2,200 euros. This is the amount lost by a Belgian after receiving an SMS claiming to give him access to the results of his PCR test. The man took a Covid-19 test on October 21, reports RTL Info.
The next day, still not having received his results, the 39-year-old man called his doctor who reassured him, explaining that the services were overwhelmed and that he would receive the answer within the day. It was then that he received an SMS allegedly from Istme, a Belgian “universal” identification platform recognized by institutions, banks and companies.
“I stopped everything”
In Belgium, Istme is even used to show its health pass. The man was therefore not suspicious and clicked on the link given by the SMS to access his results. Without asking too many questions, the URL of the site starting with “www.istme and then something”, he then entered his credit card details and his digipass as required.
But when validating, “it came back to the home page, so I did it a second time, and then it came back a third time,” the victim told RTL Info. “There, I stopped everything, I deleted everything, and I thought I was going to phone my doctor later to get my results. “
A transaction of 1,800 euros blocked
Thirty minutes later, the 30-something received an SMS from the laboratory telling him that his PCR test was negative. It was only later that he was notified that his bank card had been blocked after suspicious activity on his account. Upon checking, he found that all his money was gone.
More than 400 euros had been spent on a purchase and should not be recoverable. On the other hand, another transaction of 1,800 euros was identified as fraud and blocked by the bank. This case is not unique, note RTL Info. SMS scam attempts using the name of the Istme platform to give victims confidence are increasing in Belgium.