Criminals send e-mails in the name of GGD to get people’s bank details. This is reported by the GGD GHOR Nederland, the umbrella organization of the 25 health services in the Netherlands.
The email states that the recipient has been around a number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus. People are asked to make a test appointment as soon as possible by clicking on an appointment link. But that link leads to a fake website. There you are asked to log in with the personal bank details, which the criminals thus get their hands on.
If people do not make a test appointment, a ‘quarantine control team’ will be sent to the relevant home address, the email states. The GGD GHOR Nederland calls these types of scams ‘pure fraud’ and calls on you not to click on the link in the emails.
Also fake phone calls
In addition to the e-mail messages, false telephone calls on behalf of the GGD are reported. Criminals also try to obtain bank details or social security numbers in this way. “Personers of these phone calls refer, for example, to a positive test you recently had at a GGD. Because a lot of people have tested positive, there is a chance that this is also the case in your case.” The health organization emphasizes that bank details and the full citizen service number are never asked for. The last three digits of a personal citizen service number can only be requested for verification.
It is not known how many people have received the fake emails and how often bank details have been stolen by criminals.