very popular type of massive scam.

Here, the attacker sends tens of thousands of SMS to numbers they may have obtained through a leak. In this message, he pretends to be an entity, in this case the DGT, and hopes that among thousands of potential victims there will be someone who will take the bait.

In the specific case of this SMS scam that we talked to you about today, the attacker impersonates the DGT to notify you of an alleged traffic ticket that you must pay. The message also attaches a web address where it tells you that you can pay the fine.

Here, both the fine and the web address are false. The page belongs to the attacker, and he has designed it to look like a real DGT website. In it, you will be asked for your bank details to pay the supposed fine, and then They will use this data to steal money from you from your bank account.

How this deception works

The mechanism of this scam is quite basic and simple. Simply, You will receive an SMS telling you that they are writing to you from the DGT. In this message, they try to make you believe that you have a pending fine to pay, and they will attach an address to make the payment.

This link will take you to a fake page designed by the attackers for you to enter your bank details. It is that data that is used to make online payments, and then the attackers will extract that data that you have given them in their form, and they will use it to make payments with your card in your name.

Fortunately for everyone, this version of the scam is a bit rudimentary, and It is enough to look a little to discover that there is something strange about this text message. Even so, there is always the possibility that there are people who bite into it.

and for give you a sense of urgency And so don’t pay too much attention to the entire SMS, the attackers also tell you that you only have 24 hours to make the payment, and that if you don’t, the fine will be more expensive. This happens in reality, if you do not pay a fine soon it increases, but there are not such small time margins.

How to detect this scam

First of all, the first clue that the SMS is fake may be in the composition of the text itself. It is very rare that a fine reaches you from the Electronic Office, and that they do not really identify themselves as the DGT. This should always make you doubt.

In addition to this, there is the fact of the website they are trying to take you to. In it, you will see that they try to copy the website of www.dgt.es, which is the real website of the General Directorate of Traffic, but instead of points they use hyphens, and it ends in a .com. So it is not really trying to take you to dgt.es, but to www-dgt-es.com, the first part being the full name of the website.

Currently, this page they are trying to take you to is no longer operational, but possibly the scam continues in circulation with another web address. In all cases, the page they try to take you to will always be different from the real one, even if they try to put the DGT in the name of the website so that at first glance it seems real.

Another important aspect to keep in mind: even if the name of the DGT appeared in the SMS as the author of the message and not a strange number, you should never trust it: attackers can forge the name of the sender of the message of text. That is why it is common that false messages can sneak in in the same SMS thread with your bank or with a delivery company. Don’t trust it.

How to avoid these types of scams

To avoid this and other similar scams, the first thing you should do is Always distrust any SMS that asks you to enter a link to do any type of management. It doesn’t matter whether it is the Treasury, the DGT or any other entity or company, when a link is added to an SMS it is ALWAYS a warning and danger sign.

If the link has a shortened URLthen it is surely a scam, since behind these methods to mask the websites to which they take you there are always frauds. In this case, the scam did not have a shortened website, but it did use another trick such as having a URL that is not the official one of the company, but refers to it so that at first glance it seems real.

Also never trust that They rush you to carry out a transaction. It is true that if you do not pay a fine in a few days its amount increases, but you will never have only 24 hours to do so.

If you have doubts about the veracity of this finethen do not click on the link, but go to Google and search for the official website of the DGT, and only from the official website try to verify if you have any fine. Remember that you can also check this and pay your traffic fines from miDGTthe official app for your mobile.

And if you have made the mistake of clicking on the SMS link, on the web page you enter you should always look at its URL address in the navigation bar. In these scams, addresses other than the official website of the service or other similar ones may be used, but they are not exactly the official ones.

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