(haipo) The Israel Police have issued a warning to the public following reports of false emails and text messages being sent to citizens. The messages pretend to be an official appeal from the cyber unit at Lahav 433 and threaten the recipients with criminal proceedings, but the police clarify that this is a fraud or phishing attempt.
Threatening messages in the name of the Cyber Unit
According to reports received by the police, the false messages are sent to citizens via email and text messages and include the caption: "It has been brought to our attention that you have viewed material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit activity." The messages claim that this is a serious violation of federal and state laws, and threaten recipients with criminal proceedings, prosecution, fines, and imprisonment. In addition, the messages include instructions to respond by return email within 24 hours, with the threat that failure to respond could lead to a prison sentence of up to three years. The police make it clear that This is not a request from the Israel Police, but an attempted fraud or phishing..
Police guidelines for dealing with false reports
The police emphasize that links attached to these messages should not be clicked on, that no response email should be sent, and that no files should be downloaded to your computer. Instead, it is recommended to block the email address or phone number from which the message was sent. The police urge the public to exercise caution and not fall for these types of threats, which are designed to scare recipients and cause them to act hastily and provide personal information or install malicious software on their computers.
Did the article interest you?