On X (formerly Twitter), o2 Germany is drawing attention to a new scam: It involves calls in which people try to steal codes from your smartphone.
The telecommunications provider o2 is warning its customers about a new scam. (Source: o2 Germany)
In a Post on social network X (formerly Twitter), the telecommunications provider o2 Germany is warning its customers about a new scam. Specifically, it involves third parties trying to obtain security codes using a new tactic of phishing calls. The fraudsters can then use these security codes to order hardware from O2 or activate an eSIM at your expense.
O2 reports, in a help article linked to the postof several cases in which customers were contacted by “alleged employees of the companies Amazon or DHL”. The o2 customers were told that they had to verify themselves for an Amazon or DHL package (of which there are certainly so many in circulation every day that a large proportion of o2 customers also have one on the way) to be delivered to them.
This is how the fraud works This is what the beginning of a verification SMS with SMS-TAN (censored) from o2 looks like. (Source: o2 Germany)
The fraud victims were then told that they would immediately receive an SMS TAN for verification and that they would then have to give it over the phone. In the cases mentioned, an SMS with an SMS TAN did indeed arrive, only it was from o2 and not from Amazon or DHL. And this SMS TAN was and is not for verification of DHL or Amazon shipments, but for identification to o2 in order to buy hardware in the customer’s name or activate an eSIM – at their expense.
O2 gives tips on protecting your data
Apart from the fact that o2 asks its customers to read messages such as those with the SMS-TAN carefully and not to pass on an SMS-TAN to third parties, the telecommunications provider also gives tips for data security hygiene and suggests using different passwords for different accounts. In addition, o2 Germany advises changing passwords regularly. Finally, o2 recommends that you check whether your email address has been affected by a data leak and suggests the Identity Leak Checker from the Hasso Plattner Institute.
Unfortunately, scams that attack your own smartphone are a recurring issue. There have been a few cases of attempted fraud at o2 in the recent past. Fraudulent messages are currently circulating on WhatsApp as well as via SMS and email.
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