Government warns of attempted e-mail scams

Certain clues can help you spot them!

You will no doubt have received at least one in your mailbox. A wave of fraudulent e-mails is hitting the Principality. Sent out in an apparently random manner from different e-mail addresses, they can sometimes get past your spam filter.

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The phenomenon is known as a phishing campaign. The purpose is to urge users to follow the instructions included in the message and then swindle them.

How to avoid them?

In the cases identified by the Government, the emails inform the recipient, in French, of their involvement in “poursuites pénales pour des faits de nature sexuelle” – criminal prosecution for acts of a sexual nature. The user is then asked to open a PDF file and reply to the message. The Government points out that “no Monegasque institution sends out summonses of this kind.”

To avoid being caught out by this type of message, there are a few things to look out for:

Where it’s from: you should check the sender’s e-mail address carefully. Certain characters, such as ‘i’ and ‘I’ may be replaced or added to what look like institutional addresses. Also, the format of e-mail address used by Monaco’s public services is always xxxx@gouv.mc
The wording: if you notice sloppy wording or spelling mistakes, this is generally a sign of a fraudulent e-mail.

If you receive an attempted scam, it is essential to forward it to cyber@gouv.mc. But by no means should you reply to the e-mail or open the PDF file.

This type of scam comes in different forms and may look and feel like emails from different companies and institutions, so you need to be attentive to the emails you receive.