Cybercrime Alert: Fraudulent Impersonation and Global Phishing Attacks

Authorities in Lavalleja, Uruguay, have issued warnings following a series of telephone scams involving impersonation of the state telecommunications company, ANTEL. Criminals have used official-looking profile pictures to contact victims, claiming unauthorized purchases or credits were made in their names. In one significant case, an elderly woman was deceived by a caller posing as an ANTEL official who claimed her phone had been hacked. The victim was coerced into handing over more than one million Uruguayan pesos in cash and credit proceeds to individuals claiming to be assisting her.

Separately, a global cybersecurity investigation by Check Point Software has identified a large-scale phishing campaign targeting businesses. Between August 17 and August 31, over 58,000 malicious messages were sent to more than 7,800 organizations worldwide. The attack uses fake voicemail transcription notifications sent via email to trick employees into opening malicious SVG files. These files redirect users to fraudulent login portals designed to capture credentials, often using spoofed internal company domains to bypass suspicion.